DISTRIBUTION:

The rare Actias chapae moth flies in Vietnam: Mount Fan si Pan and southeastern China: Guangdong, Guangxi and Hunan (700m -1850m). Teemu Klemetti provides the following image of a male from Hunan, China.

Actias chapae male, Nanling Mts, Hunan, 15-30, November, 2004

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Teemu indicates he is pretty sure the specimen depicted above was on the wing in November. Hunan, China, is at a latitude similar to that of northern Florida. There is apparently only a single flight in October-November according to an Actias chapae article sent to me by Yeray Monasterio Leon from Entomologischer Verein Apollo, 2006. A subsequent article indicates a slight extension of the flight season into December

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

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.

Actias chapae male lectotype, 1500m, Lepidoptera Section of ZFMK
(Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig),
http://www.museum-koenig.de,
courtesy of Dr. Dieter Stuening, curator and head, via Victor Sinyaev.

I believe it is a montane species (1500m) and may be somewhat restricted by cooler temperatures at higher altitudes. Victor Sinyaev reports moths on the wing at temperatures between 2 and 12 C.

Actias chapae male, Vietnam, courtesy of Teemu Klemetti

Larval hosts are unknown. It is believed to be a pine feeder.

On a recent collecting trip Victor Sinyaev witnessed a bat attack just over his head. The wings (below) fell at his feet.

More recently Victor has been able to get these images of a beautiful pair from China.

Actias chapae male, China, courtesy/copyright Viktor Sinyaev.

Actias chapae female, China, courtesy/copyright Viktor Sinyaev.

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.

Actias chapae male, face, Vietnam, courtesy of Victor Sinyaev.

Actias chapae male (right) and female (left), courtesy of Victor Sinyaev.

Actias chapae female, Vietnam, courtesy of Teemu Klemetti

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS AND PUPAE:

Eggs apparently overwinter in natural habitat, as those taken by Dr. Wu were kept at 15C for almost two months before being brought to room temperature (20C +).

A cool, diapause period may be necessary for the eggs.

Actias chapae eggs, courtesy of Weiwei Zhang.

Actias chapae fourth instar, courtesy/copyright Robert Zaun.

Miss Wang, Dr. Victor Wu's secretary, sent me this information:

"My colleague had already gotten a female Actias chapae in Canton province and the moth began to lay the eggs. Concerning the foodplant of A. chapae, nobody can affirm what it is. Dr. Wu had published his paper with Dr. Stefan Naumann last year about the early stage of this wonderful saturniid. I myself helped Dr. Wu to raise the caterpillars on Pinus armandii and Pinus yunnanensis, but only one lived until the sixth instar, and it died when it was pupating.

"In A. chapae habitat, there are Pinus massoniana and Pinus kwangtungensis. But we can’t get these two species of pine in January. Because the way is too far and the cost always very high. We havd already planted a few of these two species pine in Kunming, Dr.Wu’s private garden, but it grows very slowly.

"Concerning Cunninghamia lanceolata, I can’t affirm it as chapae’s foodplant so far. We bred chapae larvae on it this year. At the first, the larvae ate it, but no larva entered the next instar. They died one by one."

Yes, Dr. Wu found there is Cunninghamia lanceolata in Nanling."

Travelling is now quite expensive in China with many tolls on the highways. If this moth is very much host specific, it may be several years before transplants can be utilized for rearing.

Bernhard Wenczel has sent me a series of Actias chapae fourth instar larva images. Bernhard writes, "I feed them with Abies alba.

"Picea abies, Pinus silvestris and Pinus mugo were accepted by the hatchlings as well, but after a few days those larvae died.

"I keep them under cool conditions (12 - 15°C) and spray the branch daily with water."

We hope Bernhard and others will have some success with rearing this higher altitude, cool weather species.

Serge Yevdoshenko sends images of third, fourth and fifth instars (prepupal) and now cocoon (February 27, 2009) of Actias chapae, reared from eggs from China. He indicates success on Pinus sylvestris. Also included is a larva beginning to spin.

Robert Vuattoux also reports larvae changing from green to brown as they prepare to spin.

Visit Actias chapae fourth and fifth instars on Pinus sylvestris (clone 129), and cocoons, courtesy of Robert Zaun.

Actias chapae, fifth instar on Pinus mugo, courtesy of Robert Vuattoux

Larval Food Plants

It is hoped that this alphabetical listing followed by the common name of the foodplant will prove useful. The list is not exhaustive. Experimenting with closely related foodplants is worthwhile.

Pinus mugo (RV) Pinus sylvestris ....... (SY)

Mountain Pine or Mugo Pine Scots Pine or Scotch Pine

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The pronunciation of scientific names is troublesome for many. The "suggestion" at the top of the page is merely a suggestion. It is based on commonly accepted English pronunciation of Greek names and/or some fairly well accepted "rules" for latinized scientific names.

The suggested pronunciations, on this page and on other pages, are primarily put forward to assist those who hear with internal ears as they read.

There are many collectors from different countries whose intonations and accents would be different.

The species name "chapae" is a feminine name, and it is probably indicative of range in "Chapa (present name Sa Pa), the name of a small town, 6-7km NE of Mt. Fan Si Pan." Dr. Dieter Stuening.

The genus name, Actias, probably comes from the Greek Actaeon, who is the hunter who had the misfortune of being torn to pieces by his own dogs after accidentally encountering the naked goddess Artemis. To punish him, Artemis splashed water on Actaeon and turned him into a stag. There is an Asian species named Actias artemis.

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Actias chapae bezverkhovi