Attacus atlas

[Roger C. KENDRICK]

Subject:    Attacus atlas
Date:       Mon, 17 Nov 1997 09:20:20 +0100
From:       Jurgen Ziesmann
Newsgroups: sci.bio.entomology.lepidoptera

> Hello everybody

> In our institute we have done some work on sex pheromones of Attacus
> atlas, on their pheromone binding proteins and other olfaction related
> properties this summer.
> The (so far unpublished) results are quite surprising and therefore we
> would like to know more about ecology and behaviour.

> "Attacus species are among the larges butterflies on earth. Beautiful
> colored, enormous wing span ....
> Pupal stage can last for over one year." 

> That is basically all we could find so far. Who does know good sources
> for information on Attacus spp. biology? Has anybody ever watched them
> in nature and can add some observations?

> Any help greatly appreciated

> Jurgen Ziesmann

Hi Jurgen,

Work undertaken so far in Hong Kong indicates A.atlas is double brooded
in Hong Kong, with adults seen in April/May and again in September. This
may differ in other regions. A couple of references you should find
useful would be:

	 Holloway J.D., 1987. The Moths of Borneo: part 3; Lasiocampidae,
Eupterotidae, Bombycidae, Brahmaediae, Saturniidae, Sphingidae.
Southdene Sdn. Bhd., Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  
and
	 Pinratana Bro. A. & Lampe R.E.J., 1990. Moths of Thailand - vol.1 :
Saturniidae. Bosco Offset, Bangkok. 

Hope this helps.

regards,

Roger.

________________________________________________
Roger C. KENDRICK
PhD student & Demonstrator, Dept of Ecology & Biodiversity
The University of Hong Kong
fax: (852) 24885285
mailto:kendrick at hkusua.hku.hk
http://web.hku.hk/~kendrick/hkmoth.htm   « Hong Kong Moths »
mail: Kadoorie Agricultural Research Centre
      The University of Hong Kong
      Lam Kam Road, Shek Kong,
      Yuen Long, New Territories
      Hong Kong