Rhodinia fugax

Squeaking silkmoth
Male
Female
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Saturniidae
Genus:	Rhodinia
Species:	R. fugax
Binomial name
Rhodinia fugax Butler, 1877

Rhodinia fugax, the squeaking silkmoth, is a moth in the family Saturniidae. It was described by Arthur Gardiner Butler in 1877. It is native to Korea, Japan, China, and the Russian Far East.

The squeaking silkmoth is known as ウスタビガ (usutabiga, 薄手火蛾) in the Japanese language, 透目大蚕蛾 (tòu mù dà cán'é) in the Chinese language, and 유리산누에나방 (yulisannuenabang) in the Korean language. The Japanese common name translates to "thin hand fire moth", with tabi, "hand fire" being an archaic term for a lantern. The "lanterns" refer to the pupae left behind by the moths after their emergence, which, on defoliated trees in winter, resemble lanterns. The English epithet is derived from the caterpillar's defense mechanism, which consists of an audible squeaking akin to that of a squeak toy. The sound is produced through rapid bodily contraction, which forces air through the spiracles of the larva.

The pupae of R. fugax are separately known as ヤマカマス (yama-kamasu). They were named because of their resemblance to kamasu [ja], folded straw mats used as storage. Cocoons from R. fugax were used historically to treat whooping cough on top of various usages as folk remedies, silk from its cocoons have been used as a type of wild silk.