DISTRIBUTION:

Actias maenas saja (wingspan; males: 100-117mm; 120-132mm) flies in
Jawa (Java): West Jawa Province, Banten Province, East Jawa Province;
Sumatra;
and possibly on the island of Bali in Indonesia.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

The preferred foodplant is unknown.

Actias maenas saja male

Actias maenas saja male,
Jawa, courtesy of Robert Vuattoux

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Males fly in a zigzag pattern in the night sky in an effort to locate, with their highly developed antennae, the female pheromone plume.

Actias maenas saja female

Actias maenas saja, female, Bali or Java, courtesy of Robert Thompson.

Actias maenas saja, Java, courtesy of Martin Jagelka

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS AND PUPAE:

The first instar larvae are orange with a dark brown saddle, black head, black prolegs and a dark brown anal plate. There is also a dark patch on the first thoracic segment.

Larval appearance changes dramatically as the tiny caterpillars reveal their second instar cloaking. Skin is bright green with scattered yellowish-white dots, and yellow tubercles capped with red. This subspecies is from Indonesia. Second instar image courtesy of Alan Marson.

Actias maenas saja third instar on Eucalyptus gunnii, courtesy of Marie and Alan Marson.

Actias maenas saja fourth instar on Eucalyptus gunnii, courtesy of Marie and Alan Marson.

Some of the fourth instar larvae are displaying orange tubercles while some display the yellow tubercles more characteristic of the fifth instar.

Actias maenas saja fifth instar on Eucalyptus gunnii, courtesy of Marie and Alan Marson.

Of the above caterpillar, Alan writes, "My wife (Marie) took this shot of one of my full grown Actias maenas saja larvae. It's Indonesian, probably from Java or Bali. A bit different from the stock I had a few years ago from Cameron Highlands, Malaysia (which would have been A. maenas diana).

"I reared the previous generation on Liquidambar styraciflua. This generation are on Eucalyptus gunnii. They are easy to rear on either foodplant. Pairing is vey brief in the middle of the night so its difficult to know when they have paired. I've only seen pairings when I've looked in on them at about 3am! They are always separated by morning - but usually still side by side."

Alan's comments indicate the larva is probably of subspecies Actias maenas saja which is reported from Bali.

Actias maenas saja cocoon, courtesy of Marie and Alan Marson.

The cocoon is a lustrous golden-brown and is very porous.

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.

Eucalyptus gunnii Liquidambar styraciflua......

Cider gum Sweetgum

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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 Latin word "maenas" refers to a woman who took part in the "festivities" in honour of the wine god Dionysos in Greek mythology.

I do not know the source of the subspecies name "saja".

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.

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