Kokum Leaf-eating Caterpillar

📖 Description

Cricula trifenestrata, the Kokum Leaf-eating Caterpillar or Cricula Silkmoth, is a saturniid moth whose larvae are sporadic but locally serious defoliators of kokum and other broad-leaved evergreen trees in the Western Ghats of India. The species belongs to the Saturniidae — the giant silkmoths, a family renowned for its spectacular large moths and its production of wild silk. Cricula silk is harvested commercially in parts of Southeast Asia and is the source of ‘crigua’ silk. The adult moth is a striking golden-orange colour with three characteristic transparent ‘window’ spots on each forewing — the feature that gives the species its scientific name ‘trifenestrata’. The larva is a large blue-green caterpillar that feeds gregariously on the leaves of kokum, mango, cashew, jackfruit, and other trees — the gregarious feeding of early instars means that infestations tend to be localised to individual branches or trees initially, before dispersal in later instars. Kokum (Garcinia indica) is an endemic tree of the Western Ghats, valued for its fruit (used as a souring agent in Maharashtrian and Goan cuisine), for kokum butter (extracted from the seeds and used in cosmetics and confectionery), and increasingly for kokum juice (a popular summer drink). The tree is grown in plantations and as a backyard tree across the Konkan coast of Maharashtra, Goa, and parts of Karnataka. The leaf-eating caterpillar is the most important insect pest of kokum, with periodic outbreaks causing significant defoliation — most recently in 2018–2019 in Ratnagiri district. IPM packages developed by Dr. B.S. Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth Dapoli emphasise hand-picking of gregarious larvae, Btk applications, and cocoon removal as the core management tactics.