Zeuzera pyrina
Leopard moth Zeuzera pyrina | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Lepidoptera |
Family: | Cossidae |
Genus: | Zeuzera |
Species: | Z. pyrina |
Binomial name | |
Zeuzera pyrina (Linnaeus, 1761) | |
Synonyms | |
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Zeuzera pyrina, the leopard moth or wood leopard moth, is a moth of the family Cossidae.[1] It is found primarily in Europe but also in northern Africa (Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco) and Asia (Taiwan, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Korea, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Syria, Turkey).[2] It was introduced into the northeastern United States prior to 1879 and has a range extending from Maine to Pennsylvania.
This is a highly distinctive species with a very furry white thorax marked with six black spots and heavily spotted white wings. The wingspan is 35–60 mm. The moth flies from June to September depending on the location.
The caterpillars feed on various deciduous trees and shrubs (see list below), feeding internally for two or three years in the stems and branches before emerging to pupate under the bark. It can be a pest of fruit production.
Recorded food plants
Subspecies
Zeuzera biebingeri is treated as a subspecies of Z. pyrina by some sources, but is mostly treated as a valid species.[3]
- Illustration from John Curtis's British Entomology Volume 5
General references
- Vlindernet (Dutch)
- Skinner, Bernard (1984). Colour Identification Guide to Moths of the British Isles. Viking Press. p. 3. ISBN 0-670-80354-5.
- Waring, Paul; Townsend, Martin (2003). Field Guide to the Moths of Great Britain and Ireland. British Wildlife Publishing. p. 22. ISBN 0-9531399-2-1.
References
- ↑ "Leopard Moth Zeuzera pyrina". UKMoths. Retrieved 2011-12-19.
- ↑ phytosanitarysolution.com: Timber Pests of PQ Significance in India Archived May 18, 2014, at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ Yakovlev, R.V., 2011: Catalogue of the Family Cossidae of the Old World. Neue Entomologische Nachrichten, 66: 1-129.