Borocera cajani

B. cajani is considered a delicacy to the Malagasy people. They eat it in the pupal stage either fried or mixed with chicken and rice. Only pupae are eaten, not the larvae. The Malagasy people call the larvae zana-dandy.

B. cajani is bivoltine, and its life history is synchronous with that of the related Europtera punctillata moth. There have been suggestions that the species is trivoltine, and lacks a pupal diapause phase. It has been observed to have asynchronous life cycles depending on the location, with the likely reason being that the Imamo region being slightly more warm and wet compared to the Itremo region. The first generation of eggs is laid during November to January, and the second generation from March to April. Larvae are active from November to February, and March to June/July. Pupae are found in February to March, and July to November. There are five larval stages. Pupae of the second generation are more numerous than the first. The entire life cycle takes between 102 and 192 days to complete. B. cajani feeds on the following plants: Uapaca bojeri, Aphloia theiformis, Erica baroniana, Psychotria retiphlebia, Aristida rufescens, Saccharum viguieri, Imperata cylindrica, Dodonaea madagascariensis, Schizolaena microphylla, Sarcolaena oblongifolia, and Loudetia madagascariensis. Of these host plants, Uapaca bojeri, the tapia tree, forms the overwhelming majority of B. cajani's food. However, it has been raised experimentally to prefer another tree, voafotsy (Aphloia theaeformis). B. …