Showing posts with label Saturniidae. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Saturniidae. Show all posts

Thursday 21 August 2014

Loepa katinka (Golden Emperor moth - male) - Sikkim Moth

Loepa katinka (Golden Emperor moth)

Place : Shantinagar, Singtam, East Sikkim,
Date:July 16, 2014
Pic: Shital Pradhan



Scientific classification

Kingdom:            Animalia
Phylum:               Arthropoda
Class:                   Insecta
Order:                  Lepidoptera
Family:                 Saturniidae
Genus:                  Loepa
Species:                L.katinka
Binomial name:    Loepa katinka (Westwood, 1848)


Other Names: Golden Emperor moth


Special feature: The Golden Emperor moth (Loepa katinka) is a species of moth found in Southeast Asia and South Asia. This is one of the bigger moth and is mostly found during monsoon.

The male moth is recognized by bushy, feathered antennae and angular forewings. Adult moths have primitive mouthparts and do not feed. The caterpillars are a striking dark brown color with yellow triangles along each side and metallic blue protrusions along the dorsal surface. They feed on vines until they are ready to spin their wild silk cocoons. Cultivating silk moths for fabric production has a long history starting in 2700 B.C. with the Chinese. They kept their secret until 300 AD, when their techniques spread to Korea and Japan (http://www.insects.org).


They have a short adult life, less than a week and it feeds on food that had been stored during there caterpillar days.