''Trichiura crataegi'', the pale eggar or pale oak eggar, is a moth of the family Lasiocampidae. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae''. It is found in all of Europe (except Iceland), east to Anatolia and east across the

Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sibe ...

to Amur. The wingspan is 25–30 mm. The forewings are grey or dark grey, whitish-sprinkled. The lines are white, internally blackish-edged, the first curved, the second twice sinuate. The subterminal line is indicated by an irregular whitish suffusion. The hindwings are light grey, darker posteriorly with a cloudy pale or whitish median line, anteriorly edged with dark grey. The larva is black, grey, or whitish marked with black, hairs reddish-brown. In pale specimens there is an irregular dark dorsal band; subdorsal series of brown-red spots, sometimes separated by whitish ochreous spots.Meyrick, E., 1895 ''A Handbook of British Lepidoptera'' MacMillan, Londo
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Keys and description Adults are on wing from August to September. The larvae feed on various plants and trees, including ''

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 ...

'', '' Betula pubescens'', '' Betula nana'', '' Alnus incana'', '' Salix'' species (including '' Salix lapponum'', '' Salix hastata'', '' Salix repens'', '' Salix starkeana'', '' Salix caprea'' and '' Salix phylicifolia''), '' Populus tremula'', ''

Sorbus aucuparia ''Sorbus aucuparia'', commonly called rowan (UK: /ˈrəʊən/, US: /ˈroʊən/) and mountain-ash, is a species of deciduous tree or shrub in the rose family. It is a highly variable species, and botanists have used different Circumscription (taxo ...

'', ''

Crataegus ''Crataegus'' (), commonly called hawthorn, quickthorn, thornapple, Voss, E. G. 1985. ''Michigan Flora: A guide to the identification and occurrence of the native and naturalized seed-plants of the state. Part II: Dicots (Saururaceae–Cornacea ...

'' species, ''

Prunus padus ''Prunus padus'', known as bird cherry, hackberry, hagberry, or Mayday tree, is a flowering plant in the rose family. It is a species of cherry, a deciduous small tree or large shrub up to tall. It is the type species of the subgenus '' Padus' ...

'', '' Vaccinium myrtillus'' and '' Vaccinium uliginosum''.

Subspecies

*''Trichiura crataegi crataegi'' *?''Trichiura crataegi borealis'' (northern Fennoscandia) *''Trichiura crataegi lasistana'' (mountains of north-eastern Anatolia) *?''Trichiura crataegi anatolica'' (Anatolia)

References

External links

Pale eggar
at ''UKMoths''
''Fauna Europaea''''Lepiforum.de''''Vlindernet.nl''
Lasiocampidae Moths described in 1758 Moths of Europe Moths of Asia Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Lasiocampidae-stub