Samia cynthia

Samia cynthia (Drury, 1773)
(previously known as : Phalaena cynthia)
SATURNIIDAE

Don Herbison-Evans ( donherbisonevans@yahoo.com )
&
Stella Crossley

(updated 28 February 2004)

(Photo: courtesy of Mark Lasko)

This Caterpillar is pale turquoise with tubercles (scoli) and is often covered in a fine white powder. It feeds on the foliage of a variety of trees, including:

Tree of Heaven ( Ailanthus altissima, SIMAROUBACEAE ),

Castorbean ( Ricinus communis, EUPHORBIACEAE ),

Sweetgum ( Liquidambar styraciflua, HAMMAMELIDACEAE ), and

Sumac ( Rhus coriaria, ANACARDIACEAE ).

(Specimen: courtesy of the The Australian Museum)

The adult moth is brown, and each wing has a broad white line extending from the leading to the trailing edge, and half way along, has a white crescent moon joining it to the hinge. The moths have a wingspan of about 15 cms.

The type specimen was originally from China, but the species occurs naturally over much of far-east Asia. This Caterpillar was imported from overseas (as it was into America, and also into Canada and into Europe) as part of an attempt to start a silk industry in Australia. It was first recorded in Sydney in 1907. There is some doubt that the species imported was actually Samia cynthia, and it may have been another species in the same genus. The genus is currently undergoing revision.

The pheromones for this moth have been elucidated.