Distribution Afrotropical region
Biotope: Rainforests, Tropical forests
Food plants Acacia, Celtis, Ligustrum, Mangifera, Persea, Prunus, Pyrus, Quercus, Rhus, Hedera helix, Liquidambar, Cussonia spicata
Voltinism multivoltine
Pupation The caterpillars do not spin a cocoon but burrow into the ground where they pupate.
Difficulty Very easy species, suitable for beginners
Bunaea alcinoe is a species of moth from the family Saturniidae. It originates from the Afrotropicalregion and belongs to the phylum Bunaeini .
In addition to beautiful imagoes, this moth has incredibly interestingcaterpillars, which occur in various color variations. The most common is black and white form, but other colorations such as red-black or orange-black also occur. The tubercules are typically
colored black, white, or cream-white.
An interesting aspect of this species is that despite their dangerous appearance, the caterpillars are harmless and in Africa are even considered an important source of food. Africans can prepare them in various ways.
Rearing caterpillars of this species is relatively simple, and the breeding practices follow generally accepted principles as with rearing other African species of moths.
L1– The eggs hatch in about two weeks. They require humidity. However, the eggs should never be moistened directly!
Čerstvo vyliahnuté a maličké húsenice premiestníme do malého plastového boxu, na dno ktorého
umiestnime kus servítku. Húsenice konzumujú mnoho druhov potravy. V tomto boxe ich je možné chovať
until they reach the 2nd instar.
L2– In the second instar, they are moved to a larger box, and breeding continues in the same manner.
It's important to clean the enclosure every day and avoid undesirable condensation.
L3–The caterpillars are moved again to a larger box or to a small mesh enclosure.
L4–The caterpillars are transferred to a large mesh enclosure. During one rearing attempt, we tried the caterpillars
to move to a mesh enclosure already in L3, and during another rearing, not until L4. In both cases, the rearing was
successful. We never moistened the caterpillars during their development. However, we did create moisture for the pupae.
L5–Caterpillars in the fifth instar are still kept in the same type of enclosure as in L4. After reaching their maximum size,
the caterpillars stop consuming food, begin to descend from the cuttings of the host plant, and start looking for a place to
pupate. In this phase, we move them to a box with a substrate for pupation.
The image shows adult moths from the village of Obout, which are of a browner color.
In this image, for comparison, B. alcinoe from another location in Africa, it is evident that they are much paler.
This image shows various color variations in caterpillars (Obout, Cameroon).
Pupation of caterpillars in substrate and in peat moss.
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Zdravím Jozefe.
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