Actias ningpoana ningpoana
AKT-ee-usMning-poh-ANN-uh
C. Felder & R. Felder, 1862

Actias ningpoana Hong Kong, courtesy of Roger Kendrick.
http://asia.geocities.com/hkmoths

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

MIDI MUSIC "Moon River" copyright C. Odenkirk MIDI CITY ON.OFF <bgsound src="moon.mid" LOOP=FOREVER>

DISTRIBUTION:

Actias ningpoana (wingspan: 110-130mm) flies in
mainland China: (Hebei, Zhejiang), (Guangdong (GNNNR); Hong Kong, India and Sri Lanka.

There is possibility that this species flies as far south as northeastern Vietnam, based on verso image, provided by Raymond, and identified by unnamed Thai Saturniidae expert. I am pretty sure the image is correctly identified as ningpoana, based on yellow instead of pink in ocelli, but the location is suspect as photographer apparently does not document his items, but does so (indicates location) from memory. I would not be surprised if the species does actually fly as far south as northeastern Vietnam, but it could also be a subspecies of ningpoana, either ningpoana ningtaiwana or ningpoana ninghainana or something unnamed.

Actias ningpoana female, Cao Bang, northeastern Vietnam,
courtesy of Raymond.

Some of the other images on this page are highly suspect regarding ids, as I believe true ningpoana is devoid of the pink found on selene.

Actias ningpoana from
http://163.17.36.1/moth/moth/117/Actias%20selene%20ningpoana.html

Formerly described as a subspecies of Actias selene, Actias ningpoana is now elevated to full species status.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

GNNNR reports March-April and July-August flights in Guangdong, China.

Actias ningpoana larvae consume foliage from a variety of host plants.

Actias ningpoana from
http://163.17.36.1/moth/moth/117/Actias%20selene%20ningpoana.html

ECLOSION:

Actias ningpoana female, courtesy of Wayne Hsu
http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/1803

The wings of the female are much less falcate than those of the male.

Actias ningpoana China, 4000m, courtesy of Julian and Rainer Plontke.

Rainer refers to this moth as "sherpa". Visit images of larvae and another moth at "sherpa".

SCENTING AND MATING:

Females extend a scent gland from the tip of the abdomen to emit an airbourne pheromone. Males fly into the wind in a zig-zag fashion and pick up the scent with their highly developed antennae.

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS AND PUPAE:

Larvae get quite large and spin a papery single-walled cocoon. Larva to right prepares to moult to move into third instar. Larvae feed on willow, beech, oak, sweetgum and hawthorn as well as some cherries. See more complete list below.

Actias ningpoana fifth instar larva, courtesy of Salvador Soares, copyright

Actias ningpoana fifth instar larva, courtesy of Salvador Soares, copyright

Visit Salvador's beautiful images of adult Actias ningpoana in the Photography 2006 section.

Visit Ian Edward's beautiful images of adult Actias ningpoana in the Photography 2008 section.

Listed below are the preferred and alternate food plants listed in Stephen E. Stone's Foodplants of World Saturniidae and/oron various internet sites. 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 cremastogyne Alnus formosana Castanea mollissima Cinnamomum camphora Hibiscus syriacus Lagerstroemia subcostata Liquidambar formosana Malus asiatica Malus pumila Prunus armeniaca Prunus pseudo-cerasus Pterocarya stenoptera Pyrus communis Quercus ilex Salix Sapium sebiferum

Alder Alder Chinese chestnut Camphor Syrian hibiscus Crapemyrtle Formosan gum Apple Apple Apricot Cherry Chinese wing nut Pear Holly/Holm oak Willow Chinese tallow tree

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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.

I do not know the reason for the species name "ningpoana", but I suspect the specimen type is from Ningpo, China.

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.