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Antheraea
celebensis Watson
Antheraea rumphii celebensis Watson, 1915, Tijdschr. ent., 58: 280.
Antheraea gschwandneri Niepelt, in Strand, 1918, Lep. Niepelt. 2, Nachtrag
1: plate 18.
Antheraea cordifolia sumatrana Niepelt, 1926, Int. ent. Z., 20: 257.
Antheraea frithi javanensis Bouvier, 1928, Bull.Hill Mus.,
Witley, 2: 137.
Antheraea frithi sensu Holloway, 1976: 85.
Antheraea celebensis Watson; Holloway, 1981: 124; Lampe, 1985: 12.
Antheraea
celebensis 
(.61
natural size)
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Antheraea
celebensis
(yellow form)
(.61
natural size)
|
Antheraea
celebensis
(.61
natural size)
|
Diagnosis. This species has variegated grey-brown
wings with a variable quantity of yellow highlights basal to the
submarginals; this yellow is particularly evident in the forewing cell and
subapically. An extreme form from Tawau, Sabah, (illustrated) is more
extensively yellow as in frithi Moore from mainland Asia. See also the
diagnosis of moultoni below.
Taxonomic notes. This taxon is probably the sister-species of the
mainland Asian A. frithi Moore, and the synonymy was discussed by Holloway
(1981). The identity and relationship to celebensis of A. fickei
Weymer
from Sulawesi needs investigation. No material referable to celebensis was
taken in N. Sulawesi during Project Wallace, but there was a similar
species with smaller ocelli that was common in montane forest: this may be
fickei. There are also two taxa from the Moluccas, all based on females,
that may prove to be conspecific and allied to celebensis when further
material of both sexes has been collected. These Moluccan taxa are:
rumphii Boisduval (Amboina); buruensis Bouvier (Ceram, Buru). These taxa
may be the most easterly representation of the true Antheraea.
Sundanian material has less falcate forewings than typical celebensis; it
could therefore be considered as A. celebensis geschwandneri Niepelt stat.
n.
Geographical range. Sulawesi, Sundaland.
Habitat preference. The species is infrequent in lowland forest (Ulu
Temburong, Brunei; Tawau, Sabah; lowlands of G. Mulu, Sarawak) and has
been taken in the upper montane zone of G. Kinabalu and Bukit Retak.
Biology. Arora & Gupta (1979) record A. frithi as feeding on
Shorea (Dipterocarpaceae).
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