A review of the “summer” Thaumetopoea spp. (Lepidoptera: Notodontidae, Thaumetopoeinae) associated with Cedrus and Pinus

Abstract

The species of the genus Thaumetopoea (Lepidoptera, Notodontidae, Thaumetopoeinae) are important from the point of view of forestry and human health as they are defoliators of trees and they release urticating hairs at the larval stage that are a source of allergy. Within the genus, there are two groups associated with conifers which are characterized by larval feeding in winter or in spring-summer, so the groups are called 'winter' and 'summer' processionary moths. This review collects the information about the species of the 'summer' Thaumetopoea species from Eurasia. Information includes morphological, biological, and ecological traits of Th. bonjeani, Th. cheela, Th. ispartaensis, Th. libanotica, Th. pinivora and Th. sedirica. Thaumetopoea cheela is proposed to be included in this group based on indirect evidence presented in this paper. Information is collected from the literature and checked, where it was possible, with museum and collected specimens. An identification key based on morphological and biological traits is proposed. The conifers of the genus Cedrus seem to be associated with the summer Thaumetopoea, although more work is needed in order to clarify the evolutionary history of the group.

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