Biology:Actias
| Actias | |
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| An assortment of mounted Actias moths and their cocoons | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Saturniidae |
| Tribe: | Saturniini |
| Genus: | Actias Leach 1815 |
| Species | |
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Numerous, see text | |
| Synonyms | |
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Actias is a genus of Saturniid moths, which contains the Asian-American moon moths. Long tails on their hindwings are among their distinctive traits. Other moths with similar appearance are Copiopteryx, Argema and Eudaemonia.
The majority of species in this genus feed on the leaves of sweetgum, pine, or similar trees. As with all Saturniids, adult Actias moths lack functional mouthparts so their lifespan after emergence from the cocoon only ranges from a few days to a week.
Species
The genus includes the following species:
- Actias aliena (Butler, 1879)
- Actias angulocaudata (Naumann & Bouyer, 1998)
- Actias apollo (Röber, 1923)
- Actias artemis (Bremer & Gray, 1853)
- Actias arianeae (Brechlin, 2007)
- Actias australovietnama (Brechlin, 2000)
- Actias brevijuxta (Nässig & Treadaway, 1997)
- Actias callandra (Jordan, 1911) – Andaman moon moth
- Actias chapae (Mell, 1950)
- Actias chrisbrechlinae (Brechlin, 2007)
- Actias dubernardi (Oberthür, 1897) – Chinese luna moth
- Actias dulcinea (Butler, 1881) – Sweetheart moon moth
- Actias felicis (Oberthür, 1896)
- Actias gnoma (Butler, 1877) – Japanese moon moth
- Actias groenendaeli (Roepke, 1954)
- Actias guangxiana (Brechlin, 2012)
- Actias ignescens (Moore, 1877)
- Actias isis (Sonthonnax, 1897)
- Actias kongjiara (Chu & Wang, 1993)
- Actias keralana (Nässig, Naumann & Giusti, 2020)
- Actias laotiana (Testout, 1936)
- Actias luna (Linnaeus, 1758) – Luna moth
- Actias maenas (Doubleday, 1847) – Malaysian moon moth
- Actias neidhoeferi (Ong & Yu, 1968)
- Actias ningpoana (Fielder, 1862) – Chinese moon moth
- Actias parasinensis (Brechlin, 2009)
- Actias philippinica (Naessig & Treadaway, 1997)
- Actias rasa (Brechlin & Saldaitis, 2016)
- Actias rhodopneuma (Roeber, 1925) – Pink spirit moth
- Actias rosenbergii (Kaup, 1895)
- Actias seitzi (Kalis, 1934)
- Actias selene (Hübner, 1806) – Indian moon moth
- Actias shaanxiana (Brechlin, 2007)
- Actias sinensis (Walker, 1855) – South China moon moth
- Actias truncatipennis (Sonthonnax, 1899)
- Actias uljanae (Brechlin, 2007)
- Actias vanschaycki (Brechlin, 2013)
- Actias winbrechlini (Brechlin, 2007)
- Actias witti (Brechlin, 2007)
- Actias xenia (Jordan, 1912)
Selected former species
- Actias heterogyna (Kishida, 1993)
- Actias isabellae (Graells, 1849)
- Actias omeishana Watson, 1912
Galleries
Eggs
Actias luna eggs
Actias maenas eggs
1st Instar
Actias luna reared on American Sweetgum.
Actias selene reared on American Sweetgum.
2nd Instar
Actias artemis reared on American Sweetgum
Actias luna
Actias selene
3rd Instar
Actias luna
Actias selene
4th Instar
Actias artemis
Actias luna
Actias selene
5th Instar
Actias artemis
Actias luna
Actias selene
Cocoon
Actias luna
Adult
Actias artemis male
Actias dubernardi adult female
Actias dubernardi male
Actias isis adult female
Actias isis adult male
Actias luna female
Actias luna male
Actias maenas male
Actias ningpoana female
Actias selene male
Actias sinensis female
Actias sinesis male
Actias truncatipennis female
Actias truncatipennis male
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Actias. |
Wikidata ☰ Q134540 entry
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