DISTRIBUTION:

Saturnia (Rinaca) japonica arisana moth (wingspan: males: approx. 100mm; females: approx. 90mm) flies in
Taiwan: Lalishan, Taoyuan County; Guanwu, Hsinchu County, and possibly in other locales.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Adults fly in the fall (August-September-October-November) and females deposit eggs that overwinter.

Larvae feed upon a great many food plants.

Franz Renner writes of the nominate species, "My experience, based on Japanese and Siberian material, is that the best foodplant is Juglans (Walnut). Quercus (Oak) is also a possible foodplant."

I suspect this subspecies would feed on same hosts.

Saturnia (Rinaca) japonica arisana female, Taiwan, August 31, 2007, courtesy of Li-An-Shn.

Saturnia (Rinaca) japonica arisana female, Lalishan, Taoyuan County, Taiwan,
90mm, September 26, 1989, on my home computer only.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Females extend a scent gland from the tip of their abdomens to "call" the males. Males use their antennae to hone in on the airbourne pheromone.

The forewings of the female are rounded in contrast to the more falcate form of the males.

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS AND PUPAE:

Shin-ichi Ohshima reports cherry, chestnut, willow, popular, apple, oak, black alder beech, and just about anything else serve as hosts in Japan (for the nominate subspecies) with eggs hatching in April in Tokyo. This is an easy species to rear.

Diapause is in the egg stage with moths flying in the fall.

Japonica larvae have the long green body hairs typical of this genus.

In the fourth and fifth instars body hairs are especially long relative to body size right after a moult.

Perhaps it was a Caligula larva that inspired some of Jim Henson's muppets.

Marc Fischer has sent images of first and fifth instar Saturnia (Rinaca) japonica arisana larvae from Taiwan. It is the first time that larvae of this subspecies are depicted on WLSS. We hope Marc has continued success and will be able to photograph the adults.

Saturnia (Rinaca) japonica arisana first instars,
Taiwan, courtesy of Marc Fischer.

Saturnia (Rinaca) japonica arisana fifth instars,
Taiwan, courtesy of Marc Fischer.

Mature larvae spin an extremely porous cocoon which is affixed longitudinally to host stems. The muddy, grey-brown pupa and discarded larva skin are visible through the "mesh".

Larval Food Plants

Listed below are primary food plant(s) and alternate food plants (for nominate subspecies). 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.

Acer Aesculus hippocastanum Castanea crenata Castanea mollissima Catalpa bungei Cercis siliquastrum Cinnamomum camphora Corylus heterophylla Crataegus Juglans regia Lagerstroemia indica Malus sylvestris Platanus Populus deltoides Prunus Prunus armeniaca Prunus persica Prunus salicina Prunus virginiana Pyrus communis Quercus Quercus acutissima Quercus serrata Quercus variabilis Salix Schleichera oleosa Toxicodendron vernicifluum...... Viburnum opulus Zelkova serrata

Maple Horse Chestnut Japanese chestnut Chinese Chestnut Catalpa Rosebud/Judas tree Camphor tree European filbert; European hazel Hawthorn English walnut Crape Myrtle Crab Apple Sycamore Aspen, cottonwood, poplar Cherry Apricot Peach Santa Rosa Plum Chokecherry Pear Oak Sawtooth oak Konara Oriental Oak Willow Kosum Varnish Tree European Cranberrybush Japanese zelkova

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