About Pergesa acteus Cramer, 1779
Pergesa acteus, first described by Cramer in 1779, has a wingspan of 64 to 80 millimeters. Its head, thorax, and abdomen are purplish grey, a coloration that distinguishes it from Theretra nessus. The vertex of the head, along with a dorso-lateral stripe running along the thorax and abdomen, is green. The forewings are purplish grey, with a green oblique central area extending from below the apex to the inner margin, where several indistinct lines are present. It also has an irregular dark outer area that contains some yellow marking inside. The hindwings have a pointed anal patch and pointed submarginal band. Mature larvae are greenish, with a dark dorsal line and a pale subdorsal line on the thoracic segments. The fourth body segment bears a large ocellus, which is white with a brown ring, and has a center of blue and green. The ocelli on the fifth to tenth body segments are bluish with yellow centers. The lateral region of the larval body is greenish, and the larval horn is yellowish. The caterpillars of this moth feed on species from the following genera: Alocasia odora, Syngonium podophyllum, Amorphophallus, Arisaema, Caladium, Colocasia, Dieffenbachia, Begonia, Commelina, Leea, Cissus and Vitis. This species is distributed across Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Myanmar, Thailand, eastern and southern China, Taiwan, Japan (specifically the Ryukyu Archipelago), Peninsular Malaysia, Indonesia (Sumatra, Java, and Sulawesi), and the Philippines.
