Trichiura crataegi

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 to Amur.

Larva

Trichiura crataegi
Female
Male
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Lasiocampidae
Genus:	Trichiura
Species:	T. crataegi
Binomial name
Trichiura crataegi (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms
Phalaena crataegi Linnaeus, 1758 Trichiura vallisincola Daniel, 1956 Trichiura griseotincta Daniel, 1956 Trichiura albicans Daniel, 1956 Bombyx ariae Hubner, 1824

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.[1]

Adults are on wing from August to September.

The larvae feed on various plants and trees, including Betula verrucosa, 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, Crataegus species, Prunus padus, Vaccinium myrtillus and Vaccinium uliginosum.