Archaeoattacus staudingeri
(W. Rothschild, 1895)

Archaeoattacus staudingeri female, Borneo
courtesy of Andreas Riekert, Germany

TAXONOMY: Superfamily: Bombycoidea, Latreille, 1802 Family: Saturniidae, Boisduval, [1837] 1834 Subfamily: Saturniinae, Boisduval, [1837] 1834 Tribe: Attacini, Blanchard, 1840 Genus: Archaeoattacus, Watson, 1914

MIDI MUSIC "Asian Spring Blossoms" ON.OFF <bgsound src="AsianSpringBlossoms.mid" LOOP=FOREVER>

DISTRIBUTION:

Archaeoattacus staudingeri (wingspan: approximately 180-200mm) flies in
Java: West Jawa Province, East Jawa Province;
Sundaland;
Borneo;
Sumatra: and
Malaysia: Tepah Hills, Cameron Highlands (900m), and in Sabah: Mt. Trusmadi.

Archaeoattacus staudingeri male, Frasers Hill, Malaysia, courtesy/copyright Preston Murphy.

"The species is a deeper, purplish brown than A. atlas, with a more angular forewing postmedial line that is edged distad by grey patches in the spaces and concave distad anterior to the angle. Forewing apical markings are grey rather than pale brown or yellow."

Archaeoattacus staudingeri male, Kundasang, Ranau, Sabah, Borneo,
April 1, 2013, courtesy of Lorenzo Comoglio.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Teemu Klemetti offers the following regarding flight on peninsular Malaysia: This species flies at least during the month of April with "only one observation, male, 25th, April, 8:30pm."

In Cameron Highlands, Malaysia, there are flights in February and November, and posibly at other times.

John Kamps reports an October flight on Mt. Trusmadi, Sabah, Malaysia.

A May flight has been reported on Aceh, Sumatra.

Archaeoattacus staudingeri male, Mt. Trusmadi, Sabah, Malaysia,
October, 2006, courtesy of John Kamps.

Archaeoattacus staudingeri female, Mt. Trusmadi, Sabah, Malaysia,
October, 2006, courtesy of John Kamps.

Ailanthus and Kashi holly are favorite natural hosts as are Machilus (Magnoliaceae) and Prunus (Rosaceae) .

Archaeoattacus staudingeri male, Borneo
courtesy of Andreas Riekert, Germany

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Females extend a scent gland from the posterior tip of the abdomen to call in night-flying males.

Archaeoattacus staudingeri male, North Borneo
courtesy of Andreas Riekert, Germany

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS AND PUPAE:

Eggs are deposited singly and the larvae are solitary feeders.

Larvae like warmth and humidity and prefer ailanthus. A fine white powder covers larvae after each moult but quite a bit rubs off as they crawl through foliage.

Larvae pass thorough five instars and at maturity spin cocoons that will be double-walled, as per the Attacus species, but like edwardsii larvae tend to incoroporate twigs and leaf stems into the spinning.

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.

Ailanthus altissima...... Ilex chinensis Ligustrum Populus Prunus Salix Syringa vulgaris

Ailanthus Kashi holly Privet Poplar Cherry Willow Lilac

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Archaeoattacus staudingeri??? male, Aceh, Sumatra,
May 15, 2010.