∞ 4/3/2012 (7:59pm) 72 notes

#moth#lymantriidae#tussock moth#caterpillar#lepidoptera#insect#europe#asia#north america

rhamphotheca:

Rusty Tussock Moth or Vapourer (Orgyia antiqua)

… a moth in the family Lymantriidae that is native to Europe, but now transcontinental in distribution in the Palaearctic and the Nearctic regions. The orange-brown male flies mostly during the day, but the female is flightless, spending her brief life attached to her cocoon. The hairy caterpillar is spectacular, with “humps”, “horns” and a “tail” in a combination of dark grey, red and yellow. It feeds on a wide range of broad-leaved trees and shrubs, and may reach pest proportions in forests and cities…

(read more: Wikipedia)

(images: T - caterpillar, by Georg Slickers; ML - flightless female w/ coccoon, and MR - Male mates with flightless female, by GRManners; B - male, by Beentree)