Study on the foodplants of several species of saturniid moths (Lepidoptera, Saturniidae) in Japan

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  • 日本産ヤママユガ科数種の餌植物

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Most saturniid moths are generalists, and various species of foodplants used by them have been recorded. In Japan, all saturniid moths are large in size, and most larvae feed on the leaves of oak trees (Fagaceae), elm trees (Ulmaceae) and birch trees (Betulaceae), which are forested for the traditional "Satoyama" coppice in Japan. It is essential to have an understanding of the roles of Saturniidae in energy flow and the food web in a coppice. However, studies on the biology and community ecology of these moths are limited. We report the foodplants used by these moths in the field, and discuss the relationship between the range of saturniid larvae foodplants (including foodplant species in the literature in Japan) and the genealogy of saturniid moths in Japan. We discovered 44 foodplant species from 19 families utilized by eight species of saturniid moth (Samia cynthia, Antheraea yamamai, Saturnia jonasii, S. japonica, Rhodinia fugax, Actias gnoma, A. artemis, and Aglica japonica) in our studies. We discovered the larvae of A. yamamai, S. jonasii, S. japonica, R. fugax and A. japonica feeding on a new foodplant, C. tschonoskii (Betulaceae), at most study sites. R. fugax utilized the new foodplants Quercus phillyraeoides (Fagaceae), Salix chaenomeloides, S. subfragilis (Salicaceae) and Benthamidia florida (Cornaceae), and S. jonasii utilized the new foodplants Q. phillyraeoides (Fagaceae), Lindera umbellata var. membranacea (Lauraceae), Ilex rotunda (Aquifoliaceae), Swida macrophylla (Cornaceae), Lyonia ovalifolia (Ericaceae) and Styrax japonica (Styracaceae). In similarity tests using the Ochiai index (OI) for the foodplant species of saturniid moths, the foodplant species of S. jonasii most closely resembled those of S. japonica (OI=0.417). The foodplant species of A. yamamai do not closely resemble those of other species of Saturniidae (OI≤0.377). Saturniid moths may avoid overlapping of foodplants. In Euclidean distance analysis, it was shown that S. japonica is the remotest species. The geographic distribution of S. japonica is wide, so we suggest that the foodplants of S. japonica have changed, with the insects adjusting to various species of vegetation that occur over its range. As regards the foodplant habits of saturniid moths, it appears that the foodplant preferences of Saturniidae have become diversified according to local habitat vegetation and to allow them to compete for foodplant resources with other Lepidoptera larvae. S. japonica, which lays an egg mass, may shift its preferred foodplant to other surrounding plants in the case of diet shortage caused by overcrowding of larvae. It is suggested that the number of foodplant species increased by oviposition on extra-foodplants and/or by escaping to other plants.

Journal

  • Lepidoptera Science

    Lepidoptera Science 58 (2), 215-237, 2007

    THE LEPIDOPTEROLOGICAL SOCIETY OF JAPAN

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