DISTRIBUTION:

Saturnia (Rinaca) japonica (forewing length: males: 32.15mm; females: 33.65mm) flies in northern and eastern China (Hebei, Heilongjiang, etc.,), Japan, North and South Korea, the Russian Far East, Primorye and Amur.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

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

Larvae feed upon a great many food plants.

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

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.

Saturnia (Rinaca) japonica japonica male, Japan, courtesy of Shin-ichi Ohshima
Okegawa, Saitama-pref., Honshu, Japan East. September 20, 1995

There is considerble variation among moths:

Saturnia (Rinaca) japonica male copyright Kirby Wolfe

Image by Kenichiro Nakao, August 20, Todai, Nagano, Japan.

Visit Saturnia (Rinaca) japonica male, e.o., courtesy of Horst Kach.

Visit Saturnia (Rinaca) japonica male, Japan, courtesy of Jurgen Vanhoudt.

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS AND PUPAE:

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

Jurgen Vanhoudt reports succes on Common Osier (Salix viminalis).

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. This one seems to be doing fine on apple.

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". Shin-ichi Ohshima writes, "The larvae of Caligula japonica usually spin cocoons on the branch or trunk of the foodplant, but a number of larvae often come down from foodplant, especially in such cases where there are large numbers of larvae at a small foodplant tree."

Saturnia (Rinaca) japonica on willow courtesy of Alan Marson.

Saturnia (Rinaca) japonica fourth instar on Common Osier,
courtesy of Jurgen Vanhoudt

Saturnia (Rinaca) japonica fourth instar on Common Osier,
courtesy of Jurgen Vanhoudt

Larval Food Plants

Listed below are primary food plant(s) and alternate food plants listed in Stephen E. Stone's Foodplants of World Saturniidae and/or on various internet sites or personal communication (Shin-ichi Ohshima; Jurgen Vanhoudt). 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 Salix viminalis (JV) 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 Common Osier Kosum Varnish Tree European Cranberrybush Japanese zelkova

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