A Revision of the Silkmoth Genus Samia

by Richard S. Peigler and Stefan Naumann

This detailed taxonomic revision resolves much of the long-standing confusion pertaining to the nomenclature of this genus of beautiful moths. In the past twelve years, eight new species of Samia have been named.

• Text for all 19 known species gives complete synonymy, full descriptions, hostplants, immature stages, all known localities, habitats, flight times, and parasitoids.
• The 148 color figures depict adults of all species and caterpillars of several species.
• Color figures also show samples of textiles made from the ailanthus silk of Samia cynthia from China and eri silk of Samia ricini from Bhutan, India, and Japan.
• Black & white photographs of male and female genitalia of all species.
• Distributions for all known species shown on 10 maps.
• Lengthy summaries in Chinese, French, German, Indonesian, and Japanese.
• Soft cover with Smythe-sewn binding, 231 pages of text, 8.5 x 11 inches.
• Exhaustive bibliography containing almost 800 citations.
• Detailed country-by-country discussions of the introduction of the ailanthus silkworm (S. cynthia) to the United States, Japan, Australia, and several European countries, including history and current status. A separate chapter on sericulture in India, China, and other Asian countries.
• Hostplant appendix listing all known plants used by Samia in nature and captivity.
• Phylogeny of tribe Attacini, with the hypothetical relationships of the genus Samia to the African Epiphora, American Callosamia and Hyalophora, Asiatic Attacus, and others.
• Chapter on hybrids cites all intrageneric crosses and their names, and discusses the intergeneric crosses made between Samia and Callosamia, including a few color figures.

The authors, both well-known specialists on saturniid moths, have collaborated to produce this authoritative and beautiful book. Peigler has published work on Attacus, Anisota, Callosamia, Agapema, Hemileuca, wild silk textiles, and molecular genetics of Bombycoidea. Naumann has made numerous collecting trips to tropical Asia, and has published several papers on Chinese, Philippines, and Indonesian Saturniidae. The authors have assembled data from the labels on hundreds of pinned specimens of Samia in museums, and accessed much of the rare and historical literature about these moths.

Contact us at peigler@uiwtx.edu

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