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Updated as per Bouyer's Catalogue des Saturniidae of Africa 1999, November 3, 2005 Updated as per personal communication with Jurgen Vanhoudt (second instar on privet, male and female); April 9, 2014 Updated as per personal communication with Diego Poli and Simona Gosi (eggs, all instars, cocoon, pupae, adults, Ligustrum); March 8, 2015 |
TAXONOMY:Superfamily: Bombycoidea, Latreille, 1802 |
Wind Beneath My Wings |
Antherina suraka male, courtesy of Robert Thompson copyright.
Antherina suraka male, courtesy of Scott Sikes.
Antherina suraka female, courtesy of Horst Kach.
Antherina suraka female, courtesy of Horst Kach.
When larvae first emerge, they are semi-gregarious (first two instars) and appear black.This second stage larva, on plum, developed larger orange markings as it progressed. See an additional series of larval images courtesy of Rainer Plontke. |
I sometimes scan larvae by placing them on foliage "bridged" across a flatbed scanner. In the image to the right, the bridge wasn't high enough and scoli are shown bent by the scanner glass.See second set of Antherina suraka larval images, courtesy of Rainer Plontke. |
Larvae grow at varying rates and there is considerable difference in colouration from one larva to another.Here a fourth instar larva, now a solitary feeder, shows little black. |
This fifth instar larva, reared on plum, did not grow to near its normal size; instead the pupa was about the size of that of a female io.I have seen specimens of this moth that have wingspans approaching six inches. |
This cocoon was spun up in the bottom of the sleeve in behaviour typical of those Saturniidae which leave the host plant to spin in surrounding debris and brush.The pupal shell (emerged) is clearly visible through the light silk mesh. |
Additional larval photos of fourth and fifth instar larvae are depicted to the right.Visit beautiful images of third-fifth instars of Antherina suraka courtesy of Taylor Jones. |
Many thanks go to Leroy Simon for his images |
Visit Antherina suraka males, female, larvae, courtesy of
Patrick Basquin.
Visit Antherina suraka male, female, eggs, all instars larvae, pupa, cocoon, courtesy of
Diego Poli and Simona Gosi.
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The pronunciation of scientific names is troublesome for many. The "suggestion" at the top of the page is merely a suggestion. It is based on
commonly accepted English pronunciation of Greek names and/or some fairly well accepted "rules" for latinized scientific names.
The suggested pronunciations, on this page and on other pages, are primarily put forward to assist those who hear with internal ears as they read.
There are many collectors from different countries whose intonations and accents would be different.
Some of the early describers/namers chose genus and species names indicating some character of the insect, but more often, they simply chose
names from Greek or Roman mythology or history. Those species names which end in "ensis" indicate a specimen locale, and those which end in "i", pronounced "eye",
honour a contempory friend/collector/etc.
The genus name "Antherina", comes from the Latin and Greek word "anther", relating to males. 'Ina' as a suffix means 'a smaller version of' or 'in
the likeness of'. Male Antheraea suraka have well developed antennae, and moth colouration and hindwing eyespots are suggestive of the
Antheraea genus.
The species name 'suraka' might be the original name of the famous Greek city of Syracuse.
Antherina suraka male, courtesy of Jurgen Vanhoudt.
Antherina suraka female, courtesy of Jurgen Vanhoudt.
Antherina suraka third instar on Ligustrum,, courtesy of Jurgen Vanhoudt.
Antherina suraka fourth instar on Ligustrum, courtesy of Jurgen Vanhoudt.
Antherina suraka fifth instar on Ligustrum, courtesy of Jurgen Vanhoudt.