Page 370 - The Book of Caterpillars: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred Species From Around the World

MOTH CATERPILLARS

FAMILY Saturniidae
TRIBUTION
DISTRIBUTION
DISTRIBUTION Spain, India, China, and Japan
DIS
HABIT
HABITAT T Oak woodlands
HABITAT
A
HOS
HOST PLANTS
HOST PLANTS S Oak (Quercus spp.)
T PLANT
NO
NOTE Caterpillar that has produced Tussah silk since 200
TE
NOTE
CONSERVATION STATUS Not evaluated
CONSERVATION STATUS
CONSERV
T
TION S
A
TUS
A
ADULT WINGSPAN
4¼–6 in (110–150 mm)
CATERPILLAR LENGTH
3⅜ in (85 mm)
ANTHERAEA PERNYI
CHINESE TUSSAH SILKMOTH
368
(GUÉRIN-MÉNEVILLE, 1855)
The Chinese Tussah Silkmoth caterpillar feeds on oak leaves and
is farmed in China for its Tussah silk. It completes ve instars

before spinning its cocoon, which is wrapped in a leaf. Tussah
is often produced by wild silkmoths farmed on guarded forest
trees or indoors. Although various other species have been used
over the centuries, the Chinese Tussah Silkmoth has been bred
for 2,000 years. Recent genetic studies suggest the wild Royle

The Chinese Tussah Silkmoth caterpillar is Silkmoth (Antheraea roylei) as the original ancestor of A. pernyi.
green and covered with tiny, white granules.
A pale yellowish stripe on each side ends
in a dark triangle on the claspers of the tail. Unlike the unrelated silkworm moth that produces most
Its spiracles are black ovals with yellow centers,
and its sparse long hairs are mostly yellow. commercial silk, the domesticated Chinese Tussah Silkmoth
The head is tan. can y, and various introduced populations survive in the wild

in Asia and in Europe. The majority of the 80 listed species of
Antheraea occur mostly in Asia, with only four evolving in the
Americas, including the Polyphemus Moth (A. polyphemus)
in North America and A. godmani, with a range from central
Mexico to northern Colombia, which is as far south in the
Americas as oak trees occur.

Actual size