Kingdom Animalia Class Insecta Family Saturniidae Rank Species | Phylum Arthropoda Order Lepidoptera Genus Usta | |
Similar Usta, Holocerina, Pseudobunaea, Lobobunaea phaedusa, Lobobunaea | ||
Usta terpsichore, the cavorting emperor, is a species of moth in the Saturniidae family. It is found in Angola, Burkina Faso, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The larvae feed on Commiphora caryaefolia, Sclerocarya caffra, Melia azedarach and Schinus molle. Fully grown larvae are about 80 mm long.
The larvae are used as food by locals. They are rich in iron, copper, zinc, thiamine and riboflavin. It is also relatively high in calcium and phosphorus compared to many insects.
Subspecies
Some sources list a number of subspecies, while others treat most of these as full species and/or synonyms:
References
Usta terpsichore Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA