Ermine moth explained

Certain members of the unrelated snout moths (Pyralidae) are also known as "ermine moths." Spilosoma lubricipeda is an unrelated moth with the common name "white ermine."

The family Yponomeutidae are known as the ermine moths, with several hundred species, most of them in the tropics. The larvae tend to form communal webs,^[1] and some are minor pests in agriculture, forestry, and horticulture. Adult moths are minor pollinators.

Taxonomy

The traditional morphology based taxonomy of Kyrki (1990) divided Yponomeutidae into six subfamilies, but this circumscription is not found to be monophyletic in molecular phylogenetic analyses.^{[2] [3]} van Nieukerken et al (2011) split off Praydidae, Attevidae and Argyresthiidae as separate families, and Sohn (2013) elevated Scythropiinae to family to contain Scythropia.^{[2] [3]}

The two remaining subfamilies are:^[2]

• Saridoscelinae
• Yponomeutinae

The following genera have not been assigned subfamilies:

• Abacistis
• Acrataula
• Aemylurgis
• Aictis
• Amalthina
• Anaphantis
• Argyresthites
• Artenacia
• Balanoptica
• Betharga
• Buxeta
• Calamotis
• Callithrinca
• Caminophantis
• Chionaemopsis
• Citrinarchis
• Conchiophora
• Coptoproctis
• Cymonympha
• Dascia
• Diaphragmistis
• Entrichiria
• Epactosaris
• Epichthonodes
• Eriopyrrha
• Euarne
• Exanthica
• Exaulistis
• Hesperarcha
• Hierodryas
• Ilychytis
• Iriania
• Iridostoma
• Isotornis
• Ithutomus
• Metanomeuta
• Metharmostis
• Mnemoses
• Mychonoa
• Nematobola
• Nosymna
• Orencostoma
• Oridryas
• Orinympha
• Orthosaris
• Palaetheta
• Parazelota
• Parexaula
• Pauridioneura
• Phasmatographa
• Piestoceros
• Podiasa
• Porphyrocrates
• Pronomeuta
• Protonoma
• Pseudorinympha
• Thyridectis
• Thyrsotarsa
• Toiana
• Trisophista
• Typhogenes

Characteristics

Ermine moths are small to medium-sized moths varying in wingspan from 8to. The heads mostly have smooth scales, the haustellum is naked and the labial palps are curved upwards. The maxillary palps usually consist of one or two segments. The wings are long, often with fringes on the trailing edges of the hindwings. The colour is usually white, pale grey or drab, often with many dark speckles.^[4]

Adult ermine moths are mostly nocturnal.

The larvae are leaf-webbers, leaf skeletonizers, leafminers or needleminers and are found on a variety of host plants. Some cause economic damage to crops and trees.^[4]

Species (selection)

Better-known species include:

• Spindle ermine, Yponomeuta cagnagella
• Bird-cherry ermine, Yponomeuta evonymella
• Orchard ermine, Yponomeuta padella
• Yponomeuta plumbella
• Acmosara polyxena
• Apple ermine Yponomeuta malinellus
• Ailanthus webworm

Etymology

The word Yponomeutidae comes from the Ancient Greek Greek, Modern (1453-);: [[wikt:ὑπό|ὑπό]] (Greek, Modern (1453-);: ypo) meaning under and Greek, Modern (1453-);: [[wikt:νομός|νομός]] (Greek, Modern (1453-);: nomós) meaning food or dwelling, thus "feeding secretly, or burrow".^[5]

External links

• Web site: Alien invasions, horror stories, or just the Ermine moth? . 17 June 2010 . Natural History Museum . https://web.archive.org/web/20110108151656/http://www.nhm.ac.uk/natureplus/community/identification/blog/2010/06/17/alien-invasions-horror-stories-or-just-the-ermine-moth?fromGateway=true . 8 January 2011.

Notes and References

1. Book: James . David G. . [{{GBurl|id=sTo8DwAAQBAJ|p=289}} The Book of Caterpillars: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred Species from Around the World ]. 2017 . University of Chicago Press . 978-0-226-28736-2 . 288 . en.
2. Book: Lewis . Jon . Sohn . Jae-Cheon . Lepidoptera: Yponomeutoidea I (Argyresthiidae, Attevidae, Praydidae, Scythropiidae, and Yponomeutidae) . Brill . Netherlands . 2015 . 1. 9789004264267 .
3. van Nieukerken. Erik J. . Lauri . Kaila . Ian J. . Kitching . Niels P. . Kristensen . David C. . Lees . Joël . Minet . Charles . Mitter . Marko . Mutanen . Jerome C. . Regier . Thomas J. . Simonsen . Niklas . Wahlberg . Shen-Horn . Yen . Reza . Zahiri . David . Adamski . Joaquin . Baixeras . Daniel . Bartsch . Bengt Å. . Bengtsson . John W. . Brown . Sibyl Rae . Bucheli . Donald R. . Davis . Jurate . De Prins . Willy . De Prins . Marc E. . Epstein . Patricia . Gentili-Poole . Cees. Gielis. Cees Gielis . Peter . Hättenschwiler . Axel . Hausmann . Jeremy D. . Holloway . Axel . Kallies . Ole . Karsholt. Akito Y. Kawahara . Akito Y. . Kawahara . Sjaak (J.C.) . Koster . Mikhail V. . Kozlov . J. Donald . Lafontaine . Gerardo . Lamas . Jean-François . Landry . Sangmi . Lee . Matthias . Nuss . Kyu-Tek . Park . Carla . Penz . Jadranka . Rota . Alexander . Schintlmeister . B. Christian . Schmidt . Jae-Cheon . Sohn . M. Alma . Solis . Gerhard M. . Tarmann . Andrew D. . Warren . Susan . Weller . Roman V. . Yakovlev . Vadim V. . Zolotuhin . Andreas . Zwick . Order Lepidoptera Linnaeus, 1758. Zootaxa. 23 December 2011. 3148. Animal biodiversity: An outline of higher-level classification and survey of taxonomic richness. 212–221. Zhi-Qiang. Zhang. Zootaxa.
4. Book: Heppner, John B. . Capinera . John L. . Ermine Moths (Lepidoptera:Yponomeuthidae) . Encyclopedia of Entomology. 2008 . Springer Science & Business Media . 978-1-4020-6242-1 . 1360–1361.
5. Westwood. J. O.. A series of Articles on the Insects most Injurious to Cultivators -- No. 8. The small Ermine Moth. The Gardener's Magazine and Register of Rural and Domestic Improvement. October 1837. 13. 434. John Claudius. Loudon.