TAXONOMY:

Superfamily: Bombycoidea, Latreille, 1802
Family: Saturniidae, Boisduval, [1837] 1834
Subfamily: Saturniinae, Boisduval, [1837] 1834
Tribe: Saturniini, Boisduval, [1837] 1834
Genus: Antheraea, Hubner 1819
Subgenus: Antheraeopsis, Wood-Mason, 1886

DISTRIBUTION:

The Muga Silk-Moth, also known as Antheraea assamensis = Antheraea assama, flies in lower montane forests from Assam to the Himalayas, most notably in
northern India: Bengal (TL: N India),
Nepal: May-August,
Bhutan: southeastern Bhutan at elevation of 650m, July; Mendrelgang, Tsirang District,
Myanmar,
Thailand: Chiang Mai, Kanchanaburi, Nakhon Nayok,
Laos: possibly castanea and/or youngi in Laos,
Vietnam: possibly castanea in Vietnam.

I believe the male and female immediately below from south facing mountain slopes near Linzhi, Xizang, China; (Tibet); is A. assamensis.

Antheraeopsis assamensis male, southeastern Tibet,
courtesy of 'Huwei-BeetlesofChina2011'

Antheraeopsis assamensis female, southeastern Tibet,
courtesy of 'Huwei-BeetlesofChina2011'

Sundanian populations of assamensis, distinguished by a darker, less rufous brown ground colour are refered to as Antheraeopsis youngi.

This entire group is often listed in the subgenus Antheraeopsis.

" The male is dark, rather purplish brown with slender, strongly falcate forewings. The zone distal to the submarginal is distinctly paler on the forewing. The female has prominent double white submarginals on a dark brown ground, that of the forewing broadening into a triangle at the apex, that of the hindwing looping round the ocellus anteriorly."

"The name youngi applies to all Sundanian populations of assamensis, distinguished by a darker, less rufous brown ground colour. The taxon gschwandneri Niepelt, is referable to A. celebensis Watson rather than assamensis."

Antheraea assamensis, Chiang Mai, Thailand, courtesy of John Moore.

The above specimen would probably be referred to as Antheraeopsis youngi.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Antheraea assamensis flies in the fall, and oak is the favorite food plant. Other hosts in India include Cinnamomum, Laurus, Litsea, Persea (Lauraceae); Magnolia, Michelia (Magnoliaceae); Sarcostemma (Asclepiadaceae); and Symplocos (Symplocaceae).

Female Antheraea assamensis moth.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Females attract the night flying males, which have decidely more falcate wings than females, with an airbourne pheromone.

Antheraeopsis assamensis, male--India; female--Burma, courtesy of John Marchant.

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS AND PUPAE:

Eggs are large, round and flattened and are the stage of winter diapause. Larvae look very much like other Antheraea caterpillars. The body is a deep translucent green and short stiff hairs protrude from the body segments. Larvae like lots of room and warmth. Crowding and cold will quickly bring about death. Egg shaped and fairly large valveless cocoons are spun up in the leaves of the host plant.

In India, "Antheraeopsis assamensis are raised outdoors primarily on two trees--som (Machilus bombycina) [mak' e lus bom bi see' na] and soalu (Litsaea polyantha) [lit say' ee po li an' tha]. The caterpillars are placed on a tree and when they have stripped the tree of foliage, the caterpillars will make a mass exit down the trunk. They are collected by the keepers and placed on another tree.

"When ready to spin their cocoons, these caterpillars once again exit the tree where they were feeding. This behavior allows the keepers to collect and control the caterpillars.

"Each caterpillar is placed into a jali, a container made of dried twigs. The peduncle (silk that anchors the cocoon) is very weak; the caterpillars prefer a low place with numerous twigs to protect them while in their cocoons. The silk is called muga, the Assamese word for the rich amber color of the cocoon.

"Unlike mulberry silk which is bleached and dyed, muga silk has the natural quality of appearing almost like spun-gold. Muga silk is also very durable; articles of clothing have been known to last for 50 years. For six hundred years, muga silk was worn only by the Ahom kings and noble families of Assam.

"The fabric was unknown to the outside world until 1662 when the French explorer Jean Joseph Tavernier traveled through Assam. It still is little known and like all things rare, there are muga silk counterfeiters."

Listed below are primary food plant(s) and alternate food plants listed in Stephen E. Stone's Foodplants of World Saturniidae. It is hoped that this alphabetical listing followed by the common name of the foodplant will prove useful. The list is not exhaustive. Experimenting with closely related foodplants is worthwhile.

Cinnamomum obtusifolium Laurus obtusifolia Litsea citrata Litsea polyantha Litsea salicifolia Machilus bombycina Machilus odoratissima Magnolia sphenocarpa Michelia Persea Pyrus malus Quercus Sarcostemma brevistigma..... Symplocos grandiflora Tetranthera diglottica Tetranthera glauca Tetranthera macrophylla Tetranthera monopetala Tetranthera polyantha

Camphor Laurel/sweetbay Addakurry Soalu Digloti Som Laurel/Sum Chapa Champa Avacado Apple Oak Soom Sweetleaf Digluttee Dighlate Sonhalloo Sualu tree Mezankuri

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On my home computer only: notes on Saturniidae of Bhutan by Ronald Brechlin (in English) as published in Entomo-Satsphingia 2 (1): 47 – 55 (March 2009)

The actual hardcopy editions of Entomo-Satsphingia may be purchased via the link to the left.