Imbrasia epimethea

Upper side: antennae strongly pectinated; the extremities appearing like threads. Thorax light brown, tinged with red. Abdomen grey brown. Anterior wings light grey brown, tinged with red at the base; having a narrow dark-coloured bar verged with grey running from the anterior to the posterior edges, parallel and at a little distance from the external margin. Posterior wings grey brown, terminating behind in points like acute angles; a dark narrow bar, edged with white, crosses these wings from the upper corners to the abdominal edges, dividing them into two compartments; in the uppermost of which are placed two eyes, whose centres are yellow, surrounded with black irides edged with red, and which also are encircled with ash-coloured rings. Above these eyes the wings are dark-coloured, almost black; but next the body are of a reddish hue.

Under side: legs black. Thorax and abdomen same colour as on the upper side. Wings nearly the same colour as on the upper side; the bars being plain and distinct, but the eyes are not observable here.

Drury's text does not state the wingspan, but his figure shows it as 5 inches (127mm).[1]

It is found in Angola, Cameroon, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo (Bas Congo, Katanga, Orientale), Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Togo and Uganda.[2]

The larvae are highly gregarious[3] and feed on Theobroma cacao, Petersianthus africanus, Petersianthus macrocarpus, Holarrhena floribunda, Funtumia species (including Funtumia africana and Funtumia elastica), Ricinodendron heudelotii, Acacia lahai, Terminalia, Bauhinia and Anona senegalensis.

• Imbrasia epimethea epimethea
• Imbrasia epimethea biokoensis Darge, 1988