| Attacus | |
|---|---|
| |
| Attacus taprobanis from the Western Ghats of India | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Saturniidae |
| Tribe: | Attacini |
| Genus: | Attacus Linnaeus, 1767 |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Attacus is a genus of moths in the family Saturniidae. The genus was named by Carl Linnaeus in his 1767 12th edition of Systema Naturae.[1]
The genus contains the Atlas moth (Attacus atlas), and Attacus caesar, the second and third largest known moths (in terms of wingspan), though different sources treat one or the other as slightly larger. Both are outclassed by the largest, (in terms of wingspan) moths, Thysania agrippina, also known as the White Witch Moth.[2][3]
Like other saturniid moths, adults lack a fully formed digestive tract and do not feed.
- ^ "Attacus". Encyclopedia of Life.
- ^ Book of Insect Records - Chapter 32: Largest Lepidopteran Wing Span
- ^ Peigler, Richard S. (1989). A Revision of the Indo-Australian Genus Attacus (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae). Lepidoptera Research Foundation. ISBN 0961146427. Retrieved 5 June 2018.