''Antheraea assamensis'', known as the muga silkworm as a

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

and Assam silk moth as an adult, is a

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

of the family

Saturniidae Saturniidae, commonly known as saturniids, is a family of Lepidoptera with an estimated 2,300 described species. The family contains some of the largest species of moths in the world. Notable members include the emperor moths, royal moths, and gi ...

. The species was first described by

Johann Wilhelm Helfer Johann Wilhelm Helfer also known as Jan Vilém Helfer (February 5, 1810 in Prague – January 30, 1840 in Andaman Islands) was a Bohemian physician, explorer and naturalist. He died in the Andaman Islands, after the group he was in was attacked b ...

in 1837. It is found in

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

in northeast India where 99% of its production occurs. The larva feed on ''

Cinnamomum ''Cinnamomum'' is a genus of evergreen aromatic trees and shrubs belonging to the laurel family, Lauraceae. The species of ''Cinnamomum'' have aromatic oils in their leaves and bark. The genus contains approximately 250 species, distributed in t ...

'', ''

Laurus ''Laurus'' () is a genus of evergreen trees or shrubs belonging to the laurel family, Lauraceae. The genus contains three or more species, including the bay laurel or sweet bay, ''L. nobilis'', widely cultivated as an ornamental plant and a cul ...

'', ''

Litsea ''Litsea'' is a genus of evergreen or deciduous trees or shrubs belonging to the laurel family, Lauraceae. The genus includes a large number of accepted species in tropical and subtropical areas of North America and Asia. Characteristics They a ...

'', ''

Carpinus Hornbeams are hardwood trees in the flowering plant genus ''Carpinus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The 30–40 species occur across much of the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Origin of names The common English name ''hornbeam' ...

'', ''

Persea ''Persea'' is a genus of about 150 species of evergreen trees belonging to the laurel family, Lauraceae. The best-known member of the genus is the avocado, ''P. americana'', widely cultivated in subtropical regions for its large, edible fruit. O ...

'', ''

Magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendro ...

'', ''

Michelia ''Michelia'' is a historical genus of flowering plants belonging to the family (Magnoliaceae). The genus included about 50 species of evergreen trees and shrubs, native to tropical and subtropical south and southeast Asia (Indomalaya), including s ...

'', ''

Quercus An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably '' ...

'', ''

Sarcostemma ''Sarcostemma'' is a genus of flowering plants in the Apocynum, dogbane family, Apocynaceae, first described as a genus in 1810. The name is derived from the Greek language, Greek words σαρκὸς (''sarkos''), meaning "flesh," and στέμ ...

'' and ''

Symplocos ''Symplocos'' is a genus of flowering plants in the order Ericales. It contains about 300 species distributed in Asia and the Americas. Many species grow in humid tropical regions. This is sometimes considered to be the only genus in family Sympl ...

''. Its silk, one of the varieties of

tussar silk Tussar silk (alternatively spelled as tussah, tushar, tassar, tussore, tasar, tussur, or tusser, and also known as (Sanskrit) ''kosa'' silk) is produced from larvae of several species of silkworms belonging to the moth genus ''Antheraea'', inclu ...

, has a glossy golden hue which improves with age and washing. It is never bleached or dyed and is stain resistant. It was reserved for the exclusive use of elites in Assam. Like other silk moths, the female has a larger abdomen and slender antennae when compared to males. The larvae are vibrantly coloured and are monophagous as other silk moths. In 2015, Adarsh Gupta K of Nagaraju's research team at

Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics The Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD) is an Indian biotechnology research centre, located in Hyderabad, India, operated by the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India. CDFD is a Sun ...

, Hyderabad, India, discovered the complete sequence and the protein structure of muga silk fibroin and published it in ''

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...

'' Scientific Reports. In 2009, Utpal Bora and his team at the

Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati The Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IIT Guwahati) is a public technical university established by the Government of India, located in Amingaon area, North Guwahati city, in the state of Assam in India. It is the sixth Indian Institute ...

in Assam reported the potential of using muga silk fibroin as a promising biomaterial for tissue engineering applications. The disease known as pebrine is caused by

Microsporidia Microsporidia are a group of spore-forming unicellular parasites. These spores contain an extrusion apparatus that has a coiled polar tube ending in an anchoring disc at the apical part of the spore. They were once considered protozoans or prot ...

(intercellular, fungal parasites), and affects ''Antheraea assamensis''. This destructive disease obstructs the developmental processes of the Muga silkworm. An article that was published in 2020 talks about a study that was conducted about the moths. The study was that aimed at the cocoons, which were to be collected from 11 different regions of North East Indian regions where they are found. Researchers looked at the weight and silk quality of these cocoons.

References

Antheraea Moths of Asia Moths described in 1837 Sericulture {{Saturniidae-stub