Cossus cossus

Cossus cossus
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 Pungeler, 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.

As a Food

Considered a Roman delicacy after it was fed with flour.

Recorded food plants

Taxonomy

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

Subspecies

References

External links


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