Goat moth

Goat moth
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Cossidae
Genus:	Cossus
Species:	C. cossus
Binomial name
Cossus cossus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms
Phalaena cossus Linnaeus, 1758 Bombyx unguiculatus Fabricius, 1793 Cossus ligniperda Fabricius, 1794 Cossus balcanicus Lederer, 1863 Cossus cossus stygianus Stichel, 1908 Cossus cossus ab. subnigra O. Schultz, 1911 Cossus cossus f. aceris Greip, 1918 Cossus cossus f. nigra Dietze, 1919 Cossus cossus altensis B. Hua, 1990 Cossus araraticus Teich, 1896 Cossus giganteus Schwingenschuss, 1938 Cossus lucifer Grum-Grshimailo, 1891 Cossus chinensis Rothschild, 1912 Cossus cosso Püngeler, 1898

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.

Pliny reported in Natural History that a grub which he gives the name cossus was considered a Roman delicacy after it was fed with flour. Some writers have equated this with Cossus cossus, but Pliny specifies that his cossus is found in oak trees, which makes this identification unlikely. Pliny's cossus is more likely to have been the larva of the beetle Cerambyx heros.

Cossus balcanicus Lederer, 1863 from Bulgaria is probably a hybrid between C. cossus and Lamellocossus terebrus (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775).

Caterpillar

Caterpillar (underside; head to the right)

Illustrated caterpillar

Willow with caterpillars

Caterpillars

Pupa

Illustrated pupa

Illustrated adult

Mounted

Illustration from John Curtis's British Entomology Volume 5

Caterpillars of different age on willow wood

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Wikipedia