Attacus wardi Rothschild, 1910
Darwin Atlas Moth
 (previously thought to be a subspecies of
Attacus dohertyi Rothschild, 1910)
SATURNIIDAE,   BOMBYCOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley


(Photo : courtesy of Jim Tuttle, near Darwin, Northern Territory)

The Caterpillars of this species feed on

  • Darwin Spice ( Croton habrophyllus, EUPHORBIACEAE ).

    The moth is rusty brown with a double white line extending across each wing, and a large irregular white spot on each wing. It has a wingspan up to 17 cms.


    (Specimen: courtesy of the The Australian Museum)

    The eggs are white and ellipsoidal, each laid singly on a foodplant leaf.


    (Photo : courtesy of Jim Tuttle, near Darwin, Northern Territory)

    The species is found in Australia in

  • the north of Western Australia,
  • Northern Territory, and
  • Melville Island.

    Further reading :

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia,
    Melbourne University Press, 1990, p. 407.

    Lionel Walter Rothschild,
    A new form of Attacus,
    Novitates Zoologicae,
    Volume 17 (1910), p. 507.

    Garry Sankowsky,
    Darwin Atlas Moth,
    Zodiac Publications.

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    (updated 24 August 2004, 20 January 2014, 11 April 2015, 4 October 2020)