Rusty Tussock Moth (lat. Orgyia antiqua)

Rusty Tussock Moth
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Orgyia antiqua, the rusty tussock moth or vapourer, is a moth in the family Erebidae.

Distribution and status

O. antiqua is native to Europe, but now has a transcontinental distribution in the Palaearctic and the Nearctic regions. The species is not on the IUCN (2007) Red List; and in the UK is considered a common resident.

Habitat

In the UK, O. antiqua may be encountered in a variety of shrub-based habitats, including gardens, parks, open woodland, fens, hedgerows, heaths. and moors.

Description

A striking dimorphism exists between the male and the female moths of this species. The male moth typically has orange- to red-brown (ochreous red and dark brown) wings; each fore wing has a white comma-shaped (tornal) spot. It has marked plumose (short, bipectinate) antennae. The wingspan measures between 35 and 38 mm. The female moth has vestigial wings and is flightless; it is light grey-brown (ochreous grey), has “shortly bipectinate” antennae, and a swollen abdomen. The compound eyes of the two sexes differ not only with regard to their size, number of facets and internal organization and ultrastructure, but also with regard to their sensitivity to ultraviolet radiation The hairy caterpillar is spectacular, with “humps”, “horns”, and a “tail” in a combination of dark grey, red, and yellow.

Host plants

Caterpillars are polyphagous and feed on a wide range of deciduous trees and shrubs, such as birch (Betula), Crataegus, lime (Tilia), Prunus, Quercus, Rubus, Salix, Tamarix, Vaccinium, Aeonium haworthii or Delonix regia. In Scotland, the species is almost always found on birch, but has also been recorded damaging Sitka spruce.

The Vapourer on UKMoths Fauna Europaea Lepiforum.de JustGreen Bug of the Month (PDF) Archived 15 January 2006 at the Wayback Machine Good plant protection practice (PDF)

Ancestry graph

Arthropods Insects Butterflies and Moths Brush-footed Butterflies Concealer Moths Cutworm Moths and Allies Fairy Moths Geometer Moths Gossamer-winged Butterflies Plutellidae Rusty Tussock Moth Spongy Moth Tiger Moths and Allies Tortricid Leafroller Moths Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs
Arthropods Insects Butterflies and Moths Brush-footed Butterflies Concealer Moths Cutworm Moths and Allies Fairy Moths Geometer Moths Gossamer-winged Butterflies Plutellidae Rusty Tussock Moth Spongy Moth Tiger Moths and Allies Tortricid Leafroller Moths Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs

Copyright and source information

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This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Orgyia antiqua the free encyclopedia Wikipedia which is released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License). On Wikipedia a list of authors is available.

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