Saturniidae of Taiwan

The main island of Taiwan, also known as Formosa (from the Portuguese Ilha Formosa, meaning "beautiful island"), is located in East Asia off the coast of mainland China, southwest of the main islands of Japan but directly west of the end of Japan's Ryukyu Islands, and north-northwest of the Philippines. It is bound to the east by the Pacific Ocean, to the south by the South China Sea and the Luzon Strait, to the west by the Taiwan Strait and to the north by the East China Sea. The island is 394 kilometers (245 miles) long and 144 kilometers (89 miles) wide and consists of steep mountains covered by tropical and subtropical vegetation.

On the above map the North East Coast Scenic Area corresponds to Yilan County; the East Coast Scenic Area corresponds to Hualien County. Yangmingshan National Park is in Taipei.

Wikipedia: "The climate on the island is generally marine and varies widely by season in the Northern part and the mountain areas. The South, however, belongs to the tropical belt and is warm and humid all year. From May to June it's rainy season, with almost daily showers. From July to October typhoons are most likely to strike, on average about four direct hits per year. In the northern part of Taiwan, cloudiness is persistent and extensive during the year; in the south, however, the rainy days are always in the summertime, and 90% of the annual precipitation falls during this period. The annual rainfall is usually more than 2,500 mm (98.4 in), close to 5,000 mm (196.9 in) in some Eastern regions.

"The terrain in Taiwan is divided into two parts: the flat to gently rolling plains in the west, where 90% of the population lives, and the mostly rugged forest-covered mountains in the eastern two-thirds. The highest elevation in Taiwan is Jade Mountain (Yu Shan), at 3951.798±0.072 m in year 2003.

"The western mountain forests are very diverse, with several endemic species such as Formosan Cypress (Chamaecyparis formosensis) and Taiwan Fir (Abies kawakamii), while the Camphor Laurel (Cinnamomum camphora) was once also widespread at lower levels (now mostly cleared for agricultural land)."

Many thanks to Bettaman = Shipher Wu for the many outstanding images he has shared as well as the data he provides with the images.

Please be sure to read individual species/subspecies files as there are many cases where those species/subspecies in the list are recommended as synonyms of nominate subspecies.

Actias heterogyna subaurea Yangmingshan National Park in Taipei County; Nantou County
Actias neidhoeferi Taroko National Park in Hualien County, (Nantou Co., Miaoli Co., BM)
Actias selene ningpoana Taroko National Park in Hualian County; Yilan County, Taipei; Shindian (Hsintien) City, Taipei
Antheraea (Antheraeopsis) formosana Taroko National Park in Hualien County, Fushan Botanical Gardin in Yilan County
Antheraea pernyi Taroko National Park in Hualien County, Fushan Botanical Garden in Yilan
Antheraea yamamai superba Nantou County, Taichung County
Attacus atlas formosanus probably same as nominate species Taipei; Taichung County
Eriogyna pyretorum pearsoni probably same as pyretorum Miaoli,
Loepa formosensis Taichung County
Loepa mirandula
Rhodinia verecunda Taroko National Park in Hualien County
Samia cynthia ricini
Samia wangi Yangmingshan National Park in Taipei,
Samia watsoni formosana probably same as watsoni
Saturnia (Rinaca) japonica arisana Taoyuan County; Hsinchu County
Saturnia (Rinaca) jonasi fukudai Nantou County; (Miaoli County BM)
Saturnia (Rinaca) thibeta okurai Yangmingshan National Park in Taipei; Fushan Botanical Garden in Yilan County

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Data from Wayne Hsu:

Tungshih, Taichung (July 24): 1 male Atlas Moth Attacus atlas formosanus, 1 female Golden Emperor Loepa katinka formosensis

Tungshih, Taichung (July 23): 1 male Atlas Moth Attacus atlas formosanus

Fushan-Wulai, Taipei (July 3): 1 female Golden Emperor Loepa katinka formosensis, 1 male Ailanthus Silkmoth Samia cynthia walkeri

Fushan-Wulai, Taipei (June 29): 5 Indian Moon Moth Actias selene ningpoana, 1 Antheraea pernyi, 3 Ailanthus Silkmoth Samia cynthia walkeri

Fushan, Taipe (June 19): 15+ male & 1 female Indian Moon Moth Actias selene ningpoana, 2 male Antheraea pernyi, 2 male Antheraea formosana, 1 female Leopa kaatinka formosensis, 4 male Samia cynthia walkeri (probably wangi).

Fushan Botanical Garden, Ilan = Yilan (June 17): 6 male Indian Moon Moth Actias selene ningpoana

Fushan, Taipei (June 14): 5 male Indian Moon Moth Actias selene ningpoana

Meifeng, Wushe-Tsuifeng, Nantou (June 15): 2 male Indian Moon Moth Actias selene ningpoana, 1 female Actias heterogyna subaurea

Wushe-Tsuifeng, Nantou (June 14): 2 male & 1 female Indian Moon Moth Actias selene ningpoana, 1 male Actias heterogyna subaurea

Shanping, Kaoshiung (June 7): 1 male Indian Moon Moth Actias selene ningpoana

Shichih, Taipei (May 10): 1 male Indian Moon Moth Actias selene ningpoana

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Mercury-vapor lamps (160 W) were used to attract nocturnal insects in the Fushan Experimental Forest (FEF), northern Taiwan (near Taipei and Ilan) during a period from July 1992 to October 1995. Diurnal moths were collected by sweep nets. Moth larvae were also collected during daytime and then reared with foodplants in the laboratory until their emergence. 11 species of Saturniidaewere collected) Warneke, Ling-Mu Jaung, Yi-Ming Chen:

Actias heterogyna subaurea
Actias selene ningpoana
Antherea formosana
Antheraea pernyi
Antheraea yamamai superba
Caligula thibeta okurai
Loepa megacore formosensis; Naumann indicates formosensis is a distinct species. April
Loepa miranda probably mirandula
Rhodinia vercunda
Attacus atlas formosanus
Samia cynthia walkeri equated with cynthia by Peigler, but probably not what was encountered in Taiwan; more likely wangi.

The elevation of Fushan is between 400 and 1,400 m. The vegetation of the site is subtropical mixed evergreen hardwood forest dominated by Fagaceae and Lauranceae.