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Erebus caterpillars

A plague on Senegalia schweinfurthii this summer. The were cutting their way through swaths of foliage and flowers. Pictures shown here of caterpillars not on S. schweinfurthii, are of them using grass and other plants to migrate to the next food plant.
Maritza and I were puzzled by the disappearance of the final instars and the apparent absence of cocoons or pupae. Fearing we might miss the following stages in the life cycle we collected 5 catepillars and fed them in a terrarium. Not knowing waht material they required for pupation, we provided damp soil and an assortment of leaf litter. Two of our subject spun cocoons in leaf litter, pulling the leaves to enclose the cocoons. That was 18 January. Today, 10 days later, I pried open a cocoon to reveal a squirming, healthy looking pupa,36mm long. The Erebus in Singapore took 12 days from spinning a cocoon to emerging from the pupa, so I think the time for getting a species ID is drawing near. Erebus macrops have been, and are still abundant this year. Probably a no-brainer.

Further Notes, 2 Feb 2014. Both pupae yielded imagines 15 days after the cocoons had been spun. One moth flew out the terrarium and straight out the window when I lifted the lid. I photographed the other one through the glass, fearing total loss of evidence. The second one, when released, perched briefly outside my office on the thatch roof for a last photograph.