Antheraea larissa
Antheraea larissa | ||||||||||||
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![]() Antheraea larissa , on Sumatra |
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Systematics | ||||||||||||
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Scientific name | ||||||||||||
Antheraea larissa | ||||||||||||
( Westwood , 1847) |
Antheraea larissa is a butterfly ( moth )found in Asiafrom the family of the peacock moth (Saturniidae).
description
butterfly
The moths reach a wingspan of 12 to 15 centimeters. Both sexes are similar in terms of coloration, but the females are larger than the males. The forewings have a sickle-like shape. The upper sides of the wings are marbled yellowish brown to reddish brown. The front edge is gray, the double wavy line is colored dark brown. A black smudge stands out near the apex . On the upper side of the forewing there is a large, gray-brown eye spot that shows the shape of a comma and is yellow core. In the center of the hind wings there is also a large, circular, gray-brown eye-spot that is centered with a yellow horizontal line. The undersides of all the wings show a poorly drawn, washed-out, light yellow-gray color. The eye spots shimmer through only weakly. The males have very large and strongly combed antennae .
Caterpillar
The caterpillars newly hatched from the eggs are about eight millimeters long. They have a whitish basic color and are ocher yellow in the lower body area and on the legs. In the further course of development, greenish colors predominate. In the 4th stage, the dorsal elongated protuberances (scoli) of the cuticle take on a yellow-green to matt golden shimmering color. Fully grown caterpillars (in the 5th instar) are about eight centimeters long, are light green in color and show a yellow lateral stripe as well as subdorsal, conspicuous, extremely enlarged, silvery to gold-shiny protuberances on the 2nd and 3rd as well as on the 6th and 7th abdominal segment. The hair is short and yellow in color. In Indonesia the caterpillars are called ulat mas (golden worms) by the local population .
Distribution, subspecies and occurrence
Antheraea larissa occurs in southern Thailand , Myanmar , the Malay Peninsula , Sumatra , Java , Borneo and Palawan . The preliminary division into subspecies and their distribution limits require further studies and confirmation.
Way of life
The way of life of the species in the wild needs further research. Shorea glauca has been identified as the host plant on Borneo . In breeding, the leaves of the Himalayan birch ( Betula utilis ) were also accepted as food plants. The cocoon with the pupa inside was spun to a branch under breeding conditions.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Laela H. Paukstadt. & Ulrich Paukstadt: The pre-imaginal stages of Antheraea (Antheraea) larissa (Westwood, 1847) from Java, Indonesia (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae). News from the Entomological Association Apollo (Frankfurt am Main) 23 (1/2), 2002, pp. 59–64. ( [1] ).
- ↑ Ulrich Paukstadt, Laela H. Paukstadt, & Ulrich Brosch: Taxonomic changes in the taxa of the larissa complex (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae: Antheraea). Entomologische Zeitschrift 110 (3), 2000, pp. 71-72. ( Abstract ).
- ↑ Antheraea larissa, in: Jeremy D. Holloway (1987): The moths of Borneo, Part 3. Superfamily Bombycoidea: families Lasiocampidae, Eupterotidae, Bombycidae, Brahmaeidae, Saturniidae, Sphingidae. Kuala Lumpur (Southdene), 199 pp. reprint online