Coscinocera hercules
| Hercules moth | |
|---|---|
| |
| Mounted male | |
| Scientific classification Edit this classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Saturniidae |
| Genus: | Coscinocera |
| Species: | C. hercules
|
| Binomial name | |
| Coscinocera hercules Miskin, 1876
| |
Coscinocera hercules, the Hercules moth,[1] is a moth of the family Saturniidae, endemic to New Guinea and northern Australia. The species was first described by William Henry Miskin in 1876.
Description
[edit | edit source]Adults have a wingspan of about 27 cm (11 in), making it the largest moth found in Australia, and its wings have the largest documented surface area - 300 cm2 (47 in2) - of any living insect.[2][3] They are mainly colored golden-brown and white, with transparent spots on each of the four wing sections – the coloring and patterns between sexes is mostly static. However, adult males have longer, slimmer tails on their wings than females do, making it somewhat easy to differentiate them in this way.[4]
Their larvae grow up to 12 cm (about 4.7 in), and will weigh around 54 grams in their final instar.[4] They are a pale-blue or green color, with red dots along their sides and yellow spines.[5]
Diet
[edit | edit source]As an adult, the Hercules moth does not eat.[6] Instead, they survive on food stores from when they were a larva.[7] The larvae feed on the leaves of a number of rainforest trees including Dysoxylum mollissimum, Glochidion ferdinandi, Homalanthus populifolius, Polyscias elegans, Timonius rumphii, and Timonius singularis.[8][7]
-
Mounted Female -
Larva
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ iNaturalist: Hercules moth
- ^ Robert G. Foottit & Peter H. Adler. 2009. Insect Biodiversity: Science and Society. Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Rainier Flindt. 2006. Amazing Numbers in Biology. Springer-Verlag, Berlin. Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
External links
[edit | edit source]
- Information about this species at the Atlas of Living Australia.
- View sightings of this species on iNaturalist.
- View images of this species on Flickriver.com.
Lua error in mw.title.lua at line 392: bad argument #2 to 'title.new' (unrecognized namespace name 'Portal'). Lua error in Module:Taxonbar at line 165: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). Lua error in Module:Authority_control at line 153: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
 | This article on a moth of the family Saturniidae is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |