Antheraea tonkinensis luteofrithi Naumann, Nässig & Löffler, 2017

Spitsyn, Vitaly M. & Spitsyna, Elizaveta A., 2025, Morphology of the preimaginal stages of Antheraea tonkinensis luteofrithi Naumann, Nässig & Löffler, 2017 (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae), Ecologica Montenegrina 88, pp. 45-48 : 46-48

Antheraea tonkinensis luteofrithi Naumann, Nässig & Löffler, 2017

Fig. 1

Material examined. LAOS: Attopu Province , tropical forest, 14°44'08"N, 107°29'17"E, 10– 17.07.2023, E. Spitsyna & V. Spitsyn leg. – 2♀ ; 2 ♂ reared from eggs of wild females collected in Attopu Province. VIETNAM: Song Tranh-2, Reserv. Dam., tropical forest, 15°19'42"N, 108°08'58"E, 09– 20.11.2013, G. Antonovskaya leg. – 1♂ .

Morphology of preimaginal stages: Eggs creamy white, matte, with two lateral light brown lines; oblate spheroid in shape (length ca. 2.3 mm); attached to substrate; incubation period takes 13 days. L1: length at hatching 5 mm; length before first molting 11 mm; head capsule black with sparse translucent white setae; prothoracic shield black; eyes black; ground colour yellow; thoracic segments T 2 through T 3 and abdominal segments A1 through A9 bear two or three encircling black-brown lines; thoracic segment T 1 bears six scoli with white and brown setae, and each lateral scoli situated on protrusion; all remaining segments bear eight scoli, and dorsal and lateral scoli each situated on protrusion, while ventral scoli small and lacking protrusions; spiracles black. L2: length after molting 11 mm, length before second molting 16 mm; head capsule brown with sparse translucent white setae; prothoracic shield yellow-green with four large black spots; eyes dark brown; ground colour pale green; one pale yellow line running along body laterally; scoli orange or black-orange, elongated, with short brown setae; each of abdominal segments A1 through A7 has two lateral small diffuse brown spots situated over and beneath spiracle; spiracles black with pale green inner margin; abdominal prolegs with large dark brown spot, anal proleg with large triangular brown spot. L3: length after molting 16 mm, length before third molting 26 mm; head capsule brown with sparse dark brown setae; prothoracic shield yellow-green with four black spots; eyes dark brown; ground colour green; one diffuse pale yellowbrown line running along body laterally; scoli entirely red or red with black apex, elongated and having short black-brown setae; abdominal prolegs with large dark brown spot and black dots bearing one long seta each; anal proleg with large triangular black-brown spot; spiracles black. L4: length after molting 26 mm, length before fourth molting 42 mm; similar to L3 but differs by presence of lateral clear yellow and reddish bicoloured line and absence of black spots on prothoracic shield; lower row of lateral scoli bluish and edged with red; abdominal prolegs lacking large black-brown spot. L5: length after molting 42 mm, length before fifth molting 50 mm; head capsule brown with sparse long dark brown setae; eyes dark brown; ground colour green; one pale yellowish-reddish line running along body laterally; scoli very small, bluish or greyish-bluish; segments with sparse short light yellow setae; thoracic legs black-brown, abdominal prolegs green with black dots bearing one black seta each, anal proleg with very large triangular black-brown spot; spiracles black-brown with pale yellow inner margin. L6: length after molting 50 mm, length before pupation 70 mm; similar to L5 but differs by having wider spiracles with creamy inner margin, entirely pinkish-red or pinkish-red with bluish apex dorsal scoli, as well as upper row of lateral pinkish-purple scoli on abdominal segments A1 through A7. Pupa: total length 32 mm; maximum width 15 mm; ground colour light brown, dark brown dorsally; antennae clearly visible; legs overlapped by antennae; abdominal spiracles black-brown, narrow, slightly rising above cuticular surface; in tightly spun, brownish silken cocoon; development takes 33 days.

Larval feeding in breeding experiment: The larvae fed on plant species of the genera Salix ( Salicaceae ) and Quercus ( Fagaceae ).

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Russian Ministry of Science and Higher Education (project No. FUUW-2023-0001).

References

Naumann, S., Nässig, W.A. & Löffler, S. (2017) Some new Asian Saturniidae (Lepidoptera). Nachrichten des Entomologischen Vereins Apollo, 38 (4), 169–180.

Spitsyn, V.M., Kondakov, A.V., Bovykina, G.V., Okulova, A.I. & Spitsyna, E.A. (2025) The Brahmaeidae and Saturniidae of Laos (Lepidoptera). Ecologica Montenegrina, 84, 108–152.

https://doi.org/10.37828/em.2025.84.10

Figures

Figure 1. Preimaginal stages of Antheraea tonkinensis luteofrithi: A) Eggs; B, C) First instar larva; D, E) Second instar larva; F) Third instar larva; G) Fourth instar larva; H) Fifth instar larva; I) Sixth instar larva; J) Cocoon; K) Pupa (ventral, lateral, and dorsal views, respectively).