Graellsia isabellae
| Graellsia isabellae | |
|---|---|
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| Graellsia isabellae, female | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Saturniidae |
| Genus: | Graellsia Grote, 1896 |
| Species: | G. isabellae |
| Binomial name | |
| Graellsia isabellae (Graëlls, 1849) | |
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| Distribution of G. isabellae in West Europe | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Actias isabellae | |
The Spanish moon moth (Graellsia isabellae) is a moth of the silkmoth family Saturniidae.
Range
The moth is native to Spain and France.
At the end of April and beginning of May the moth begins to hatch after overwintering in the cocoon. Normally moths from the same line don't copulate, so it is the condition that different lines are in a not too wide range. After copulation the female lays about 100 to 150 eggs on the favoured foodplant, pines. The larva hatch after 1 to 1.5 weeks and begin to eat from the very hard pine needles. It takes about 1.5 month to see the last instar of the caterpillars. In the last instar the caterpillars go down from the tree to pupate under leaves on the ground. In this phase the pupae in the cocoon overwinters until next springtime.
Host plants
This moth primarily eats the needles of pine trees (Pinus). It appears to have difficulty adopting non-native pine species as a host even within the Pinus genus.
Life cycle
1st instar
2nd instar
3rd instar
4th instar
5th instar
Male - dorsale side 
Male - ventrale △ side 
Female - dorsale side 
Female - ventrale △ side
Sources
- World Conservation Monitoring Centre 1996. Graellsia isabelae. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 31 July 2007.
External links
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