Saturniidae of Indonesia: Lesser Sunda islands

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 areas. This page covers the Lesser Sunda Islands which are divided into two regions:

1) West Nusa Tenggara (Nusa Tenggara Barat) is composed of Lombok and Sumbawa. 2) East Nusa Tenggara (Nusa Tenggara Timur) is composed of Flores, Solor Archipelago, Alor Archipelago, West Timor, Sawu Islands and Sumba.

Here is a summary of the Saturniidae species recorded for the Lesser Sunda Islands, compiled by Ulrich Paukstadt, with some additions by Bill Oehlke:

Actias groenendaeli Roepke, 1954 , Sumbawa, Flores
Actias groenendaeli acutapex Kishida, 2000, Sumba Island
Actias groenendaeli subawaensis (U. Paukstadt & Rougerie 2010) Sumbawa
Actias groenendaeli timorensis (U.Paukstadt, L.H. Paukstadt & Rougerie 2010) Timor
Actias maenas diana Maassen, [1872] Sumatra, Bali, Indonesia, Malaysia

Antheraea alorensis U. Paukstadt & L.H. Paukstadt, 2005, Alor, Eastern Lesser Sunda Islands
Antheraea jana (Stoll, 1782) Sundaland, Andamans, Burma, Bali??
Antheraea kalabahiensis Naumann, 2010, Indonesia, Eastern Lesser Sunda Islands, Alor Island, 5 km NW Kalabahi, 150 m. 1.-8.III.2006
Antheraea kelimutuensis U. Paukstadt, L.H. Paukstadt & Suhardjono, 1997 Indonesia: Flores, Alor.
Antheraea lorosae M. D. Lane, Naumann, & D. A. Lane, 2004, Timor Island
Antheraea pasteuri Bouvier, 1928 Lombok
Antheraea raffrayi (Bouvier, 1928) Bali
Antheraea ranakaensis U. Paukstadt, L.H. Paukstadt, Suhardjono, 1997 Flores, Alor
Antheraea sumbaensis (Naumann 2010) Sumba
Antheraea sumbawaensis (Brechlin, 2000) Sumbawa
Antheraea tenggarensis Brechlin, 2000 Lombok, Sumbawa, Sumba

Attacus atlas (Lineaus, 1758), Bali
Attacus dohertyi W. Rothschild, 1895, Timor, Romang and Damar
Attacus inopinatus Jurriaanse & Lindemans, 1920, Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores, and Sumba
Attacus paukstadtorum Brechlin, 2010, Lombok; Sumbawa
Attacus soembanus (van Eecke, 1933), Sumba
Attacus suparmani U. Paukstadt & L. H. Paukstadt, 2002, Alor Islands

Cricula baliensis Naumann & Loffler, 2010 Bali = elaezia pelengensis
Cricula elaezia pelengensis U. & L. H. Paukstadt, 2009 Bali
Cricula hayatiae U. Paukstadt & Suhardjono, 1992 Indonesia: Flores, Timor
Cricula maxalorensis Naumann and Löffler, 2010 Alor and Pantar islands, all Lesser Sunda Islands of Indonesia
Cricula timorensis ?? Stefan Naumann and David Lane, 2010 East Timor
Cricula trifenestrata javana Watson, 1913 western Java, Malaysia, Bali
Cricula trifenestra tenggarensis U. Paukstadt, L.H. Paukstadt & Suhardjono, 1998 Lombok, Sumbawa, Sumba, Flores

Loepa baliensis U. Paukstadt & L.H. Paukstadt, 2010 Indonesia: Bali
Loepa cynopsis Nässig & Suhardjono, 1989 Indonesia: Java, Bali

Samia abrerai Naumann & Peigler, 2001 East Java, Mt. Argopuro, Indonesia; Bali
Samia kikibudiamini Paukstadt, U., Paukstadt, L. H. & Suhardjono, Y. R. (2002) Alor, Timor
Samia yayukae U. Paukstadt, Peigler & L.H. Paukstadt, 1993 Smaller Sunda Islands of Flores and Timor

The seven regions of Indonesia include the following:

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

6) Maluku Islands: Maluku: Seram, Buru, Ambon, Wetar, Tanimbar; North Maluku (Maluku Utara): Halmahera, Sula.

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.

Return to Southeast Asia

Return to Main Index