Malacosoma castrense
Encyclopedia
The Ground Lackey is a moth
of the family Lasiocampidae
. It is found in Europe
.
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The length of the forewings is 13–16 mm for males and 17–21 mm for females. The moth flies from June to August depending on the location.
The caterpillar
s feed on various shrubs and herbaceous plants such as Calluna
, Lotus
and Cypress Spurge
.
Moth
A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...
of the family Lasiocampidae
Lasiocampidae
The Lasiocampidae family of moths are also known as eggars, snout moths or lappet moths. There are over 2000 species worldwide, and probably not all have been named or studied....
. It is found in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
The caterpillar
Caterpillar
Caterpillars are the larval form of members of the order Lepidoptera . They are mostly herbivorous in food habit, although some species are insectivorous. Caterpillars are voracious feeders and many of them are considered to be pests in agriculture...
s feed on various shrubs and herbaceous plants such as Calluna
Calluna
Calluna vulgaris is the sole species in the genus Calluna in the family Ericaceae. It is a low-growing perennial shrub growing to tall, or rarely to and taller, and is found widely in Europe and Asia Minor on acidic soils in open sunny situations and in moderate shade...
, Lotus
Lotus (genus)
Lotus is a genus that includes bird's-foot trefoils and deervetches and contains many dozens of species distributed world-wide. Depending on the taxonomic authority, roughly between 70 and 150 are accepted. Lotus is a genus of legume and its members are adapted to a wide range of habitats, from...
and Cypress Spurge
Cypress Spurge
Euphorbia cyparissias, the Cypress Spurge, is a plant in the genus Euphorbia, which is native to Europe and was introduced to North America in the 1860s by the colonists as an ornamental plant...
.
Subspecies
- Malacosoma castrense castrense
- Malacosoma castrense kirghisicum (Staudinger, 1879) (Asia Minor, Kazakhstan, Turkmenia, Uzbekistan)
- Malacosoma castrense thomalae Gaede, 1932 (Tien-Shan)