Actias maenas (Malaysian moon moth)

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Saturniidae
Genus: Actias
Species: A. maenas
Binomial name: Actias maenas
Common names: Malaysian moon moth

We list this moth as a Pahiatua man imported, hatched and redistributed this species. He was fined $11,250 when sentenced in the Palmerston North District Court February 2017 for breaching the Biosecurity Act.
37 live caterpillar and 41 dead moths were found. It is thought the moths were unlikely to establish in New Zealand due to their tropical nature, but associated pathogens living on the moths could have been introduced.

Actias maenas (Saturniidae)-001.jpg

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