Grössenunterschiede bei Attacus dohertyi W. Rothschild, 1895 von der Insel Timor (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae)

"The following contribution to knowledge the wild silkmoths (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) of the Indonesian fauna deals in particular with remarkable intraspecific wingspan differences in reared adults of Attacus dohertyi W. Rothscild, 1895 from the western part of the island of Timor, Indonesia. Eggs of A. dohertyi were received from some females which came to light on the island of Timor. The rearing was carried out by the authors under laboratory conditions in Germany, cf. L. H. & U. Paukstadt (2016). Considerable wingspan differences of the female adults were noted in the rearing of A. dohertyi. A possible reason for observed wingspan differences is discussed in this paper. The wingspan differences were most likely not due to a too large breeding density (crowding) and/or the quality of the host plant because most of the adults of the same rearing reached normal wingspans. We assume that small size adults were obtained because retarded small size larvae reached the final stage due to good care by the breeders. With other words, the natural selection which usually is present in nature was completely lacking. Two females of this rearing which are showing maximum wingspan differences are illustrated in color."