Antheraea paphia

Antheraea paphia, known as the South India small tussore, the tasar silkworm and vanya silkwormKavane, R. P. (2014). Syzygium cumini L. – A potential new host of tropical tasar silkworm, Antheraea mylitta Drury (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae). Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies 2(1) 33-37. is a species of moth of the family Saturniidae found in IndiaChakraborty, S., et al. (2015). Genetic analysis of Indian tasar silkmoth (Antheraea mylitta) populations. Scientific Reports 5 15728.Maxwell-Lefroy, H., 1909. Indian Insect Life: a Manual of the Insects of the Plains. 1-786 and Sri Lanka. The bulk of the literature on this species uses a junior synonym, Antheraea mylitta, rather than the correct name, A. paphia. It is one of a number of tasar silkworms, species that produce Tussar silk, a kind of wild silk that is made from the products of saturniid silkworms instead of the domesticated silkworm (Bombyx mori).Jolly, M. S., Sen, S. K., and Das, M. G. (1976). Silk from the forest. Unasylva 28(114) 20-23. This species is variable, with at least 44 identified ecoraces, populations adapted to varied ecological conditions and food plants. Ten ecoraces are used for silk production and have been studied to obtain data about their life cycles and silk characteristics.Saha, M., Mahendran, B., and Kundu, S. C. (2008). Development of random amplified polymorphic DNA markers for tropical tasar silkworm Antheraea mylitta. Journal of Economic Entomology 101(4), 1176-82.Hansda, G, et al. (2008). Ex-situ stabilization and utility prospects of Jata ecorace of tropical tasar silkworm Antheraea mylitta Drury. International Journal of Industrial Entomology 17(2) 169-172. Some ecoraces are so well differentiated that they do not interbreed in nature, though they are not genetically distinct and can be bred in captivity.

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