''Antheraea cingalesa'', the Sri Lankan tussar silk moth, 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

Frederic Moore Frederic Moore FZS (13 May 1830 – 10 May 1907) was a British entomologist and illustrator. He produced six volumes of ''Lepidoptera Indica'' and a catalogue of the birds in the collection of the East India Company. It has been said that Mo ...

in 1883. It is endemic to

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

Description

Its wingspan is 12 to 16 cm. Sexes show dimorphism. Male is deep yellowish ochreous or reddish ochreous. Round celli are with a black outer ring, purple inner border and white line. Forewings much paler with ochreous apex. Costal border hoary with a very indistinct darker ochreous shade. Whereas female is deep yellowish ochreous. Ocelli are larger than that of male. Front of the thorax, and collar are hoary. The caterpillar is greenish with a yellow lateral band. There are two dorsal rows of yellow tubercular prominences. Head and forelegs are purple brown. Cocoon oval, hard, and brownish grey. Host plants of the caterpillar are '' Anacardium occidentale'', ''

Terminalia arjuna ''Terminalia arjuna'' is a tree of the genus '' Terminalia''. It is commonly known as arjuna or arjun tree in English. Description ''T. arjuna'' grows to about 20–25 metres tall; usually has a buttressed trunk, and forms a wide canopy at the ...

'', ''

Terminalia catappa ''Terminalia catappa'' is a large tropical tree in the leadwood tree family, Combretaceae, native to Asia, Australia, the Pacific, Madagascar and Seychelles. Common names in English include country almond, Indian almond, Malabar almond, sea almon ...

'', ''

Camellia sinensis ''Camellia sinensis'' is a species of evergreen shrub or small tree in the flowering plant family Theaceae. Its leaves and leaf buds are used to produce the popular beverage, tea. Common names include tea plant, tea shrub, and tea tree (not to ...

'', ''

Eucalyptus leucoxylon ''Eucalyptus leucoxylon'', commonly known as yellow gum, blue gum or white ironbark, is a species of small to medium-sized tree that is endemic to south-eastern continental Australia. It has smooth yellowish bark with some rough bark near the bas ...

'' and ''

Hevea brasiliensis ''Hevea brasiliensis'', the Pará rubber tree, ''sharinga'' tree, seringueira, or most commonly, rubber tree or rubber plant, is a flowering plant belonging to the spurge family Euphorbiaceae Euphorbiaceae, the spurge family, is a large fami ...

References

Moths of Asia Moths described in 1883 {{Saturniidae-stub