Guwahati, May 26: Scientists have reported the first-ever sighting of the Indian Moon Moth (Actias selene) from Pampoli village in East Kameng district, Arunachal Pradesh, adding a significant record to India’s lepidopteran biodiversity map.
The rare observation was made on April 5, 2024, at the Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) campus in Pampoli, a remote agricultural research station located about 9 km from Sappa town. The finding, documented by Wajid Hasan and colleagues, has been published in the Uttar Pradesh Journal of Zoology, confirming a new distributional record for the district.
Actias selene, commonly known as the Indian Moon Moth, belongs to the family Saturniidae under the order Lepidoptera. Although widely distributed across India and several parts of Asia—including China, Japan, Nepal, Bhutan, and Myanmar—this is the first time the species has been scientifically recorded in Pampoli, a biodiverse but underexplored area in Arunachal Pradesh.
“This discovery indicates the ecological richness of East Kameng and highlights the need for focused entomological surveys in lesser-known regions,” the authors noted.
The male specimen, which was identified based on its diagnostic features—pale green wings with long tail-like extensions and prominent eye-spots—was found under typical pre-monsoon temperatures around 23°C. The sighting took place in a habitat rich with diverse plant species, many of which serve as larval host plants for silk moths.
Indian Moon Moth (Actias selene) gets its name primarily due to its elegant, moon-like appearance. Its wings are a delicate pale green, often with a whitish shimmer that resembles moonlight. This ethereal glow gives it a soft, luminous quality, especially when seen under night lighting or moonlight.
The Moon Moth is best known for its striking appearance and ephemeral adult life span. It does not feed during adulthood due to vestigial mouthparts, surviving for just about a week, long enough to mate and reproduce. Its caterpillars, however, feed on a wide variety of host plants, including Mangifera indica, Shorea robusta, Quercus species, and Musa spp.
The new record contributes to conservation knowledge at a time when habitat loss and climate change pose growing threats to insect biodiversity in the Eastern Himalayas. The authors suggest that protecting larval host plants and conducting community awareness programs can aid in the conservation of this visually striking but vulnerable species.
The study was a collaborative effort involving researchers from the Zoological Survey of India, Krishi Vigyan Kendras in Arunachal Pradesh and Bihar, and the Central Agricultural University in Meghalaya.
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