the indian moon moth

With its large, cherubic features and long trailing tails, the moon moths are one of the prettiest among moths. The Indian Moon Moth belong to the family Saturniidae, commonly known as saturniids, which are among the largest of the moths.

indian moon moth, actias selene

The Indian moon moths are nocturnal or crepuscular – i.e. they favor night or dim/twilight conditions. They are also silk producing moths, and hence tagged as sericigenous. A single cocoon of this moon moth can give continuous fiber of 300 to 350 meters. Silk moths are hence valued based on their voltinism, i.e. the number of broods they produce in an year. The Indian moon moths are trivoltine as they produce up to 3 generations of broods per year.

indian moon moth, actias selene

The Indian luna moths are particular in several ways, especially in the long-range attraction of males to female-produced pheromones. The female moths call the male moths through the secretion of pheromones, a chemical substance secreted to attract the opposite sex. The males are very sensitive to these pheromones that they can detect it from distances of 4 kms to even 11 kms far away! Large moths like these moon moths are probably aided by their flying capacity, and the fact that they are nocturnal helps in relatively non-turbulent night-time conditions.

indian moon moth, actias selene

After their life cycle as egg, larva and pupa, their prettiest stage of life as an adult moth is short for these moon moths. Their adult stage is restricted mostly to reproduction, and they have a lifespan of a week or less once they are out of the pupa. That is a week out of the 2 months which take to complete their life cycle. They probably finish all their feeding during its life stage as a larva/caterpillar. As an adult moth their mouth parts are immature and digestive tracts are absent. Effectively, they don’t have a mouth or digestive system to feed!

Species: Actias Selene, Common Name: Indian Moon Moth, Family: Saturniidae
Date: 23 Mar 2013, 4pm
Location: Namdapha National Park, Arunachal Pradesh, India.
Coordinates: 27.5N, 96.4E between Haldibari and Hornbill Camps
Camera: Nikon D80 + Tamron SP AF90mm f/2.8 Di Macro Lens

Reference:

  1. Deodekar GE, Kshirsagar K, Kamat I (1969) Chromosome Number in Actias Selene Hubner—a Wild Silkworm With Reelable Cocoons. Indian Journal of Genetics and Plant Breeding (The) 29 (1):126-130.
  2. Wall C, Perry J (1987) Range of action of moth sex‐attractant sources. Entomologia experimentalis et applicata 44 (1):5-14.
  3. Kakati L, Chutia B, Rawat G (2009) Diversity and ecology of wild sericigenous insects in Nagaland, India. Tropical Ecology 50 (1):137-146.

22 Responses

  1. asha g. says:

    Thank you for the photos and description of these lovely beings.

  2. Aman says:

    It’s on my wall 16 aug 2022 9:30pm

  3. Avik says:

    I have two times photographic record from southern westbengal.A village near Belpahari situated at jhargram district.Today also I photographed one.

  4. Audry Marsalis says:

    I had never heard of a Moon Moth yet it’s beauty is incomparable.
    As Children we learn of the beauty of Butterflies, but learn only of the destruction of moths and see them as small mostly white flying insects. The first time I saw a moth with large beautifully patterned wings I was amazed. How does a person reach the age of 70 and not know such creatures exist.

  5. varun says:

    can i c this in karnataka ……….what is its host plant

  6. Heth says:

    I’m presciently in possession of 8 Indian moon moth cocoons. The moon moths caterpillar’s are so much fun to look after and I cant wait till they hatch into moths! And then I get to start the looking after all over again 😀

    There are such a great and easy species to breed!!

  7. Rahul k says:

    Excellent photography…. Very inspiring…

  8. lubna says:

    me hand embroidery work karna chahte hoon ghar pe

  9. Samantha says:

    Yes, these “luna moths” as we called them when I was growing up, are all over the area where my parents live. Even now, if I were to return home, any given Spring or Summer night there will be at least 5 or more affixed to the screen doors. Absolutely beautiful moths!

  10. Jiggyasa says:

    wow…this white moth looks so pretty.

  11. Our Jaipur says:

    Nice. . . Few days back only I saw them on Discovery Channel. The show was about Meghalaya.

  12. rocksea says:

    Thanks, MySay, Amith and Renjith 🙂

  13. Renjith says:

    Roxy and Sarah,
    Great Going……

  14. sarah says:

    splendid…the last ‘catch’ of our trek. 🙂

  15. My Say says:

    wow !! I have never had a chance to these creatures in particular .. Awesome photographs !

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