Thaumetopoea

Thaumetopoea is a genus of moths belonging to the family Notodontidae. It was first described by Jacob Hübner in 1820.

Thaumetopoea
A Thaumetopoea species, pine processionary caterpillars
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Superfamily: Noctuoidea
Family: Notodontidae
Subfamily: Thaumetopoeinae
Genus: Thaumetopoea
Hübner, 1820
Type species
Phalaena processionea[1]
Synonyms
  • Cnethocampa Stephens, 1828
  • Traumatocampa Wallengren, 1871
  • Helianthocampa de Freina & Witt, 1985

In their caterpillar form, they bear the vernacular name of processionary because their gregarious larvae conspicuously move in single file. The adults live a few days without feeding.

Some Thaumetopoea species, for example Thaumetopoea pityocampa, are expanding their range towards higher latitudes and altitudes due to the current climate warming.[2] The caterpillars carry urticating hairs which cause health problems in humans.[3]

Systematics

The etymology of the name of the genus is from the Greek words θαυματόεις (thaumatóeis), "marvellous", and ποιεῖν (poieîn), "to create", thus meaning "creating wonder", i.e. "looking remarkable".[4][5] This explains why the name is sometimes spelled Thaumatopoea, i.e. in the latinized form of θαυματοποιία thaumatopoiia "marvellous achievement" (cf. θαῦμα thauma "marvel, wonder").[6][7]

The genus Thaumetopoea contains the following species:

  • Thaumetopoea bonjeani (Powell, 1922) - cedar processionary
  • Thaumetopoea herculeana Rambur, 1840
  • Thaumetopoea pinivora (Treitschke, 1834) or Traumatocampa pinivora (Treitschke 1834) - eastern pine processionary
  • Thaumetopoea pityocampa (Denis and Schiffermüller, 1775) or Traumatocampa pityocampa (Denis & Schiffermüller 1775) - pine processionary
  • Thaumetopoea processionea (Linnaeus, 1758) - oak processionary
  • Thaumetopoea solitaria (Freyer, 1838) - pistachio processionary or solitary
  • Thaumetopoea wilkinsoni Tams, 1924 or Traumatocampa wilkinsoni (Tams 1926)
  • Thaumetopoea hellenica
  • Thaumetopoea mediterranea
Thaumetopoea pityocampa, imago

References
  1. Kirby, W. F. (1892). Sphinges and Bombyces. A synonymic catalogue of Lepidoptera Heterocera (Moths). Vol. 1. London: Gurney & Jackson. p. 591.
  2. Gschloessl, Bernhard; Vogel, Heiko; Burban, Christian; Heckel, David; Streiff, Réjane; Kerdelhué, Carole (2014). "Comparative analysis of two phenologically divergent populations of the pine processionary moth (Thaumetopoea pityocampa) by de novo transcriptome sequencing". Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. 46: 31–42. doi:10.1016/j.ibmb.2014.01.005. PMID 24468684.
  3. Battisti, Andrea; Larsson, Stig; Roques, Alain (31 January 2017). "Processionary Moths and Associated Urtication Risk: Global Change–Driven Effects". Annual Review of Entomology. 62 (1): 323–342. doi:10.1146/annurev-ento-031616-034918. ISSN 0066-4170. PMID 27860523.
  4. Bailly, Anatole (1981). Abrégé du dictionnaire grec français. Paris: Hachette. ISBN 2010035283. OCLC 461974285.
  5. Bailly, Anatole. "Greek-French dictionary online". www.tabularium.be. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  6. θαυματοποιία, θαῦμα. Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; A Greek–English Lexicon at the Perseus Project.
  7. Quicke, Donald L. J. (22 December 2014). The Braconid and Ichneumonid Parasitoid Wasps: Biology, Systematics, Evolution and Ecology. John Wiley & Sons. p. 515. ISBN 9781118907054.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.