Cossus cossus
| Cossus cossus Goat moth | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Cossidae |
| Genus: | Cossus |
| Species: | C. cossus |
| Binomial name | |
| Cossus cossus (Linnaeus, 1758) | |
| Synonyms | |
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Cossus cossus, the goat moth, is a moth of the family Cossidae. It is found in Europe.
This is a large heavy moth with a wingspan of 68–96 mm. The wings are greyish brown and marked with fine dark cross lines. The moth flies from April to August depending on the location.
The caterpillars feed in the trunks and branches of a wide variety of trees (see list below), taking three or four years to mature.
As a food
Pliny reported in Natural History that a grub which may have been Cossus cossus was considered a Roman delicacy after it was fed with flour.[1]
Recorded food plants
Taxonomy
Cossus balcanicus Lederer, 1863 from Bulgaria is probably a hybrid between C. cossus and Lamellocossus terebrus (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775).
Subspecies
- Cossus cossus cossus
- Cossus cossus albescens Kitt, 1925 (Kazakhstan, Russia)
- Cossus cossus araraticus Teich, 1896 (Georgia, Azerbaidzhan, Turkey, Iran)
- Cossus cossus armeniacus Rothschild, 1912 (Turkey)
- Cossus cossus chinensis Rothschild, 1912 (China: Shaanxi)
- Cossus cossus dauricus Yakovlev, 2007 (Russia: Transbaical)
- Cossus cossus dersu Yakovlev, 2009 (Russia: southern Ussuri, Primorsky Krai)
- Cossus cossus deserta Daniel, 1953 (Mongolia)
- Cossus cossus gueruenensis Friedel, 1977 (Asia Minor)
- Cossus cossus kopetdaghi Yakovlev, 2009 (Turkmenistan)
- Cossus cossus kossai Wiltshire, 1957 (Iraq, Jordan)
- Cossus cossus lucifer Grum-Grshimailo, 1891 (Tibet)
- Cossus cossus mongolicus Erschoff, 1882 (Mongolia)
- Cossus cossus omrana Wiltshire, 1957 (Iraq, Iran)
- Cossus cossus tianshanus Hua, Chou, Fang & Chen, 1990 (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tadzhikistan, Afghanistan)
- Cossus cossus uralicus Seitz, 1912 (Uralsk)
References
- ↑ F. S. Bodenheimer, Insects as Human Food: A Chapter of the Ecology of Man, Springer, November 27, 2013, ISBN 9789401761598
- Goat Moth Cossus cossus at UKMoths
- Skinner, Bernard (1984). Colour Identification Guide to Moths of the British Isles. Viking Press. p. 3. ISBN 0-670-80354-5.
- Waring, Paul; Martin Townsend (2003). Field Guide to the Moths of Great Britain and Ireland. British Wildlife Publishing. p. 23. ISBN 0-9531399-2-1.
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Caterpillar
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Caterpillar (underside; head to the right)
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Illustrated caterpillar
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Willow with caterpillars
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Caterpillars
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Pupa
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Illustrated pupa
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Illustrated adult
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Mounted
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Illustration from John Curtis's British Entomology Volume 5
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Caterpillars of different age on willow wood