Spilosoma fuliginosa

• Subfamily: Arctiinae, Arctiini, Spilosomina
• Wingspan: 34-42 mm
• Flight period: May - Jul
• Spread: Common
• Host plants: Polyphagous

Information

The Spilosoma lutea is a moth of the Erebidae family, subfamily Arctiinae, with a wingspan of 34-42 mm.
Visible throughout Europe, it is absent like most of the moths of this site from Iceland, in Italy it is also present in the islands. *

The wings of this species are buff-yellow (males tend to have the most intense color compared to females) and are typically marked with a diagonal line of dark spots on the front wing and a few other spots scattered both on the front and rear wings.
The extent of black spots varies they range from examples of almost immaculate wings to largely black ones ( melanic forms ).
Head, thorax and abdomen are yellow. The thorax has a thick hair, the abdomen has three rows of black spots above (one central and two lateral), two ventrally.

The species flies from May to July and is an assiduous frequenter of artificial light. The larva is light brown in color and covered with thick red-orange hair. It is polyphagous, feeding on a great variety of trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants. This species overwinters as a pupa.

Host plants are belonging to various botanical families Asteraceae, Urticaceae, Polygonacee, Plantaginaceae, etc. to come for example Alnus, Mentha, Plantago, Quercus, Rheum, Rubus, Rumex, Urtica, Honeysuckle, etc..


* Lepidoptera mundi https://lepidoptera.eu/ - Fauna Europea https://fauna-eu.org/