Meet the lovely Decachorda pomona, a dwarf among giants ... Hard to believe that a species like this belongs to the giant silkmoths (Saturniidae), the same family of the Atlas Moth (Attacus atlas). Okay, maybe it's not really Decachorda pomona. It could be one of the other Decachorda members. It's hard to tell. Decachorda is not the best described genus in the family. The only reason why I call them pomona and not for instance aspersa, is because (as far as I know) there are only two species recorded from Malawi: Decachorda rosea (other species, even smaller then this one and with more pink males, hence the name) and Decachorda pomona.
So, how small are they? The wingspan is around four and a half centimeter. There isn't much difference in size between males and females, but the females tend to be a bit more dull colored. Given the fact that the members of this genus are poorly described and that because of that many adults might have been wrongfully identified, the exact distribution of pomona is somewhat uncertain. It's an East African species, that -besides Malawi- probably flies in Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. The more northerly records (Uganda) might be due to confusion with aspersa. They have only one flight annually. The caterpillars already pupated mid February (see my post from February 18th) and are just starting to hatch right now.
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| Decachorda cf pomona male - Origin: Malawi |
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| Decachorda cf pomona female - Origin: Malawi |