Urota sinope
you-ROH-tuhmmSEE-noh-pee
(Westwood, 1849) Saturnia

Female Urota sinope moth courtesy of Jacolene van der Vyver.

This site has been created by Bill Oehlke at oehlkew@islandtelecom.com
Comments, suggestions and/or additional information are welcomed by Bill.

TAXONOMY: Superfamily: Bombycoidea Latreille, 1802 Family: Saturniidae Boisduval, [1837] 1834 Subfamily: Saturniinae Boisduval, [1837] 1834 Tribe: Urotini, Packard, 1902 Genus: Urota, Westwood, 1849

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DISTRIBUTION:

The Tailed Emperor, Urota sinope (forewing length: 43-52mm), flies in South Africa (Natal, Transvaal),
Mozambique, (perhaps manicaensis)
Zimbabwe,
Angola (perhaps herbuloti),
southwestern and southern Cameroon: ?? (perhaps herbuloti and koupensis);
Malawi, (perhaps conjucta)
Zambia (perhaps zambiensis),
Tanzania, (perhaps ulembwensis and nguruensis
Uganda (perhaps centralis),
Kenya, (perhaps centralis and melichari),

Ethiopia (perhaps melichari) and
probably Gabon (perhaps herbuloti) and
probably People's Republic of the Congo (perhaps herbuloti).

It has been reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. (perhaps heruloti western; zambiensis eastern)

With the advent of DNA barcoding analysis in 2008, hundreds of "new species" have been designated from the thousands of Saturniidae specimen samples submitted for examination.

The Urota Comparison plate provides a series of images in close proximity with some notes to hopefully help me and others with determinations. I do not have images of all species available for public display, but perhaps the locations and descriptions will help other viewers. Almost all of the specimens with new designations existed in collections under the label of Urota sinope, and they are quite similar in appearance to sinope. I am not sure if Urota sinope is limited to southern Africa, being replaced by similar species in more northern locales, or if sinope flies in most of Africa, possibly even existing in the same habitats with the cryptic species. Perhaps some of the look-alikes will be synonymized, either with each other or with sinope.

I notice differences in contour of am lines and colouration of some females on this page. Perhaps this is just variation withiin the species. Perhaps some of the recently described species also fly in South Africa. (Bill Oehlke)

Urota sinope male, Scottburgh, Kwazulu Natal, South Africa,
September 28, 2010, Bushboy.

Urota sinope male, St. Lucia, Kwazulu Natal, South Africa

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Urota sinope larvae feed upon various Erythrina species (Coral tree), Laburnum (Bean tree), Robinia pseudoacacia (Black locust/False acacia) and Sclerocarya caffra (Wild mango). There are flights in March and September (probably other months as well) in Cameroon. In KwaZulu-Natal Cooper and Cooper report moths on the wing from January until April and again from July to December.

Jacolene Meyer sends an image of a specimen taken on November 19, 2008.

Urota sinope male, Tzaneen, Limpopo, South Africa,
November 19, 2008, broederstroomdrift area, courtesy of Jacolene Meyer.

Urota sinope pair, South Africa,
courtesy of Frank Ziereis.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Males, which are slightly smaller than females, use highly developed antennae to track the airbourne female pheromone at night. Males also have tail-like extensions on the lower wings. Photo courtesy of Jacolene Meyer.

Urota sinope (female), South Africa, courtesy of Eric van Schayck.

Urota sinope (female), South Africa, courtesy of Eric van Schayck.

EGGS, LARVAE AND PUPAE:

Larvae, mature at up to 70mm) pupate underground and this final instar larva is in search of some soft earth. Image courtesy of Jacolene Meyer.

Jacolene's image does not agree with Pinhey's or Cooper & Cooper's descriptions/depictions. They indicate the gregarious larvae are yellow with a black head and prominent, black transverse stripes. Scoli are slightly raised, more so on thorax, and are tipped with fine short hairs.

Either there is an error with Jacolene's identification of larvae, or larvae are highly variable.

Urota sinope, on my home computer only, depiction by Cooper and Cooper.

Urota sinope fifth instar, Eastern Cape Parks, South Africa,
courtesy of qgobbler.

Larval Food Plants

It is hoped that this alphabetical listing followed by the common name of the foodplant will prove useful. The list is not exhaustive. Experimenting with closely related foodplants is worthwhile.

Elysistemon Erythrina abyssinica Erythrina caffra Erythrina lysistemon Erythrina tomentosa..... Eucalyptus Laburnum Robinia pseudoacacia Sclerocarya caffra

Coral tree Coral tree Coral tree Coral tree Coral tree Eucalyptus Bean tree Black locust/False acacia Wild mango

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The pronunciation of scientific names is troublesome for many. The "suggestion" at the top of the page is merely a suggestion. It is based on commonly accepted English pronunciation of Greek names and/or some fairly well accepted "rules" for latinized scientific names.

The suggested pronunciations, on this page and on other pages, are primarily put forward to assist those who hear with internal ears as they read.

There are many collectors from different countries whose intonations and accents would be different.

Some of the early describers/namers chose genus and species names indicating some character of the insect, but more often, they simply chose names from Greek or Roman mythology or history.

Those species names which end in "ensis" indicate a specimen locale, and those which end in "i", pronounced "eye", honour a contempory friend/collector/etc.

According to Pinhey, 1972, "Urota" means "tailed ear" or ear-shaped tail.

The species name, "sinope" is unknown, but may be after a Turkish seaport or Greek town. More likely it is for a woman (Greek mythology) unsuccessfully courted by Zeus.

Thierry Bouyer supplies the image (left) from Rwanda, listed as Urota sinope with determination before advent of DNA barcoding analysis. Location, strong orange colouration with fused am/m lines along inner margin, light grey suffusions in submarginal areas and very circular, prominent forewing cell spot make me wonder if it is perhaps undescribed female of Urota zambiensis.

Thierry Bouyer supplies the image (left) from Rwanda, listed as Urota sinope with determination before advent of DNA barcoding analysis. This specimen shows a more concave am line with an indentation at the cubitus. It also show shadowing of dark hindwing median band; both features more typical of Urota ulembwensis from Tanzania. DNA analysis will probably be necessary to determine many of the Urota species.