Gynanisa maja ( Klug, 1836 )

Mbata, Keith J. & Prins, Jurate De, 2023, Annotated checklist of moths of Zambia (Insecta: Lepidoptera), Zootaxa 5354 (1), pp. 1-503 : 163

Gynanisa maja ( Klug, 1836) *

COMMON NAME (S): Saturniid. Edible caterpillar (At least in Zambia). SYNONYM(S): Saturnia isis Westwood, 1841 ; Saturnia campionea Signoret, 1845 ; Anacalaespina tata Wallengren, 1858 ; Attacus campiona Girard, 1882 ; Gynanisa macromaja Strand, 1920c .

IUCN STATUS: Not Evaluated (NE).

DISTRIBUTION: Angola, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi,

Mozambique, Namibia , Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia,

Zimbabwe.

LOCALITY IN ZAMBIA: Kopa** and Mpika, in Muchinga Province; Mporokoso and Kasama, in Northern Province; Serenje, in

Central Province; A locality in Southern Province [Latitude, - 15.30687S; Longitude, 26.01835E] .

LARVAL HOSTPLANT(S): Host plants of the taxon include: four Fabaceae species ( Vachellia karroo (Hayne) Banfi & Galasso ;

A. pubescens (Vent.) R.Br. , A. mearnsii De Wild. and Acacia sp. ) and two Mimosaceae species

( Elephantorrhiza elephantina (Burch.) Skeels and another Elephantorhiza sp.) in South Africa ( Fawcett

1901; Taylor 1949; Pinhey 1972b; van den Berg 1974; Prinsloo & Uys, 2015); one Fabaceae species

( Acacia pubescens (Vent.) R.Br. ) in Kenya ( Gardner 1957) ; one Fabaceae species ( Acacia erioloba

E.Mey.) and one Caesalpiniaceae species ( Colophospermum mopane (Benth.) Leonard ) in Namibia

( Oberprieler 1995) and one Caesalpiniaceae species ( Brachystegia venosa Hutch. & Burtt Davy ) in an unnamed country or region in Africa ( Rougeot 1962) . Host plants of the taxon in Zambia include

Julbernardia paniculata (Benth.) Troupin ( Mbata et al. 2002) .

SOURCES: African Moths 2019; De Prins & De Prins 2022; Fawcett 1901; Gardner 1957; Hampson 1910c; Malaisse 1997; Mbata et al. 2002; Oberprieler 1995; Pinhey 1972b; Prinsloo & Uys 2015; Rougeot 1962; Scan-bugs Organization 2019a;

Taylor 1949; van den Berg 1974.