Moths in the Cossidae and Geometridae families
Main Lepidoptera page

Uniramia

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--Hexapoda 3 (insects)

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----Ephemeroptera (mayflies)

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----Orthoptera (crickets, locusts)

----Thysanura (bristletails, silver fish)

----Strepsiptera (stylops)

----Thysanoptera (thrips)

----Odonata (dragonflies, damselflies)

----Trichoptera (caddis flies)

----Siphonaptera (fleas)

----Isoptera (termites)

----Phasmida (stick & leaf insects)

----Dermaptera (earwigs)

----Anoplura/siphunculata (sucking lice)

----Mallophaga (biting lice, bird lice)

----Psocoptera (book, bark, dust lice)

----Mecoptera (scorpion flies)

----Collembola (springtail)

----Embioptera (web spinners)

----Plecoptera (stone flies)

----Diplura (bristletails)

----Protura

----Zoraptera

Species featured on this page
Latin name	Common name	Family
Xanthopan morgani
Cossus cossus	Goat moth	Cossidae
Xanthorhoe montana	Silver-ground carpet moth	Geometridae
Opisthograptis luteola	Brimstone moth	Geometridae
Cabera pusaria	Common white wave	Geometridae

Cossidae

Left is the goat moth caterpillar. It is in the Cossidae family of which there are just three species in the British Isles. As adults the Cossidae do not have functional proboscids. The eggs are brown, and laid on the bark of ash, elm, willow, oak and poplar. The caterpillar feeds on the inside of the se trees. It takes three or more years of feeding on this low-quality food before it can pupate. During the cold winter months it makes a kind of nest for itself and rests out the winter. It gets its name from the rather unpleasant smell the caterpillars have. The adults fly in June and July, and the females are larger and fatter than the males. It is found throughout the UK, but is more common in the south, in Europe and eastwards as far as central Asia.

Geometridae

There are over 300 British species. Most adult geometrids rest with their wings spread flat - see right and below - on each side of the body. The caterpillars have only 2 pairs of prolegs, and their locomotion give them the common names of inch worm, and looper, and many of them can mimic twigs when disturbed.

Brimstone moth, Opisthograptis luteolata

The brimstone (right) is common throughout Europe. The caterpillar resembles a twig, and has an extra pair of prolegs, though these are smaller that the other 2 pairs. Its foodplants are hawthorn, blackthorn and apple. Pupation is in a silken cocoon on or near the ground. It can reach a length of 33 mm. There are 2 generations a year. Adults fly from April to August, and eggs are laid in spring and all summer.

Silver-ground carpet moth, Xanthorhoe montanata

The Silver-ground carpet (right) is common in the U. K. The caterpillars feed on low-growing plants such as bedstraw. The adults fly from May to July. The wingspan is 24-28 mm, and the band of colour across the wings can vary in brightness.

In the 19th century botanists were mystified by the Madagascan orchid, Angraecum sesquipedale, as they couldn't see how it could be pollinated. They knew something was pollinating it, but what? You se the nectar was to be found only in the last 1 cm at the end of a narrow spur 20 - 20 cm long.

Darwin was shown the flower. It is large and white, and the nectar is thick and fragrant. So this told him that in the thick jungle, the scent and the whiteness of the flower were probably the things that attracted the pollinator. Now white fragrant flowers the world over are often pollinated at night by moths. So Darwin predicted that a moth with a tongue (proboscis) of 30 cm or more was the elusive pollinator.

At that time no such moth had been found, nor was one found in Darwin's life time. But 40 years after he had made his prediction such a moth was found, Xanthopan morgani subspecies praedicta.

Common white wave, Cabera pusaria

On the right is an adult Common white wave. The adults fly from May - August, and are fairly common in woods. The caterpillars eat birch and a variety of shrubs.

The Wider Life

I once was a dull, narrow housewife
With nothing to talk of at all
But the loves, the frustrations
The rows, the relations
Of the woman from over the wall.

But now I’ve a job, I’m quite different;
I can talk with a sparkle like wine
Of the loves, the frustrations,
The rows, the relations,
Of the girl at the desk next to mine.

Celia Fremlin