Attacus atlas

The Attacus atlas, also known as the Atlas moth, is a very large moth that lives in the forests of Asia. It was first described by the famous scientist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in his book called the 10th edition of Systema Naturae [/w/3].

This moth is one of the biggest butterflies and moths in the world, with its wings stretching from 250mm to 300mm wide. Females of this moth are bigger and heavier than the males, and the males have wider antennae.

The Atlas moth belongs to a special group of moths called saturniids, which are known for making silk. It is only smaller in wingspan than the white witch and Attacus caesar, and smaller in wing area than the Hercules moth.

Etymology

Atlas moths are named after Atlas, a giant from Greek mythology, because of their large size. In Cantonese, they are called "snake's head moth" because a part of their wing looks like the head of a snake.

Description

Atlas moths lay small, round eggs on the underside of leaves. After about two weeks, green caterpillars hatch and eat leaves from citrus, cinnamon, guava, and evergreen trees. These caterpillars grow up to about 11.5 cm long and have white, waxy spines along their backs.

Once the caterpillars are big enough, they spin a cocoon and turn into adult moths. The adult moths have large wings with bright patterns in reddish brown, black, white, pink, and purple. They look like they have snake heads on their wing tips to scare away predators. Adult moths do not eat and live for only a few days, spending their time looking for a mate. The females release special smells to attract males, who can find them from far away with their antennae.

Habitat

The Atlas moth lives in dry tropical forests, secondary forests, and shrublands. You can find them in South Asia, East Asia, Southeast Asia, and on the island of Borneo.

Relationship with humans

In India, people grow Atlas moths for their silk, but not for business. The silk from Atlas moths is different from the silk made by the domestic silkmoth; it comes in broken pieces and looks more like brown wool, called fagara. Some believe this silk might be stronger. In Taiwan, people sometimes use Atlas moth cocoons to make tiny purses for keeping small coins. Scientists are studying whether this silk could be used instead of regular silk because it might have good qualities, like being stronger and easier to produce.

The Japanese subspecies A. a. ryukyuensis lives on Yonaguni in the Yaeyama Islands.

Threats & Conservation

Things like climate change, catching moths for traps, light pollution, pesticides, losing habitats, and breaking up natural areas make it hard for Atlas moths and other big moths to survive. Even though they are not officially listed as needing protection because there isn’t enough information, they could be at risk. Atlas moths need tropical and subtropical rainforests, secondary forests, and shrublands to live, which is why they could help protect these important places.

Similar taxa

The name "Atlas moth" is sometimes used for any species in the genus Attacus, which has over 20 different types. Attacus taprobanis, found in southern India and Sri Lanka, looks very similar to the Atlas moth and was once thought to be a type of Atlas moth. Some moths in the New World, like those in the genus Rothschildia, can also look like Atlas moths. One of these, Rothschildia aurota, is very big and lives in Neotropical areas.