Taleporia tubulosa

The large birch bright (Taleporia tubulosa) is a small nocturnal moth from the bagworm moth family (Psychidae). It is found locally in Europe, from southern Scotland, through west and central Europe, east up to Russia and the Balkans. In the north it is found in Fennoscandia. In mountainous areas it is found up to heights of 1,800 meters ASL.

Case of caterpillar or female
Illustration from John Curtis's British Entomology Volume 6

Taleporia tubulosa
Adult male
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Lepidoptera
Division:
Ditrysia
Family:
Psychidae
Genus:
Taleporia
Species:
T. tubulosa
Binomial name
Taleporia tubulosa
(Retzius, 1783)
Synonyms
  • Talaeporia tubulosa (lapsus)
  • Taleporia tessellea (Haworth, 1828)
  • Cochleophasia tessellea (Haworth, 1828)

The wings of the male are greyish brown and look frayed, with a wingspan of 15 to 19 millimeters. The females do not have wings, as is usual for bagworm moths.

The caterpillars feed on lichen from the genus Parmelia, but they may also[1] eat plant remains. They live in a protective casing made of grass or bark that is usually attached to a tree. The females remain in this casing when adult. The males' flight time ranges from May to June.

Footnotes
  1. Grabe (1942)
gollark: How is testing going?
gollark: Also, it's a societally-approved way (which they also partially pay for, often) to study stuff fulltime.
gollark: It might change in the future, such trends are hard to predict.
gollark: Not *exactly*. Regardless of actual education, it apparently increases lifetime income a decent bit.
gollark: Well, as they say.

References

Media related to Taleporia tubulosa at Wikimedia Commons

  • Grabe, Albert (1942): Eigenartige Geschmacksrichtungen bei Kleinschmetterlingsraupen ["Strange tastes among micromoth caterpillars"]. Zeitschrift des Wiener Entomologen-Vereins 27: 105-109 [in German]. PDF fulltext
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