Antheraea paphia Linn. (Saturniidae : Lepidoptera) is a wild silkworm that gives us tassar silk of commerce. The dark buff-coloured silk is coarse and very strong, but of inferior quality a,s compared to that obtained from the domesticated silkworm, Bonibyx mori. This wild
insect is not domesticated, and cannot be reared in confinement on a commercial basis. In 1999, some trees of a 3-year old telsur (Hopea odorata Roxb.) plantation in the campus of the Bangladesh Forest Research Institute, Chittagong were found infested by a group of wild silkworm. The larvae were found feeding on the tender foliage of the upper canopy of the trees and were kept under observation. They were pale green with a yellow line at each side and rather bulky, distinctly segmented and smooth-bodied except for rows of ornamental metallic spotsand tubercles bearing clusters of short spines (Fig. 1). The full-grown larvae were about 10 cm long. Pupation occurred in oval cocoons with a compact surface (Fig. 2). The cocoons were formed in rolled leaves orsuspended by a thick silken cord from a twig. The cocoons were collected and reared to adults which were identified as Antheraea paphia Linn. (Saturniidae : Lepidoptera). The adult female is a broad-winged moth with a wing-span of about 12 cm. It is bright yellow with a circular semi-transparent area or ‘eye’ on each wing(Fig- 3)