Saturniidae of Indonesia: Moluku Islands and North Moluku 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 regions. This page covers the Maluku Islands.

Here is a summary of the Saturniidae species recorded for the Maluccas, compiled by Ulrich Paukstadt:

Attacus atlas (Lineaus, 1758) , North Moluccas Province ([Bacan Isl. considered erroneous])
crameri C. Felder, 1861 Moluccas Province (Ambon Isl., Saparua Isl., Seram Isl., Buru Isl.), North Moluccas Prov. (Bacan Isl.)
aurantiacus Rothshcild, 1895 Moluccas Province (Kai Archipelago), North Moluccas Province (Bacan Isl.)
dohertyi W. Rothschild, 1895 Timor, Romang and Damar of the eastern Lesser Sunda Islands
intermedius Jurriaanse & Lindemans, 1920 (Tanimbar Archipelago)
paraliae Peigler, 1985 North Moluccas Province (Sanana Isl.)

Coscinocera aruensis Naumann and Loeffler, 2010 Aru Islands
Coscinocera eurystheus Rothschild, 1898 Moluccas Province (Aru Archipelago)
Coscinocera jakli Naumann, 2009 Obi Island, Indonesia
Coscinocera rothschildi Lemoult, 1933 North Moluccas Province (Halmahera Isl.)

Samia burica Brechlin, 2007 Buru Island, North Moluccas, Indonesia
Samia ceramensis (Bouvier, 1927), Seram Island of central Moluccas
Samia naumanni U. Paukstadt, Peigler, & L. H. Paukstadt, 1998 Peleng: Banggai Archipelago and Sulawesi, Sula Islands, Province Central Moluccas
Samia naessigi Naumann and Peigler, 2001 Halmahera Island in eastern Indonesia

Actias groenendaeli Roepke, 1954 Sumbawa, Flores, Sumba, Timor, Moluccas Province (Wetar Isl.)

Antheraea loeffleri Naumann, 2010 Indonesia, Moluccas, Obi Island, south coast, 25 km. N Tapaya village, 1700-1800 m. 20.VI.-20.VII.2008.
Antheraea rolfei Naumann & Löffler in Naumann, 2010 Indonesia, Moluccas, Taliabu Island (an inland island within Sula Island); II.2007
Antheraea hollowayi Nässig & Naumann, 1998 Moluccas Province (Seram Isl.)
Antheraea pelengensis Brechlin, 2000 Sulawesi, Indonesia; North Moluccas Province (Sanana Isl.)
Antheraea rumphii buruensis Bouvier, 1928 Island of Buru
Antheraea rumphii ceramensis Bouvier, 1930 Island of Seram, Province Moluku
Moluccas Province (Ambon Isl., Seram Isl., Buru Isl.)

Cricula trifenestrata banggaiensis Naumann & Paukstadt, 1997 North Moluccas Province (Sanana Isl.); Sulawesi
Cricula trifenestrata serama Nässig, 1989 Moluccas Province (Seram)

Neodiphthera aruensis (U. Paukstadt, L. Paukstadt & Suhardjono, 2003), Moluccas Province (Aru Archipelago)
Neodiphthera buruensis Brechlin, 2005, Buru, Maluku Province of Indonesia.
Neodiphthera ceramensis (Bouvier, 1928), Moluccas Province (Seram Isl., Buru Isl.); Ambon
Neodiphthera sahulensis U. Paukstadt, L. Paukstadt & Suhardjono, 2003 Sahule, Moluccas Province (Aru Archipelago)
Neodiphthera monacha (Staudinger, 1920), Papua New Guinea, possibly Aru Islands
P Neodiphthera sciron (Westwood, 1881) Moluccas ??

Opodiphthera tenimberensis Niepelt, 1934, Tanimbar (Tenimber) Islands, Indonesia, possibly synonym of jurriaansei

N Syntherata doboensis Paukstadt U. & Paukstadt L. H., 2004, Aru Archipelago, southeastern Moluccas
Syntherata innescens Naumann & Brechlin, 2001 Moluccas Province (Ambon Isl., Seram Isl., Buru Isl.) Syntherata janetta (White, 1843) New Guinea, Australia, Moluccas Province (Aru Archipelago)
Syntherata malukuensis Paukstadt, U. & Paukstadt, L. H. (2005) Aru Archipelago, Indonesia
Syntherata pristina (Walker, 1865) Moluccas, Indonesia
Syntherata sinjaevi Naumann & Brechlin, 2001 North Moluccas: Halmahera
Syntherata weymeri Maassen, 1873 Moluccas, Indonesia

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.

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