Page 349 - The Book of Caterpillars: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred Species From Around the World

MOTH CATERPILLARS

FAMILY Lasiocampidae
DISTRIBUTION Across Europe, North Africa, and Asia (except for the far north
and south)
HABITAT Salt marsh, marshes, heaths, and woodlands
HOST PLANTS Various, including Cypress Spurge (Euphorbia cyparissias),
Golden Samphire (Inula crithmoides), Salad Burnet (Sanguisorba
minor), and Common Sea-lavender (Limonium vulgare)
NOTE Gregarious tent caterpillar that spins a silken web
CONSERVATION STATUS Not evaluated, and although widespread may be locally scarce

ADULT WINGSPAN
1¼–1⅝ in (31–41 mm)
CATERPILLAR LENGTH
1 –2 in (40–50 mm)
MALACOSOMA CASTRENSIS
GROUND LACKEY 347

(LINNAEUS, 1758)

Ground Lackey caterpillars emerge in spring and early summer
from overwintering eggs laid in a ring around the stem of a host
plant and xed so that they remain rmly in place despite—in

the case of salt marsh plants—inundations from the sea. The
caterpillars feed on almost any plant and mass together as they
forage, leaving a silken trail back to their web. Their long,
urticating hairs deter predators. Once mature, the caterpillars
disperse and pupate in grass in a slightly transparent cocoon.

The moth ecloses and flies in late summer. The Ground
Lackey is one of the tent caterpillar species, so named because The Ground Lackey caterpillar is brown
the larvae stay together and spin a silken web near the ground, black in color. Along the back are four broken,
often extending across a number of plants. On sunny days, they reddish lines and a central, blue line, with a
broader lateral, blue stripe and, below this,
bask on the surface of their web, retreating inside when skies are black speckles. The body is covered with long,
overcast. In bumper years, caterpillar numbers are so great that yellow-brown hairs. The head is gray black
with no spots.
they can overrun their habitat in their search for food.

Actual size