The buff ermine (''Spilarctia luteum'') is a moth of the family

Erebidae The Erebidae are a family of moths in the superfamily Noctuoidea. The family is among the largest families of moths by species count and contains a wide variety of well-known macromoth groups. The family includes the underwings ('' Catocala'') ...

. It is sometimes placed in the genus ''

Spilosoma ''Spilosoma'' is a genus of moths in the family Erebidae originally described by John Curtis in 1825. A very heterogeneous group, it is in need of review by the scientific community, as certain species probably need reclassification into their o ...

''. The species was first described by Johann Siegfried Hufnagel in 1766. It is found throughout the temperate belt of 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 ...

region south to northern Turkey, Georgia, Kazakhstan, southern Siberia (excluding

Buryatia Buryatia, officially the Republic of Buryatia (russian: Республика Бурятия, r=Respublika Buryatiya, p=rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə bʊˈrʲætʲɪjə; bua, Буряад Улас, Buryaad Ulas, , mn, Буриад Улс, Buriad Uls), is ...

), eastern Mongolia, Amur Region,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, Korea and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. The wings of this species are buffish yellow (the males tend to be more yellow than the females) and are typically marked with a diagonal row of dark spots on the forewing and a few other scattered spots on both forewings and hindwings. The extent of black markings varies considerably, however, from almost spotless examples to largely black

melanic The term melanism refers to black pigment and is derived from the gr, μελανός. Melanism is the increased development of the dark-colored pigment melanin in the skin or hair. Pseudomelanism, also called abundism, is another variant of pi ...

forms. The wingspan is 34–42 mm. The species flies from May to July in the British Isles. This may vary in other parts of the range. It is attracted to light. The larva is pale brown and very hairy. It is

polyphagous Feeding is the process by which organisms, typically animals, obtain food. Terminology often uses either the suffixes -vore, -vory, or -vorous from Latin ''vorare'', meaning "to devour", or -phage, -phagy, or -phagous from Greek φαγε ...

, feeding on a wide variety of trees,

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

s and

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of t ...

plants (see list). This species overwinters as a pupa.

Recorded food plants

Some larval food plants include: *''Alnus'' – alder *'' Mentha'' – mint *'' Plantago'' – plantain *''Quercus'' – oak *''Rheum'' –

rhubarb Rhubarb is the fleshy, edible stalks ( petioles) of species and hybrids (culinary rhubarb) of ''Rheum'' in the family Polygonaceae, which are cooked and used for food. The whole plant – a herbaceous perennial growing from short, thick rhizo ...

*'' Ribes'' – currant *''Rubus'' –

raspberry The raspberry is the edible fruit of a multitude of plant species in the genus ''Rubus'' of the rose family, most of which are in the subgenus '' Idaeobatus''. The name also applies to these plants themselves. Raspberries are perennial with w ...

*''

Rumex The docks and sorrels, genus ''Rumex'', are a genus of about 200 species of annual, biennial, and perennial herbs in the buckwheat family, Polygonaceae. Members of this genus are very common perennial herbs with a native almost worldwide distribu ...

'' – dock/sorrel *'' Senecio'' – ragwort *'' Urtica'' – nettle *'' Lonicera'' – honeysuckle *'' Humulus '' – hops

Subspecies

*''Spilarctia lutea lutea'' *''Spilarctia lutea adzharica'' Dubatolov, 2007 (Georgia) *''Spilarctia lutea japonica'' (Rothschild, 1910) (Middle Amur, Primorye, southern Sakhalin, southern Kuril Islands, eastern China, Korea, Japan) *''Spilarctia lutea rhodosoma'' (Turati, 1907) Sicily, the black of the upperside is increased by a larger number of the spots; but especially distinguished by the bright red abdomen.

Gallery

File:Spilarctia luteum larva.JPG, Buff ermine moth (''Spilarctia luteum'') caterpillar File:Spilosoma_lutea_pupa.jpg, Pupa Image:Spilosoma_luteum1.jpg, Pair of buff ermine moths

References and notes

* *

External links

* *Hlasek, Josef Lubomi
"''Spilosoma luteum'' ab6369"
''Photo Gallery Wildlife Pictures''. *
''Spilosoma lutea'' at EoL
*
"10566 ''Spilarctia lutea'' (Hufnagel, 1766) - Gelber Fleckleibbär"
''Lepiforum e.V.''. Retrieved September 28, 2019. {{Taxonbar, from=Q1499328 Spilarctia Moths described in 1766 Moths of Asia Moths of Europe Taxa named by Johann Siegfried Hufnagel