''Macrothylacia rubi'', the fox moth, is a

lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) is an order (biology), order of insects that includes butterfly, butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 Family (biology), families and 46 Taxonomic r ...

n belonging to the family

Lasiocampidae The Lasiocampidae are a family of moths also known as eggars, tent caterpillars, snout moths (although this also refers to the Pyralidae), or lappet moths. Over 2,000 species occur worldwide, and probably not all have been named or studied. It i ...

. It was first described by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

in his 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae''.

Distribution and habitat

This species can be found from

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

and

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

. These moths live in open woodlands, moors and prairies.

Description

The wingspan of the male is 40–65 mm.Fox Moth ''Macrothylacia rubi'' at ''UKMoths''
/ref> The wings are reddish brown in males while females are usually paler, more greyish in colour and slightly larger than males. Both sexes show two narrow, straight, light-yellow, transverse bands, running across the forewings. The abdomen is thick, grey brown and hairy. The caterpillars can reach a length of about . They are initially black with bright yellow or orange segments, later they become darker, always covered with blackish and tawny-coloured hairs and with light grey hair on the sides. Macrothylacia rubi MHNT CUT 2011 0 446 male Mussidan.jpg, Both sides of male Macrothylacia rubi MHNT CUT 2011 0 446 female Mussidan.jpg, Both sides of female

Biology

It is a

univoltine Voltinism is a term used in biology to indicate the number of broods or generations of an organism in a year. The term is most often applied to insects, and is particularly in use in sericulture, where silkworm varieties vary in their voltinism. ...

species. Between September and March the caterpillars hibernate in leaf litter. These moths take flight from May to July. The males usually fly in the afternoon and night, while the females fly only at night. Caterpillars feed on heather (''

Calluna ''Calluna vulgaris'', common heather, ling, or simply heather, is the sole species in the genus ''Calluna'' in the flowering plant family Ericaceae. It is a low-growing evergreen shrub growing to tall, or rarely to and taller, and is found wide ...

'') bramble (''

Rubus fruticosus ''Rubus fruticosus'' L. is the ambiguous name of a European blackberry species in the genus ''Rubus'' in the rose family. The name has been interpreted in several ways: *The species represented by the type specimen of ''Rubus fruticosus'' L., ...

''), ''

Gramineae Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns and ...

'', ''

Betula verrucosa ''Betula pendula'', commonly known as silver birch, warty birch, European white birch, or East Asian white birch, is a species of tree in the family Betulaceae, native to Europe and parts of Asia, though in southern Europe, it is only found a ...

'', ''

Salix Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist so ...

'', ''

Populus tremula ''Populus tremula'' (commonly called aspen, common aspen, Eurasian aspen, European aspen, or quaking aspen) is a species of poplar native to cool temperate regions of Europe and Asia, from Iceland and the British IslesJames KilkellIrish native ...

'', ''

Vicia cracca ''Vicia cracca'' (tufted vetch, cow vetch, bird vetch, blue vetch, boreal vetch), is a species of flowering plant in the pea and bean family Fabaceae. It is native to Europe and Asia. It occurs on other continents as an introduced species, includ ...

'', ''

Trifolium medium ''Trifolium medium'', the zigzag clover, is a flowering plant species in the bean family Fabaceae. It is similar in appearance to red clover, ''Trifolium pratense'', but the leaflets are narrower and have no white markings and the narrow stipules ...

'', ''

Trifolium pratense ''Trifolium pratense'', the red clover, is a herbaceous species of flowering plant in the bean family Fabaceae, native to Europe, Western Asia, and northwest Africa, but planted and naturalized in many other regions. Description Red clove ...

'', ''

Vaccinium myrtillus ''Vaccinium myrtillus'' or European blueberry is a holarctic species of shrub with edible fruit of blue color, known by the common names bilberry, blaeberry, wimberry, and whortleberry. It is more precisely called common bilberry or blue whortle ...

'', ''

Fragaria ''Fragaria'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, commonly known as strawberries for their edible fruits. There are more than 20 described species and many hybrids and cultivars. The most common strawberries grown com ...

'', ''

Potentilla ''Potentilla'' is a genus containing over 300Guillén, A., et al. (2005)Reproductive biology of the Iberian species of ''Potentilla'' L. (Rosaceae).''Anales del Jardín Botánico de Madrid'' 1(62) 9–21. species of annual, biennial and perenni ...

'' and ''

Geranium sylvaticum ''Geranium sylvaticum'', the wood cranesbill or woodland geranium, is a species of hardy flowering plant in the family Geraniaceae, native to Europe and northern Turkey. The Latin specific epithet ''sylvaticum'' means "of woodland", referring t ...

''.Paolo Mazzei, Daniel Morel, Raniero Panfil
''Moths and Butterflies of Europe and North Africa''
/ref>

Gallery

File:Lasiocampidae - Macrothylacia rubi.JPG, Eggs File:Macrothylacia rubi caterpillar - Niitvälja bog.jpg, Caterpillar File:Macrothylacia rubi RF.jpg, Male File:Macrothylacia rubi01.jpg, Female File:Männchen des Brombeerspinners (Macrothylacia rubi) am Naturdenkmal Böses Loch in der Dresdner Heide.jpg, Male in the

Dresden Heath The Dresden Heath (german: Dresdner Heide) is a large forest in the city of Dresden, Germany. The heath is the most important recreation area in the city and is also actively forested. Approximately 6,133 hectares of the Dresden Heath are design ...

References

External links

''Lepiforum.de''

{{Taxonbar, from=Q926409 Lasiocampinae Moths described in 1758 Moths of Asia Moths of Europe Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus