The Malagasy wild silkworm Antherina suraka and its foodplants

Knowledge of the food plants of immature stages of studied species is an important source of information not only for rearing but also for scientific observations as differences in ecological characters might affect taxonomic decisions. Various food plants of Antherina suraka (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) from different families have been recorded in the literature. However, seasonality, environmental specificity of the region and other factors could cause difficulties in investigating and observing living material directly on these host plants in the wild. Our expedition mainly in the eastern rainy forests and central parts of Madagascar during few months in 2008-2009 yielded varieties of host species already mentioned in the literature as well as unlisted ones which are still associated to the ostensible food plants. No host plant was recorded in the dry forests of the southern part of the island as no A. suraka larva was collected . Like most of the species of Saturniidae, the Malagasy wild silkworm is highly polyphagous as it feeds on more than twenty species of host plants belonging to different families