DISTRIBUTION:

The rare Actias chapae bezverkhovi moth flies in southern Vietnam: Lam Dong.

Vu van Lien has recently provided me with many images from Vietnam where he travels and collects extensively.

Vu Van Lien is a good source of specimens, and may also be able to provide eggs. Contact him at vulien@gmail.com.

The report of Actias chapae in April from Lam Dong (1600m) was a surprise as it placed that species south of its previously described range, and the date suggested a possible earlier brood (previously reported as only having an October-November flight).

Based on a new publication, Nachr.entomol.Ver.Apollo, N.F. 29 (1/2): 71-75 (2008), the specimens from Lam Dong are a newly described subspecies, bezverkhovi.

Actias chapae brezverkhovi male (verso), Vietnam: Lam Dong, 1600 m, April 3-4, courtesy/copyright Vu Van Lien.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Vu Van Lien from Vietnam has advised me Actias chapae bezverkhovi specimens have been taken in April from central/southern Vietnam: Lam Dong (1600m).

I believe the eggs depicted at the bottom of this page were deposited in November, suggesting at least two broods for this subspecies.

Please note: In Nachr.entomol.Ver.Apollo, N.F. 29 (1/2): 71-75 (2008), the moths from central and southern Vietnam on the Langbian Plateau are now assigned as Actias chapae bezverkhovi Andrei V. Sochivko and Nicolai V. Ivshin, 2008. These moths have an April flight with slight, externally visible, differences from the nominate subspecies from further north.

The most "obvious" (perhaps not so obvious) difference is in the juncture of veins R1 and D2. In the nominate subspecies, this juncture occurs at the inner edge of the forewing ocellus, making D2 obsolete. In Actias chapae bezverkhovi this juncture occurs a short distance inside the ocellus and there is slightly more space between the costa and the ocellus.

The forewing apex is slightly produced in A. c. bezverkhovi while in A.c. chapae it is more rounded.

The publication indicates differences in the genitalia of the two subspecies, and reports a molecular marker (subunit I, of the mitochondrial oxidase cytochrome gene (COI) was determined. As no COI reports were available for A. c. chapae no comparison could be made.

It will be very interesting to me to see if subsequent COI analysis of the nominate subspecies supports this differentiation.

A "good" case is made for differentiation of the two subspecies based on flight seasons, indicating that extensive collecting has occured in northern Vietnam and southern China, but there appears to be no April (spring) flight.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Females extend a scent gland from the posterior tip of the abdomen to call in night-flying males, which utilize highly developed antennae to track the pheromone plume.

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS AND PUPAE:

This species is probably a pine feeder.

Actias chapae bezverkhovi eggs, Lam Vien Plateau, Nui Ba Nat. Reserve, Vietnam,
12º10´N ∙ 108?40´E, 9-18.11.2008, 1300-1500m, Leg/Coll. Y.Bezverkhov & V.Sinyaev.
Expedition of Yuri Bezverkhov and Victor Sinyaev,
cultivation by Steve Kholl and Victor Sinyaev.

We hope that Steve and Victor will have success with rearing, and thanks to Yuri Bezverkhov and Victor Sinyaev for their interesting finds. The eggs of subspecies bezverkhovi are very different from those of nominate chapae below.

Actias chapae chapae eggs, Guangxi, China, courtesy of V. sinyaev.

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