Page 348 - The Book of Caterpillars: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred Species From Around the World

MOTH CATERPILLARS

FAMILY Lasiocampidae
DISTRIBUTION Western Europe, the Middle East, and east to central and
northeast Asia
HABITAT Acid moorlands, lowland heaths, calcareous grasslands,
sand dunes, and open woodlands
HOST PLANTS Many shrubs, including Bramble (Rubus fruticosus),
Heather (Calluna vulgaris), Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus),
Sea-buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides), and willow (Salix spp.);
also herbaceous plants, such as clovers (Trifolium spp.)
NOTE Large, very furry caterpillar that basks in spring sunshine
CONSERVATION STATUS Not evaluated

ADULT WINGSPAN
2⅛–3⅛ in (55–80 mm)
CATERPILLAR LENGTH
2⅜–2¾ in (60–70 mm)
MACROTHYLACIA RUBI
FOX MOTH
346
(LINNAEUS, 1758)

Fox Moth caterpillars hatch in late June or July from light gray,
brown-marbled eggs laid in clusters, often on plant stems, fences,
or rocks. The larva feeds until fall and hibernates fully fed,
on or slightly under the ground, unprotected but curled up under
dense moss or other litter. It emerges brie y in spring and can

then be found basking in sunshine, before it pupates low down
in the vegetation in a thin, elongated, grayish cocoon.

This caterpillar is most often found in fairly extensive areas of
open, rough, agriculturally unimproved mosaics of grassland
and scrub rather than in shady forests, farmland, or urban
The Fox Moth caterpillar has a black body. The
narrow, yellow rings present at the early instars habitats. The common name relates to the color of the hairs on
are lost at the nal molt, when the back becomes
densely covered with tawny-brown hair, the back of the caterpillar, and also the color of the adult moths,

interrupted by black bands. The body is also especially the male. The adults y in May and June in a single
covered with long, brown, or blackish hairs,
with tufts of whitish hairs along the sides. brood, the males by day and the females at dusk.

Actual size