Actias selene eberti
Rougeot, 1969

Actias selene eberti courtesy of Chris Conlan.

This site has been created by Bill Oehlke at oehlkew@islandtelecom.com
Comments, suggestions and/or additional information are welcomed by Bill.

TAXONOMY: Superfamily Bombycoidea, Latreille, 1802 Family: Saturniidae, Boisduval, [1837] 1834 Subfamily: Saturniinae, Boisduval, [1837] 1834 Tribe: Saturniini, Boisduval, [1837] 1834 Genus: Actias, Leach, 1815

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DISTRIBUTION:

Actias selene eberti (wingspan 116-122mm) flies in Safed Koh, Pakistan; Sud, Kotkai, into eastern Afghanistan in open landscapes with scattered trees and shrubs up to 2400m altitude.

Eberti adults are very similar to selene but wings are more blue-green with very reduced chocolate and cream eyespots. The body is white, banded horizontally with purple-brown in line with the costa, which is of a similar colour. The 60mm hindwing tails are yellowish, with some pink.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

This subspecies is probably univoltine, with adults on the wing from mid to late June.

Larvae feed on a variety of hostplants.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Males have more falcate wings than females and use highly developed antennae to seek out the females which "call" at night.

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS, AND PUPAE:

Larvae are similar to those of selene.

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.

Alnus glutinosa Andromeda glaucophylla Andromeda ovalifolia Azadiracta indica Castanea Cedrala paniculata Cinnamomum camphora Corylus colurna Crataegus Hibiscus Juglans regia Lannea coromandelica Lawsonia alba Ligustrum Liquidambar styraciflua Mangifera Moringa oleifera Prunus amygdalus Prunus cerasus Prunus padus Pyrus malus Quercus Rhodendron Rhamnus frangula Rhus laurina Salix babylonica Sapium sebiferum Syringa vulgaris Terminalia Zanthoxylum acanthopodium...... Zanthoxylum alatum

European/Black alder Downy bog-rosemary Bog-rosemary Persian lilac Chestnut Cedro/Spanish cedar Camphor Turkish hazel Hawthorn Mallow English walnut Lannea Indian privet privet Sweetgum Mango Horse-radish tree Almond Sour cherry Bird cherry Apple Oak Azalea Alder buckthorn Laurel sumac Weeping willow Chinese tallow-tree Lilac Assegai wood Prickly ash Prickly ash

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