Saturniidae of Indonesia

Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 17,508 islands. It has thirty-three provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. The country shares land borders with Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Malaysia. Other neighboring countries include Singapore, Philippines, Australia, Palau, and the Indian territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Many of the thirty-three provinces have their own distinctive Saturniidae populations, but generally they can be grouped into seven regions:

1) Sumatra: Aceh; North Sumatra; West Sumatra; Riau; Riau Islands; Jambi; South Sumatra; Bangka-Belitung; Bengkulu; and Lampung.

2) Java: Jakarta; Jakarta Banten; West Java (Jawa Barat); Central Java (Jawa Tengah); Yogyakarta; East Java (Jawa Timur).

3) Lesser Sunda Islands: Bali; West Nusa Tenggara (Nusa Tenggara Barat); East Nusa Tenggara (Nusa Tenggara Timur).

4) Kalimantan: West Kalimantan (Kalimantan Barat); Central Kalimantan (Kalimantan Tengah); South Kalimantan (Kalimantan Selatan); East Kalimantan (Kalimantan Timur). All part of the island formerly known as Borneo.

5) Sulawesi (Celebes): North Sulawesi; Gorontalo; Central Sulawesi (Sulawesi Tengah); West Sulawesi (Sulawesi Barat); South Sulawesi (Sulawesi Selatan); South East Sulawesi (Sulawesi Tenggara).

6) Maluku Islands: Maluku; North Maluku (Maluku Utara); Seram.

7) Western New Guinea Island: West Papua (Papua Barat); Papua.

The islands of the Sunda Shelf (Sumatra, Java, Borneo, and Bali) were once linked to the Asian mainland, and have a wealth of Asian related Saturniidae. Sulawesi, Nusa Tenggara, and Maluku, having been long separated from the continental landmasses, have developed their own distinct species. Papua was once part of the Australian landmass, and is home to a species most closely related to that of Australia.

The British naturalist, Alfred Wallace, described a dividing line between the distribution and peace of Indonesia's Asian and Australasian species. Known as the Wallace Line, it runs roughly north-south along the edge of the Sunda Shelf, between Kalimantan and Sulawesi, and along the deep Lombok Strait, between Lombok and Bali. West of the line the flora and fauna are more Asian; moving east from Lombok, they are increasingly Australian.

The various regions have their own topography, and often their own distinct species, so they will be treated separately as per the Region links above.

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