Lasiocampidae
Encyclopedia : L : LA : LAS : Lasiocampidae
The Lasiocampidae family of moths are also known as Eggar, Snout or Lappet moths.
Caterpillars of this family are large in size and are most often hairy, especially on their sides. Most have skin flaps on their prolegs and a pair of dorsal glands on their abdomen. They are often called Tent caterpillars in the U.S. from their habit of living together in spun nests. They feed on leaves of many different trees and shrubs and often use theses same plants to camouflage their cocoons.
As adults, the moths in this family are large bodied with broad wings and may still have the characteristic elongated mouth parts. They are either diurnal or nocturnal. Females lay a large number of eggs which are flat in appearance and either smooth or slightly pitted. Females are generally larger and slower than the males, but the sexes otherwise resemble each other.
Their common name Snout Moths comes from their unique protruding mouth parts that resemble a large nose. They have also been called Lappet Moths due to the decorative skin flaps found on the caterpillar's prolegs.
Selected species:
- Eastern tent caterpillar (Malacosoma americanum)
- Forest tent caterpillar (Malacosoma disstria)
References
- Fitzgerald, Terrence D.1995.The tent caterpillars. Cornell University Press. Ithaca, N.Y.
- L. Watson and M. J. Dallwitz.2003 onwards.British Insects: the Families of Lepidoptera.Version: 17th May 2005.[link]
- Maier, C.T., C.R. Lemmon, J.M. Fengler, D.F. Schweitzer, and R.C. Reardon.2004.Caterpillars on the Foliage of Conifers in the Northeastern United States..Morgantown, WV: USDA Forest Service, Forest Health Technology Enterprise Team
| ||
| ||
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.