A study on morphological variations in different population of Antheraea assamensis

Assam and North East India hold an unique position in the global sericulture map for its monopoly in muga culture. The muga silk is the 2nd most expensive silk in the world which is produced by the insect Antheraea assamensis of order Lepidoptera and family Saturniidae. At the present day world, phenotypic variation have been used extensively to describe the population structure in many species and is considered that it plays an important role in conservation strategies of many threatened organisms. In the present study, survey, collection and morphological characterization showed that there exist great variation in color, size and weight of various stages of life cycle of A. assamensis which indicates a higher genetic diversity among the population. Such studies may help to select a beneficial trait for future breeding program and to conduct ex-situ conservation program of the collected population in a conductive climatic condition to prevent the loss of crop failure due to adverse climatic condition.