Silkmoths and more: Antheraea jana

Each year there are plenty of cocoons for sale and still you don't see pictures of full grown jana caterpillars that often. Reason? Probably because they are not nearly as easy to breed as there cousins pernyi, yamamai and polyphemus. The good news is that once they are past the second instar they will probably make it to the pupal stage, however getting them started can be brutal. Already after a few days it can look like a mass slaughtering. I've had this species several times before, with very variable results, going from total failure to a reasonable success. I've never had a complete success though. Always there were at least some dead in the first two instars. Rearing this species will be trial and error until you've found something that works for your breeding conditions. The caterpillars are fairly small for an Antheraea. I've tried in the past Quercus robur, Ligustrum ovalifolium and recently Carpinus betulus. None of these plants seem very much to the liking of these animals. Next year or so, I will try Liquidambar. At least Antheraea mylitta does better on Liquidambar, so that might also be the case for jana. We shall see. In captivity this species broods continuously.