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''Cossus cossus'', the goat moth, is a
moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...
of the family
Cossidae The Cossidae, the cossid millers or carpenter millers, make up a family of mostly large miller moths. This family contains over 110 genera with almost 700 known species, and many more species await description. Carpenter millers are nocturnal ...
. It is found in Northern Africa, Asia and Europe.


Biology

This is a large heavy moth with a
wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan o ...
of 68–96 mm. The wings are greyish brown and marked with fine dark cross lines. The moth flies from April to August depending on the location. The caterpillars have a red/purple stripe across the back and a black head. They reach a length of 9–10 cm. The caterpillars feed in the trunks and branches of a wide variety of trees (see list below), taking three to five years to mature. The caterpillar holes can be found low on the stem (maximum 1.0–1.5 m above the ground). When ready to pupate the caterpillar leaves the tree to find a suitable spot. The species prefer humid environments. Both the larva and moth have a smell reminiscent of goat, hence its name.


As a food

Pliny Pliny may refer to: People * Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE), ancient Roman nobleman, scientist, historian, and author of ''Naturalis Historia'' (''Pliny's Natural History'') * Pliny the Younger (died 113), ancient Roman statesman, orator, w ...
reported in ''Natural History'' that a grub which he gives the name ''cossus'' was considered a Roman delicacy after it was fed with flour. Some writers have equated this with ''Cossus cossus'', but Pliny specifies that his ''cossus'' is found in oak trees, which makes this identification unlikely. Pliny's ''cossus'' is more likely to have been the larva of the beetle '' Cerambyx heros''. F. S. Bodenheimer
''Insects as Human Food: A Chapter of the Ecology of Man''
Springer, November 27, 2013,


Recorded food plants

It has a preference for ''Populus'', ''Quercus'' and ''Salix''.


Taxonomy

''Cossus balcanicus'' Lederer, 1863 from Bulgaria is probably a hybrid between ''C. cossus'' and '' Lamellocossus terebrus'' (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775).


Subspecies

*''Cossus cossus cossus'' *''Cossus cossus albescens'' Kitt, 1925 (Kazakhstan, Russia) *''Cossus cossus araraticus'' Teich, 1896 (Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Iran) *''Cossus cossus armeniacus'' Rothschild, 1912 (Turkey) *''Cossus cossus chinensis'' Rothschild, 1912 (China: Shaanxi) *''Cossus cossus dauricus'' Yakovlev, 2007 (Russia: Transbaikal) *''Cossus cossus dersu'' Yakovlev, 2009 (Russia: southern Ussuri, Primorsky Krai) *''Cossus cossus deserta'' Daniel, 1953 (Mongolia) *''Cossus cossus gueruenensis'' Friedel, 1977 (Asia Minor) *''Cossus cossus kopetdaghi'' Yakovlev, 2009 (Turkmenistan) *''Cossus cossus kossai'' Wiltshire, 1957 (Iraq, Jordan) *''Cossus cossus lucifer'' Grum-Grshimailo, 1891 (Tibet) *''Cossus cossus mongolicus'' Erschoff, 1882 (Mongolia) *''Cossus cossus omrana'' Wiltshire, 1957 (Iraq, Iran) *''Cossus cossus tianshanus'' Hua, Chou, Fang & Chen, 1990 (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan) *''Cossus cossus uralicus'' Seitz, 1912 (Uralsk)


Gallery

File:Cossus cossus.jpg, Caterpillar File:Caterpillars cossus cossus.jpg, Caterpillars of different age on willow wood File:Weidenbohrer-Unterseite.jpg, Caterpillar (underside; head to the right) File:Cossus cossus caterpillar.png, Illustrated caterpillar File:Weide mit Cossus cossus.jpg, Willow with caterpillars File:Rups van een wilgenhoutvlinder.JPG, Caterpillars File:Cossus cossus exuvia.JPG, Pupal case File:Britishentomologyvolume5Plate60.jpg, Illustration from John Curtis's '' British Entomology'' Volume 5 File:Cossus cossus pupa.png, Illustrated pupa File:Cossus Cossus.png, Illustrated adult File:Cossus cossus1.jpg, Mounted


References

* * *This information, or an older version, was partially obtained from De Vlinderstichting - Vlindernet â€
http://www.vlindernet.nl/
(geraadpleegd 18-05-2017).


External links


Goat Moth at UKMothsFauna EuropaeaA video of a red goat moth caterpillar searching for a pupation site
{{Taxonbar, from=Q278629 Cossus Moths described in 1758 Moths of Japan Moths of Europe Moths of Asia Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus