Actias aliena

Description

Actias aliena is a moth in the family Saturniidae. It is found in Japan. The wings have bluish to yellowish-greenish blue ground colour, which is more yellowish in summer generations, but always with a dense scale cover. The eyes of the forewings are narrow, with a single armilla, which on the hindwings sometimes has a black or dark grey frame. This frame is absent in the spring generation. The wings have grey transversal postmedial fasciae between the eye and outer margin. The fascia is rather distinct and sometimes slightly undulate, especially in the hindwing. Its mitochondrial genome has been sequenced. Actias is a genus of Saturniid moths, which contains the Asian-American moon moths. Long tails on their hindwings are among their distinctive traits. Other moths with similar appearance are Copiopteryx, Argema and Eudaemonia. The majority of species in this genus feed on the leaves of sweetgum, pine, or similar trees. As with all Saturniids, adult Actias moths lack functional mouthparts so their lifespan after emergence from the cocoon only ranges from a few days to a week.