DISTRIBUTION:

Cricula andrei, the Scarlet Windowed moth (wingspan 2.5 - 3.0 inches) flies in
India,
Sri Lanka = Ceylon??,
and throughout Malaysia and western Indonesia and southern China: Xizang (Tibet), Sichuan, Yunnan, Hainan, Guangdong, and probably other neighbouring provinces. Possibly andrei is replaced in many of those locations by recent DNA barcoding determinations of new species.

Cricula andrei male, courtesy of Jean-Yves Malmasson.

Cricula andrei male, courtesy of Jean-Yves Malmasson.

Cricula andrei male, lfw: 41mm, Mount Gaoligong, Yunnan, China,
courtesy of "Tim of Insects", id by Bill Oehlke.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

In captivity Cricula andrei is generally double-brooded. In the wild the first brood usually appears in April or May with a second brood on the wing in October.

Cricula andrei larvae eat many fruit trees (especially plum) and also accepts oak, hawthorn, privet, willow, and sallow.

Cricula andrei (female) courtesy of Leroy Simon.

Cricula andrei female, courtesy of Jean-Yves Malmasson.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Females scent and pair at night. The pair usually separates at dawn and is easily disturbed if not left alone.

Males are usually smaller with broader antennae. Their bodies are also slimmer, and males have more-angled wings.

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS AND PUPAE:

Eggs are medium sized, cream coloured, laid in sticky batches, and have a greenish micropyle.

Larvae are pale apple-green, dusted entirely with tiny yellow tubercles. The head is tan and there are larger pink tubercles in regular rows along the dorsal surface. Larvae are slow growing but easy to rear and readily accept food changes/substitutions. Rhododendron is a valuable substitute in the fall when other foliage has deteriorated.

Cricula andrei courtesy of Leroy Simon.

The pupa is short and stout and can easily be seen through the openwork net of its pale golden-cream coloured cocoon which is usually leaf-wrapped.

Larval Food Plants

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.

Crataegus Ligustrum Parthenocissus quinquefolia..... Prunus Pyrus communis Pyrus malus Quercus Rhododendron ponticum Salix Vitis

Hawthorn Privet Virginia creeper Cherry/Plum Pear Apple Oak Azalea Willow Grape

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