''Drymonia dodonaea'', the marbled brown, 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

Notodontidae Notodontidae is a family of moths with approximately 3,800 known species. The family was described by James Francis Stephens in 1829. Moths of this family are found in all parts of the world, but they are most concentrated in tropical areas, espe ...

. The species was first described by

Michael Denis Johann Nepomuk Cosmas Michael Denis, also: ''Sined the Bard'', (27 September 1729 – 29 September 1800) was an Austrian Catholic priest and Jesuit, who is best known as a poet, bibliographer, and lepidopterist. Life Denis was born at Schärding ...

and

Ignaz Schiffermüller Ignaz Schiffermüller (born 2 October 1727 in Hellmonsödt; died 21 June 1806 in Linz) was an Austrian naturalist mainly interested in Lepidoptera. Schiffermüller was a teacher at the Theresianum College in Vienna. His collection was present ...

in 1775. It is found in Europe and in the area surrounding the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (country), Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range ...

. The

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 ...

is 33–38 mm. Similar to '' Drymonia ruficornis'', but the forewings are generally whiter; the crosslines are less straight, and there is no black crescent above the centre of the wings. The moth flies from May to July depending on the location. The larva is naked and without any conspicuous outgrowths. It is yellow-green on the dorsum, has a red-edged yellow lateral stripe and it is bluish-green under this stripe. The larvae feed on various deciduous trees, primarily ''

Quercus An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ...

'' but also ''

Fagus Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...

'' and ''

Betula A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 30 t ...

''. The male, but not the female comes to light. Females are rarely found at all, probably because they stay up in the tree crowns. After mating, the female lays 150 – 200 eggs in small groups on the underside of oak leaves, which hatch after eight to ten days. The newly hatched larvae usually live in small groups, older larvae live singly. They eat the leaves from the tip inwards so that only the middle nerve is left. When the larva is fully grown in August – September, it crawls down on the ground, spinning an oval, earthy cocoon and transforming into a pupa which overwinters. Sometimes the pupa can overwinter twice before hatching.

References

External links

Marbled brown on ''UKMoths''
* Taxonomy

''Lepiforum e.V.''''De Vlinderstichting''
Notodontidae Moths of Europe Moths of Asia Moths described in 1775 Taxa named by Michael Denis Taxa named by Ignaz Schiffermüller {{Notodontidae-stub