Thaumetopoea
Genus of moths
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Thaumetopoea is a genus of moths belonging to the family Notodontidae. It was first described by Jacob Hübner in 1820.
| Thaumetopoea | |
|---|---|
| |
| A Thaumetopoea species, pine processionary caterpillars | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Clade: | Pancrustacea |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Superfamily: | Noctuoidea |
| Family: | Notodontidae |
| Subfamily: | Thaumetopoeinae |
| Genus: | Thaumetopoea Hübner, 1820 |
| Type species | |
| Phalaena processionea[1] | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
In their caterpillar form, they bear the vernacular name of processionary because their gregarious larvae conspicuously move in single file. The adults live a few days without feeding.
Some Thaumetopoea species, for example Thaumetopoea pityocampa, are expanding their range towards higher latitudes and altitudes due to the current climate warming.[2] The caterpillars carry urticating hairs which cause health problems in humans.[3]
Systematics
The etymology of the name of the genus is from the Greek words θαυματόεις (thaumatóeis), "marvellous",[dubious – discuss] and ποιεῖν (poieîn), "to create", thus meaning "creating wonder", i.e. "looking remarkable".[4][5] This explains why the name is sometimes spelled Thaumatopoea, i.e. in the Latinized form of θαυματοποιία thaumatopoiia "marvellous achievement" (cf. θαῦμα thauma "marvel, wonder").[6][7]
The genus Thaumetopoea contains the following species:
- Thaumetopoea bonjeani (Powell, 1922) - cedar processionary
- Thaumetopoea herculeana Rambur, 1840
- Thaumetopoea pinivora (Treitschke, 1834) or Traumatocampa pinivora (Treitschke 1834) - eastern pine processionary
- Thaumetopoea pityocampa (Denis and Schiffermüller, 1775) or Traumatocampa pityocampa (Denis & Schiffermüller 1775) - pine processionary
- Thaumetopoea processionea (Linnaeus, 1758) - oak processionary
- Thaumetopoea solitaria (Freyer, 1838) - pistachio processionary or solitary
- Thaumetopoea wilkinsoni Tams, 1924 or Traumatocampa wilkinsoni (Tams 1926)
- Thaumetopoea hellenica
- Thaumetopoea mediterranea
_(4990106967).jpg)