Yeray Monasterio León writes on May 6, 2007, "Here I send you some nice pictures of Actias (=Graellsia) isabelae. They are from Sierra de Cazorla, Jaén - Andalucía. 28-04-2007 (ssp. ceballosi).
"The correct name is isabelae with just one "l". Spanish lepidopterologists are trying to correct this becouse it was a translation mistake from Spanish into French. The species was dedicated to Queen Isabel, and, when it was translated into French, they wrote Isabella (the same name in French).
"The main problem we have is that the original copy of this species' description is lost.
"About distribution. You say: 'Graellsia isabellae, The Spanish Moon Moth, (wingspan up to 100 mm) inhabits submediterranean-continental forests (700 to 1800 m) of the Sierra de Guadarrama near Madrid, Spain, and is also found around Bronchales with infrequent appearances in southern France in the Durances Valley.'
"I complete this information with the following:
"LEGAL PROTECTION:
It is classified in the Spanish National Endangered Species Catalog
in the category “specially interesting”.
It is protected too by:
- Berna´s Convention in 1979
- Habitat Directive (Anexo II)
- Madrid´s Community law 2/1991
Graellsis isbelae ceballosi male, verso, courtesy of Yeray Monasterio Leon.
In Spain.
Occidental Pyrinees (Vasc Country and Aragon).
Oriental Pyrinees (Cataluña). This is the biggest area.
Caro Ports (or Beseit´s or Tortosa´s), at sud-west Tarragona´s
Province. This is the smaller area in the Iberian Peninsula.
Meridional Iberic System. This area includes Teruel, Cuenca,
Guadalajara and Castellon. This population is subdivided in three
areas.
* Sª de Albarracín, Montes Universales y Serranía de Cuenca. The area
where this species is more common.
* Sª de Javalambre
* Sª de Gúdar (Perol) y Mazizo de Peñagolosa (Castellón)
* Sierras de Cazorla y Segura (Jaén) y Sª de Alcaraz (Albacete).
This is the southest population and the only one which eats
Pinus nigra ss. salzmanii (Pinus laricio) and not
Pinus sylvestris as the other populations.
In France:
Jura Mountains, near Switzerland. It is a very small population. It
is the northernmost limit for this species (regarded as
Graellsia isabellae galliaegloria in France).
Occidental Alps. In the Hautes-Alpes. It is the best stabilised
population in France. It was 1922 when Oberthür found the first
specimen of this species in France.
"There were described some subspecies, but various authors have equated all of them. For the moment Actias (=Graellsia) isabelae is a monotypic species.
"BIOLOGY
Adult.
This species is monovoltine; they fly only in the night between May
and June.
It is considered the most beautifull butterfly in Europe. Wings are
mainly green with red/brown veins. In the four wings they have one
ocellum with many colours. Both sexes have ocelli in their back
wings, and these ocelli are bigger in males.
Adult moths are attracted by lights (both white light and UV). This
is a problem for their populations, because those moths which go to
human population lights will not fly more that night until next night.
Egg.
The female starts laying eggs in the evening (after dark) once
the pair is no longer in copula. in very small groups.
Brown eggs are depostied in small groups.
Larva.
Larval coloration is black at the time of emergence from the egg.
Larvae then are grey-brown (very similar to pine branches), and
finally they are mainly green with white spots and a few long hairs.
Larvae feed in June, July and August. They pupate on the forest
floor, under earth, moss, pine leaves...
Pupa.
The pupa is protected by a medium-strong brown cocoon. It remains on
the floor all winter.
Graellsia isabelae ceballosi female pupa,
removed from cocoon, ready to emerge, courtesy of Yeray Monasterio Leon.
Many thanks to Yeray for this fine article and for the beautiful images. Best wishes to those trying to return to the use of the honourific name "isabelae".
Over the years a number of outstanding images of Graellsia isabelae have been sent to me. In some cases they were listed as Graellsia isabellae while in others they were listed as Actias isabellae. It will be interesting to see if the spelling will be corrected to its original intended use, to honour Queen Isabel of Spain.
Visit:
Actias isabellae, courtesy of Anthony Darby.
Graellsia isabellae female, Jean Haxaire
Graellsia isabellae male by Scott Smith, May 13, 2001
Graellsia isabellae male and female by Bob Vuattoux, May 13, 2001
Graellsia isabellae male and female, by Bernhard Wenczel, posted May 20, 2002
Graellsia isabellae male and female, by Viktor Suter, posted May 20, 2002
Graellsia isabellae and Samia cynthia first instar larvae by Aldo Tonon, posted July 16, 2002.
Graellsia isabellae female, courtesy/copyright Robert Thompson
One of the reasons for placing Graellsia isabelae in the genus Actias was the outstanding success had in France with successful and beautiful hybridization of Graellsia isabelae with many Actias species:
Visit:
Actias luna x Graellsia isabellae by Chris Conlan, Robert Lemaitre and Bob Vuattoux
Actias luna x Graellsia isabellae by Rainer Plontke, Franz Renner and Bob Vuattoux
Graellsia isabellae x Actias artemis by Dominique Ades and Bob Vuattoux
Graellsia isabellae x Actias dubernardi larva and prediction by Dominique Ades (part of team)
Hybrid of Graellsia isabellae x Actias dubernardi courtesy of Dominique Adès
Graellsia isabellae x Actias dubernardi larvae and male (eggs from team) courtesy of Rainer Plontke
Graellsia isabellae galiaegloria x Actias gnoma by hybridization team
Graellsia isabellae x Actias heterogyna by Bob Vuattoux
Graellsia isabellae x Actias isis by Bob Vuattoux
Graellsia isabellae x Actias selene by Raymond Cocault
Graellsia isabellae x Actias selene by Felix Stumpe
Graellsia isabellae x Actias sinensis larvae by Robert Lemaitre
Graellsia isabellae x Actias sinensis male and larvae by Horst Kach
Graellsia isabellae x Actias selene larva by Bob Vuattoux
Graellsia isabellae x Actias truncatipennis by Bob Vuattoux
Use your browser "Back" button to return to the previous page.