''Furcula furcula'', the sallow kitten, is a

moth Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not Butterfly, butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is Paraphyly, paraphyletic with respect to butterflies (s ...

from the family

Notodontidae Notodontidae is a family of moths with approximately 3,800 known species. The family was described by James Francis Stephens in 1829. Moths of this family are found in all parts of the world, but they are most concentrated in tropical areas, es ...

. It was first described by the Swedish entomologist

Carl Alexander Clerck Carl Alexander Clerck (1709 – 22 July 1765) was a Sweden, Swedish entomologist and arachnology, arachnologist. Clerck came from a family in the petty Swedish nobility, nobility and entered the University of Uppsala in 1726. Little is known of hi ...

in 1759 from a specimen found in Sweden.

Distribution

The moth can be found in Europe (including the Mediterranean region),

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

and through Asia to China. It is also found in North America.

Description

The sallow kitten is grey/white and has a wingspan of 27 to 35 mm. The first part of the wing has a large grey middle band. It differs from the poplar kitten ('' Furcula bifida'') in its generally smaller size, but more especially in the shape of the black line forming the outer margin of the central band; this is always more or less angled or dentate towards the front margin of the wings, whereas, in the poplar kitten, this portion of the line forms a clean curve.

Technical description (Seitz)

The blackish grey median band is sharply edged with black, its distal sinus usually extends only to the apex of the cell; beyond the middle 3 parallel dentate lines. In ''borealis'' Borkh., from Lapland and Northern Russia, thorax and wings are blackish smoke-colour; specimens from Amurland also are somewhat darker than those from Central and Southern Europe. — ''sangaica'' Moore, which inhabits North and Central China, is distinguished by its narrower median band. — Egg black.The larva at first blackish, later stages yellowish green clotted with red, a large patch on the thorax and continuous with it dorsal spots on abdominal segments 1 —8 dark red-brown; the spot on segment 4 largest, extending sideways to the stigmata. Head of the same colour as the spots. Anal filaments with red-brown . Pupa in a brown cocoon, yellowish brown with greenish wing-cases; frequently hibernates twice.

Biology

The flight period ranges from April to the end of August. Depending on location the moth has one or two generations per year and is attracted to light. ; Ova The dark purple,

hemispherical A sphere (from Ancient Greek, Greek , ) is a surface (mathematics), surface analogous to the circle, a curve. In solid geometry, a sphere is the Locus (mathematics), set of points that are all at the same distance from a given point in three ...

eggs are laid in batches of two or three on the upper surface of leaves in May or June and again in August. They hatch after nine days. ; Larvae The caterpillar can grow up to 35 mm and is bright green with a purple brown marking on the saddle and can be found from May through to September. The main host plants are

willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, of the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 350 species (plus numerous hybrids) of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions. Most species are known ...

(''Salix'' species) and occasionally

aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species in the Populus sect. Populus, of the ''Populus'' (poplar) genus. Species These species are called aspens: * ''Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (China, south of ''P. tremula'') * ''Populus da ...

(''Populus tremula'') and other poplar (''Populus'' species). Larvae can be found on small isolated moorland bushes. ; Pupae Before pupation the larva hollows out a recess. The pupa is dark purple-brown and pupation takes place in a tough cocoon constructed from a mixture of chewed wood-pulp and silk.

References

External links