Improving Forest Conservation and Community Livelihoods Through Income Generation from Commercial Insects in Three Kenyan Forests

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Improving Forest Conservation and Community Livelihoods Through Income Generation from Commercial Insects in Three Kenyan Forests CommerCial inseCts and Forest Conservation Improving Forest Conservation and Community Livelihoods through Income Generation from Commercial Insects in Three Kenyan Forests CommerCial inseCts and Forest Conservation Improving Forest Conservation and Community Livelihoods through Income Generation from Commercial Insects in Three Kenyan Forests Compiled by: Suresh K. Raina, Esther N. Kioko, Ian Gordon and Charles Nyandiga Lead Scientists: Elliud Muli, Everlyn Nguku and Esther Wang’ombe Sponsored by: UNDP/GEF and co-financed by IFAD, Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, USAID, British High Commission and Toyota Environmental Grant Facility 2009 Acknowledgements The principal authors of this report are Suresh Raina and Esther Kioko. It also draws on technical materials especially provided by Vijay Adolkar, Ken Okwae Fening, Norber Mbahin, Boniface Ngoka, Joseph Macharia, Nelly Ndung’u, Alex Munguti and Fred Barasa. The final text benefitted from Charles Nyandiga and Ian Gordon’s editorial advice and contribution. Exceptional scientific, livelihood and market research assistance on qualitative and quantitative issues has been provided by Elliud Muli, Everlyn Nguku and Esther Wang’ombe. Peer review for the study was done by Oliver Chapayama. The final editing was completed by Dolorosa Osogo and Susie Wren and typesetting and cover design by Irene Ogendo and Sospeter Makau. Thanks also for the helpful comments received from members of the stakeholders committees and advisory groups, i.e. Christopher Gakahu, Jennifer Ngige, Rose Onyango and Bernard Masiga. Thanks for the field and laboratory assistance provided by Andrew Kitheka, Anthony Maina, Beatrice Njunguna, Daniel Muia, Florence Kiilu, Gladys Mose, Jael Lumumba, James Ng’ang’a, Loise Kawira, Mary Kahinya, Newton Ngui, Regina Macharia, Stephen Amboka, Caroline Mbugua, Emily Kadambi, Joseph Kilonzo and Martin Onyango. The fieldwork and support provided by the district forest officers and their staff and district livestock production officers and their staff at each project site are highly acknowledged. icipe finance and administration support was received from Patrick Ndiangui, Willis Awori and Roger Finan. The authors greatly acknowledge the icipe overall support and facilities received from Christian Borgemeister, the Director General, icipe. The research project was planned and carried out under the overall guidance of the late Dr Alan Rodgers, Director UNDP-GEF Africa region. —S.K. Raina, Programme Leader, Commercial Insects Programme, icipe ISBN 92 9064 208 4 © 2009 International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology Edited by: Dolorosa Osogo and Susie Wren Typesetting and Layout (DTP): Irene Ogendo Cover Design: Irene Ogendo and Sospeter Makau Published by: icipe Science Press P. O. Box 72913-00200, Nairobi, Kenya Printed by: Kul Graphics Ltd., Nairobi, Kenya iv Improving Forest Conservation and Community Livelihoods Through Income Generation from Commercial Insects in Three Kenyan Forests Contents Acronyms and Abbreviations ...................................................................................... v List of Technical Boxes .................................................................................................. vi List of Figures ...............................................................................................................vii List of Photos ................................................................................................................vii List of Tables .................................................................................................................. ix List of Boxes ................................................................................................................... ix Foreword ......................................................................................................................... x SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION Purpose and Scope of This Book ................................................................................3 Why Is This Project Important? ..................................................................................3 Forest Conservation—Crisis, What Crisis! .............................................................3 What This Project Planned to Achieve and How .....................................................4 Designed to Create Lasting Impact .........................................................................4 Linking Insect to Enterprise .....................................................................................5 Linking Insect to Conservation ................................................................................5 Influencing Policy ......................................................................................................6 Project Partners ..............................................................................................................7 Building Collaboration ..............................................................................................7 UNDP and GEF ..........................................................................................................8 International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe) ............................9 Kenya Forest Service .................................................................................................9 Nature Kenya............................................................................................................10 NEMA ........................................................................................................................10 Commercial Partners ...............................................................................................10 Associate Partners ....................................................................................................10 Project Strategy .............................................................................................................11 Project Setting ...............................................................................................................12 Site Selection .............................................................................................................12 Natural and Socio-Economic Characteristics of the Sites ..................................13 Kakamega Forest Reserve and National Reserve ................................................13 Arabuko-Sokoke Forest Reserve ............................................................................15 Mwingi Forest Reserves, Eastern Province ..........................................................17 SECTION 2: THE PROJECT IN ACTION Tackling the Main Issues ............................................................................................23 Action Planning........................................................................................................23 Central Activities and Their Drivers .....................................................................23 Forest Monitoring ........................................................................................................25 Management Effectiveness Tracking Tool ............................................................25 Threat Reduction Assessment ................................................................................26 Biodiversity Monitoring ..........................................................................................27 Commercial Insects Monitoring ............................................................................28 Chapter title v Conservation and Communities ...............................................................................36 Community-Driven Approach ...............................................................................36 Participatory Forest Management .........................................................................37 Buffer Zone Tree Planting .......................................................................................38 Improved Livelihoods .................................................................................................39 Training and Capacity Building ............................................................................39 Technical Research to Improve Commercial Production ...................................41 Organic Certification ...............................................................................................50 Building the Value Chain .......................................................................................52 Marketplaces for Silk and Honey Products ........................................................56 Value Addition .........................................................................................................57 SECTION 3: EXPERIENCES AND ACHIEVEMENTS Contributing to the Millennium Development Goals .........................................63 Goal 1: Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger .................................................63 Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women .................................63 Goal 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability .....................................................63 Goal 8: Global Partnerships for Development .....................................................64 Linking Conservation and Livelihoods ...................................................................64 Increasing Livelihood Options and Reducing Rural Poverty .............................66 Beekeeping ................................................................................................................66
Recommended publications
  • Chapter 13 SOUTHERN AFRICA
    Chapter 13 Zimbabwe Chapter 13 SOUTHERN AFRICA: ZIMBABWE Taxonomic Inventory Taxa and life stages consumed Coleoptera Buprestidae (metallic woodborers) Sternocera funebris (author?), adult Sternocera orissa Buquet, adult Scarabaeidae (scarab beetles) Lepidiota (= Eulepida) anatine (author?), adult Lepidiota (= Eulepida) masnona (author?), adult Lepidiota (= Eulepida)nitidicollis (author?), adult Miscellaneous Coleoptera Scientific name(s) unreported Hemiptera Pentatomidae (stink bugs) Euchosternum (= Haplosterna; = Encosternum) delegorguei (Spinola) (= delagorguei), adult Pentascelis remipes (author?), adult Pentascelis wahlbergi (author?), adult Miscellaneous Hemiptera Scientific name(s) unreported Homoptera Cicadidae (cicadas) Loba leopardina (author?) Hymenoptera Apidae (honey bees) Trigona spp., larvae Formicidae (ants) Carebara vidua Sm., winged adult Isoptera Termitidae Macrotermes falciger Gerstacker (= goliath), winged adult, soldier, queen Macrotermes natalensis Haviland Lepidoptera Lasiocampidae (eggar moths, lappets) Lasiocampid sp., larva Limacodidae (slug caterpillars) Limacodid sp. Notodontidae (prominents) Anaphe panda (Boisdv.), larva Saturniidae (giant silkworm moths) Bunaea (= Bunea) alcinoe (Stoll), larva Bunaea sp., larva Cirina forda (Westwood), larva 1 of 12 9/20/2012 2:02 PM Chapter 13 Zimbabwe Gonimbrasia belina Westwood, larva Goodia kuntzei Dewitz (?), larva Gynanisa sp. (?), larva Imbrasia epimethea Drury, larva Imbrasia ertli Rebel, larva Lobobunaea sp., larva Microgone sp., (?), larva Pseudobunaea sp. (?),
    [Show full text]
  • Biodiversity and Ecology of Critically Endangered, Rûens Silcrete Renosterveld in the Buffeljagsrivier Area, Swellendam
    Biodiversity and Ecology of Critically Endangered, Rûens Silcrete Renosterveld in the Buffeljagsrivier area, Swellendam by Johannes Philippus Groenewald Thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Science in Conservation Ecology in the Faculty of AgriSciences at Stellenbosch University Supervisor: Prof. Michael J. Samways Co-supervisor: Dr. Ruan Veldtman December 2014 Stellenbosch University http://scholar.sun.ac.za Declaration I hereby declare that the work contained in this thesis, for the degree of Master of Science in Conservation Ecology, is my own work that have not been previously published in full or in part at any other University. All work that are not my own, are acknowledge in the thesis. ___________________ Date: ____________ Groenewald J.P. Copyright © 2014 Stellenbosch University All rights reserved ii Stellenbosch University http://scholar.sun.ac.za Acknowledgements Firstly I want to thank my supervisor Prof. M. J. Samways for his guidance and patience through the years and my co-supervisor Dr. R. Veldtman for his help the past few years. This project would not have been possible without the help of Prof. H. Geertsema, who helped me with the identification of the Lepidoptera and other insect caught in the study area. Also want to thank Dr. K. Oberlander for the help with the identification of the Oxalis species found in the study area and Flora Cameron from CREW with the identification of some of the special plants growing in the area. I further express my gratitude to Dr. Odette Curtis from the Overberg Renosterveld Project, who helped with the identification of the rare species found in the study area as well as information about grazing and burning of Renosterveld.
    [Show full text]
  • A Companion Journal to Forest Ecology and Management and L
    84 Volume 84 November 2017 ISSN 1389-9341 Volume 84 , November 2017 Forest Policy and Economics Policy Forest Vol. CONTENTS Abstracted / indexed in: Biological Abstracts, Biological & Agricultural Index, Current Advances in Ecological Science, Current Awareness in Biological Sciences, Current Contents AB & ES, Ecological Abstracts, EMBiology, Environment Abstracts, Environmental Bibliography, Forestry Abstracts, Geo Abstracts, GEOBASE, Referativnyi Zhurnal. Also covered in the abstract and citation database Scopus®. Full text available on ScienceDirect®. Special Issue: Forest, Food, and Livelihoods Guest Editors: Laura V. Rasmussen, Cristy Watkins and Arun Agrawal Forest contributions to livelihoods in changing Forest ecosystem services derived by smallholder agriculture-forest landscapes farmers in northwestern Madagascar: Storm hazard L.V. Rasmussen , C. Watkins and A. Agrawal (USA) 1 mitigation and participation in forest management An editorial from the handling editor R. Dave , E.L. Tompkins and K. Schreckenberg (UK) 72 S.J. Chang (United States) 9 A methodological approach for assessing cross-site 84 ( Opportunities for making the invisible visible: Towards landscape change: Understanding socio-ecological 2017 an improved understanding of the economic systems ) contributions of NTFPs T. Sunderland (Indonesia, Australia), R. Abdoulaye 1–120 C.B. Wahlén (Uganda) 11 (Indonesia), R. Ahammad (Australia), S. Asaha Measuring forest and wild product contributions to (Cameroon), F. Baudron (Ethiopia), E. Deakin household welfare: Testing a scalable household (New Zealand), J.-Y. Duriaux (Ethiopia), I. Eddy survey instrument in Indonesia (Canada), S. Foli (Indonesia, The Netherlands), R.K. Bakkegaard (Denmark), N.J. Hogarth (Finland), D. Gumbo (Indonesia), K. Khatun (Spain), I.W. Bong (Indonesia), A.S. Bosselmann (Denmark) M. Kondwani (Indonesia), M. Kshatriya (Kenya), and S.
    [Show full text]
  • Ngoka, Thesis Final 2012
    RELATIVE ABUNDANCE OF THE WILD SILKMOTH, Argema mimosae BOISDUVAL ON DIFFERENT HOST PLANTS AND HOST SELECTION BEHAVIOUR OF PARASITOIDS, AT ARABUKO SOKOKE FOREST BY Boniface M. Ngoka (M.Sc.) I84/15320/05 Department of Zoological Sciences A THESIS SUBMITTED IN FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE SCHOOL OF PURE AND APPLIED SCIENCES OF KENYATTA UNIVERSITY NOVEMBER, 2012 ii DECLARATION This thesis is my original work and has not been presented for a degree in any other university or any other award. Signature----------------------------------------------Date--------------------------------- SUPERVISORS We confirm that the thesis is submitted with our approval as supervisors Professor Jones M. Mueke Department of Zoological Sciences, School of Pure and Applied Sciences Kenyatta University Nairobi, Kenya Signature----------------------------------------------Date--------------------------------- Dr. Esther N. Kioko Zoology Department National Museums of Kenya Nairobi, Kenya Signature----------------------------------------------Date--------------------------------- Professor Suresh K. Raina International Center of Insect Physiology and Ecology Commercial Insects Programme Nairobi, Kenya Signature----------------------------------------------Date--------------------------------- iii DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to my family, parents, brothers and sisters for their perseverance, love and understanding which made this task possible. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My sincere thanks are due to Prof. Suresh K. Raina, Senior icipe supervisor and Commercial Insects Programme Leader, whose contribution ranged from useful suggestions and discussions throughout the study period. My sincere appreciations are also due to Dr. Esther N. Kioko, icipe immediate supervisor who provided me with wealth of literature and made many suggestions that shaped the research methodologies. Her support and keen supervision throughout the study period gave me a lot of inspiration. I would like to thank Prof.
    [Show full text]
  • Traditional Consumption of and Rearing Edible Insects in Africa, Asia and Europe
    Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition ISSN: 1040-8398 (Print) 1549-7852 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/bfsn20 Traditional consumption of and rearing edible insects in Africa, Asia and Europe Dele Raheem, Conrado Carrascosa, Oluwatoyin Bolanle Oluwole, Maaike Nieuwland, Ariana Saraiva, Rafael Millán & António Raposo To cite this article: Dele Raheem, Conrado Carrascosa, Oluwatoyin Bolanle Oluwole, Maaike Nieuwland, Ariana Saraiva, Rafael Millán & António Raposo (2018): Traditional consumption of and rearing edible insects in Africa, Asia and Europe, Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, DOI: 10.1080/10408398.2018.1440191 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2018.1440191 Accepted author version posted online: 15 Feb 2018. Published online: 15 Mar 2018. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 90 View related articles View Crossmark data Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=bfsn20 CRITICAL REVIEWS IN FOOD SCIENCE AND NUTRITION https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2018.1440191 Traditional consumption of and rearing edible insects in Africa, Asia and Europe Dele Raheema,b, Conrado Carrascosac, Oluwatoyin Bolanle Oluwoled, Maaike Nieuwlande, Ariana Saraivaf, Rafael Millanc, and Antonio Raposog aDepartment for Management of Science and Technology Development, Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; bFaculty of Applied Sciences, Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam;
    [Show full text]
  • Cabesl Project Report Rolf Gloor, Clement Ng'oriareng, Mercy Kiyapyap, Paul Losute
    Cabesl ProJect Report Rolf Gloor, Clement Ng'oriareng, Mercy Kiyapyap, Paul Losute Wild Silk Development in the North Rift Region of Kenya © 2009 lcipe, African Insect Science for Food and Health All rights reserved ISBN : 92 9064 2149 Published by: Cabesi, P.O. Box 342, Kapenguria, Kenya Tel. 0720-21 55 46 e-mail: [email protected] Illustrated and designed by Rolf Gloor Edited by Dr. Suresh K. Raina Photographs: Rolf Gloor, Mercy P Kiyapyap Printed by: Kul Graphics Limited P.O. Box 18095-00500, Nairobi, Kenya Page Pictures Cabasl Market Place Kapenguria 4 1 Foreword 5 2 Introduction 6 3 Host Plants 7 4 The Life Cycle ot Epiphora bauhlnlae 9 5 Reanng of ErJiphora bauhm18fJ 11 6 Karvesting 14 7 Post ptoduct1on 15 8 Wlld Silk Farm1ng 1n the North Rift 17 Cabesi Marker Place m Kapengvris: HanBy is the main-bvsiness .. The North Rift of Kenya Is a marginalized region where natural resources are under-utilized due to lack of technologies, market access and transportation. The Cabesi Project (from Camels, Bees and Silk) started in 2004 under lcipe's Commercial Insect Program. The camel program offered courses in camel husbandry and - health, and trainings for using camels for transportation. And in connection with ASAL Cabesi was able to increase the camel population by 30 animals. Cabesi provides since 2008 the complete infrastructure from beekeeping to production and sales of various bee-products. The system includes six honey collection centers in Pokot Central, West Pokot, North Pokot and Turkana Districts, and one Market Place in Kapenguria, where final processing, packaging and marketing are done.
    [Show full text]
  • Notes on Actias Dubernardi (Oberthür, 1897), with Description of the Early Instars (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae)
    Nachr. entomol. Ver. Apollo, N. F. 27 (/2): 9–6 (2006) 9 Notes on Actias dubernardi (Oberthür, 1897), with description of the early instars (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) Stefan Naumann Dr. Stefan Naumann, Hochkirchstrasse 7, D-0829 Berlin, Germany; [email protected]. Abstract: An overview of the knowledge on A. duberna­rdi was cited in the same genus at full species rank). Packard (Oberthür, 897) is given. The early instars are described (94: 80) mentioned Eua­ndrea­ alrady at subgeneric and notes on behaviour and foodplants are mentioned; the status, Bouvier (936: 253) and Testout (94: 52) in larvae have silver spots and a thoracic warning pattern. All preimaginal instars, living moths and male genitalia struc- the genus Argema­ Wallengren, 858, and in more recent tures are figured in colour. First records of the species from literature (e.g. Mell 950, Zhu & Wang 983, 993, 996, Myanmar are mentioned. The results of some recent phylo- Nässig 99, 994, D’Abrera 998, Morishita & Kishida genetic studies concerning the arrangement of the genera 2000, Ylla et al. 2005) it was listed as junior subjective Actia­s Leach in Leach & Nodder, 85, Argema­ Wallengren, synonym of Actia­s Leach in Leach & Nodder, 85. 858 and Gra­ellsia­ Grote, 896 are briefly discussed. Until about 0 years ago, the species was very rare in Anmerkungen zu Actias dubernardi (Oberthür, 1897) western collections, but with further economic opening mit Beschreibung der Präimaginalstadien (Lepidoptera: of PR China more and more material from this country Saturniidae) could be obtained, and eventually also some ova were Zusammenfassung: Es wird eine Übersicht über die bishe- received directly from China.
    [Show full text]
  • Annotating Historical Archives of Images
    Annotating Historical Archives of Images Xiaoyue Wang Lexiang Ye Eamonn Keogh Christian Shelton Department of Computer Science and Engineering University of California Riverside Riverside, California {xwang,lexiangy,eamonn,cshelton}@cs.ucr.edu ABSTRACT Recent initiatives like the Million Book Project and Google Print Library Project have already archived several million books in digital format, and within a few years a significant fraction of world’sbooks will be online. While the majority of the data will naturally be text, there will also be tens of millions of pages of images. Many of these images will defy automation annotation for the foreseeable future, but a considerable fraction of the images may be amiable to automatic annotation by algorithms that can link the historical image with a modern contemporary, with its attendant metatags. In order to perform this linking we must have a suitable distance measure which appropriately combines the relevant features of shape, color, texture and text. However the best combination of these features will vary from application to application and even from one manuscript to another. In this work we propose a simple technique to learn the distance measure by Figure 1: A page from a scientific text published in 1849 perturbing the training set in a principled way. We show the [6]. The heavily stylized scrip is difficult to read even at utility of our ideas on archives of manuscripts containing images full resolution, however we have independently confirmed from natural history and cultural artifacts. that the three insects are (left to right) Zygaena filipendulae, Acherontia atropos and Syntomis phegea Categories and Subject Descriptors In this image the text annotations will surely defy even the state- H.3.3 [Information Search and Retrieval]: Retrieval models of-the-art handwriting recognizers [1], and humans, particularly those without experience in reading cursive script are also unlikely to be able to parse these words.
    [Show full text]
  • Wild Silk Free Download
    WILD SILK FREE DOWNLOAD Zara Devereux | 320 pages | 01 May 2014 | Little, Brown Book Group | 9780349400457 | English | London, United Kingdom Wild Silk Textiles: Stitching together habitat recovery and income generation in Madagascar A closer look at wild silks. This moth is economically important for it is the primary producer of silk. Experience the luxury Wild Silk superior Mulberry silk for yourself. The natural colored fabric was hand-woven in India using handspun yarns. Warps: mulberry silk Bombyx mori Wefts: tasar silk Antheraea paphia. New York Times. Hidden categories: All articles lacking reliable references Articles lacking reliable references from June Articles containing Japanese-language text Commons category link from Wikidata. The term 'Vanya' is of Sanskrit origin, meaning untamed, wild, or forest-based. The silk was hand dyed and the buttons are carved capiz shells Placuna placenta. The surface texture of many cocoons and communal webs looks like paper, leather, or cloth, so it is understandable that ideas for exploitation arose repeatedly in ancient cultures. Saris, wrappers, chaddars, and other fabric pieces of muga silk are sometimes embroidered or brocaded with traditional motifs using Wild Silk colors such as red, yellow, and green. The side panels are probably cotton, as is the heavy inner lining. Good, J. There are several different fabrics that use mulberry silk, such as chiffon, duppioni, charmeuse, etc. New Delhi: Mittal Publications. This is raw, rough, and textured silk which feels almost paper-like to the human touch. With their captivating glint and rich Wild Silk, the silk textiles produced through this process are truly unique. Wild silks of the world.
    [Show full text]
  • Geo-Eco-Trop., 2014, 38, 2 : 339-372
    Geo-Eco-Trop., 2014, 38, 2 : 339-372 Human consumption of Lepidoptera in Africa : an updated chronological list of references (370 quoted!) with their ethnozoological analysis La consommation humaine de Lépidoptères en Afrique : une liste chronologique actualisée des références (370 citées !) avec leur analyse ethnozoologique François MALAISSE1 & Paul LATHAM2 Résumé : La consommation humaine d’insectes ou “lépideroptérophagie” connaît un intérêt croissant. Dans le présent article 370 références abordant ce thème pour l’Afrique sont citées. Des accès à cette information par ordre chronologique ainsi que par ordre alphabétique des noms d’auteurs sont fournies. Une liste systématique des noms scientifiques des espèces consommées en Afrique est encore établie. L’importance de l’information disponible pour divers groupes ethnolinguistiques est signalée. L’évolution des thèmes approchés est analysée et commentée. Mots clés: Consommation, Lépidoptères, Afrique, Campéophagie. Abstract : Human consumption of insects or « lepidopterophagy » is becoming increasingly important. In the present paper 370 references dealing with this subject in Africa are quoted. Access to this information is provided both, by chronological and alphabetic order of authors. A systematic list of scientific names of edible Lepidoptera in Africa is also provided. The importance of the information available for various ethnolinguidstic groups is presented. The evolution of issues covered is analyzed and discussed. Keywords : Consumption, Lepidoptera, Africa, Campeophagy. INTRODUCTION The utilization of insects as a sustainable and secure source of animal-based food for the human diet has continued to increase in popularity in recent years (SHOCKLEY & DOSSEY, 2014). In particular, human consumption of Lepidoptera receives an increasing interest (MALAISSE et al., 2015). Several terms have been suggested to describe this consumption, notably regarding caterpillars, “campeophagy” (MALAISSE, 2002, 2004; MALAISSE et al.
    [Show full text]
  • 1999, 48 Saturnlidae MUNDI: SATURNIID MOTHS of the WORLD, Part 3, by Bernard D'abrera. 1998. Published by Goecke & E
    48 JOURNAL OF THE LEPIDOPTERISTS' SOCIETY JOllrnal of the Lepidopterists' Society us to identify material from New Guinea in the sciron group, which 53( I), 1999, 48 includes several species that look much alike. Prior to this we only had a key published by E.-L. Bouvier (1936, Mem. Natl. Mus, Nat. SATURN li DAE MUNDI: SATURNIID MOTHS OF THE WORLD, Part 3, by Hist. Paris, 3: 1-350), in which he called these species Neodiphthera. Bernard D'Abrera. 1998. Published by Goecke & Evers, Sport­ I agree with D' Abrera's interpretation of the distribution of Attacus platzweg ,5, D-7521O Keltern, Germany (email: entomology@ aurantiacus. s-direktnet,de), in association with Hill House, Melbourne & Lon­ As with D' Abrera's similar books on Sphingidae and butterflies, don, 171 pages, 88 color plates. Hard cover, 26 x 35 cm , dust jacket, this one is a pictorial guide to these moths, based largely on speci­ glossy paper, ISBN-3-931374-03-3, £148 (about U,S. $250), avail­ mens in The Natural History Museum in London. In an effort to able from the publisher, also in U,S, from BioQuip Products, make the coverage as complete as possible, the author has done an exceptional job of gathering missing material to be photographed. Imagine a large book with the highest quality color plates show­ receiving several loans and donations from Australia, Belgium, ing many of the largest and most famous Saturniidae from around France, Germany, and the United States, He has largely succeeded; the world! Imagine that this book shows males and females of all the relatively few known species are missing.
    [Show full text]
  • THE EMPEROR MOTHS of EASTERN AFRICA the Purpose Of
    THE EMPEROR MOTHS OF EASTERN AFRICA By E. C. G. Pinhey. (The National Museum, Bulawayo.) The purpose of this article on Emperor Moths is to introduce people, in East and Central Africa, to this spectacular family and to give them some means of identifying the species. It is unfortunate that we cannot afford colour plates. Mr. Bally has aided in the production of half-tone photo• graphs, which should help considerably in the recognition of species, if not with the same facility as with colour plates. There is, of course, available, at a price, volume XIV of Seitz' Macrole• pidoptera, which includes coloured illustrations of most of the African Emperors. In tropical countries Emperor Moths and Hawk Moths are the most popular families of the moths among amateurs, the former largely for their size and colourfulness, the latter more perhaps for their streamlined elegance and rapidity of flight. Furthermore, compared to some other families, both these groups are reasonably small in number of species and, despite their bulk, they can be incorporated in a moderately limited space if not too many examples of each species are retained. Admittedly some of the larger Emperors take up a disproportionate amount of room and it is advisable to make them overlap in the collection. If we consider, however, that the amateur is concentrating on this family to the exclusion of other moth groups, the position is not too alarming. There are somewhat over a hundred species of Emperors in East Africa. What are Emperor Moths? Some people call them Silk moths, because the caterpillars of some species spin silk cocoons.
    [Show full text]