Ten species of moths, known as the Eggars.
All hairy and can cause a rash.
| Common Name |
|
Latin Name |
|
Food plant(s) |
|
Description |
| December Moth |
|
Poecilocampa populi |
|
Birch, oak, poplar, elm, hawthorn and blackthorn |
|
Bluish-grey, tinged green, greyish hair. Widely
distributed |
| Pale Eggar |
|
Trichiura crataegi |
|
Hawthorn, blackthorn, sallow, birch, bramble,
heather and bilberry |
|
Greyish-black with lighter markings that are
variable in colour, some have orange dashes, some may have
yellow bands, all have long brownish hairs. Southern parts
of Britain, less frequent in the Midlands and the north |
| Small Eggar |
|
Eriogaster lanestris |
|
Hawthorn, blackthorn and dog rose |
|
Velvety black, reddish-brown marks dorsally
bordered by white lines, fine brownish hairs. Only as far
north as Yorkshire, less common than it once was. |
| Lackey |
 |
Malacosoma neustria |
|
Hawthorn, sallow, bramble, blackthorn, laurel
and other trees |
|
Blue with thin white dorsal line bordered with
stripes of black and orangish-red. Gingery hairs. Widespread
but less common in the north |
| Ground Lackey |
|
Malocosoma castrensis |
|
Sea lavender, sea wormwood, sea plantain and
other saltmarsh plants. |
|
Brownish-black, pale blue along the sides, thin
wavy orangish lines along the top and sides, gingery hairs.
Local to Kent, Essex & Suffolk |
| Grass Eggar |
|
Lasiocampa trifoli |
|
Sallows, bramble, heather, broom, blackthorn
and many other plants. |
|
Blackish, dense gingery hairs dorsally, greyish
hairs on the sides. Coastal distribution in the southern counties. |
| Oak
Eggar |
|
Lasiocampa quercus |
|
Heather, bramble, sallows, broom, hawthorn,
ivy and may other plants |
|
Blackish-brown, covered in pale greyish hairs
dorsally, light brown hair on the sides. Widespread |
| Fox
Moth |
|
Macrothylacia rubi |
|
Heather, bramble, bilberry, sallows and other
plants |
|
Covered in long dark brown hairs, greyish hairs
on the sides, shorted hairs on the back which are reddish.
Throughout the British Isles |
| Drinker
|
 |
Euthrix potatoria |
|
Common reed. cock's-foot, reed, canary grass
and other grass |
|
Greyish-black, speckled with orange, short tufts
of brown hair dorsally, white tufts near the spiracles. Widely
distributed |
| Small
Lappet |
|
Phyllodesma ilicifolia |
|
Bilberry |
|
Bluish-grey, broad brown dorsal stripe edge
with white, bands of orangish-red, gingery hairs. Last recorded
in the British Isles in 1965, possibly extinct. |
| Lappet |
|
Gastropacha quercifolia |
|
Hawthorn, blackthorn, buckthorn, sallow, plum
and apple |
|
Grey, dark blue segmental divisions, orangish
fringe of hair above the legs along the body. Widespread |
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