Zeuzera pyrina

Leopard Moth Zeuzera pyrina
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Cossidae
Genus:	Zeuzera
Species:	Z. pyrina
Binomial name
Zeuzera pyrina (Linnaeus, 1761)
Synonyms
Phalaena pyrina Linnaeus, 1761 Phalaena aesculi Linnaeus, 1767 Zeuzera decipiens Kirby, 1892 Noctua hypocasstani Poda, 1761 Zeuzera hypocastrina Dyar, 1902 Phalaena hilaris Geoffroy in Fourcroy, 1785 Zeuzera octopunctata Boisduval, [1841] Zeuzera pirina Staudinger, 1879 Zeuzera esculi Staudinger, 1895 Zeuzera pyrina ab. conflua Schultz, 1905 Zeuzera yprina Stichel, 1918 Zeuzera yprina f. paulomaculata Stichel, 1918 Zeuzera pyrina ab. confluens Cockayne, 1955 Zeuzera pyrina f. marginestriata Lempke, 1961 Zeuzera pyrinia El-Hariri, 1968

The Leopard Moth or Wood Leopard Moth (Zeuzera pyrina) is a moth of the family Cossidae.^[1] It is found primarily in Europe but also in northern Africa (Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco) and Asia (Taiwan, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Korea, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Syria, Turkey).^[2] It was introduced into the northeastern United States prior to 1879 and has a range extending from Maine to Pennsylvania.

This is a highly distinctive species with a very furry white thorax marked with six black spots and heavily spotted white wings. The wingspan is 35–60 mm. The moth flies from June to September depending on the location.

The caterpillars feed on various deciduous trees and shrubs (see list below), feeding internally for two or three years in the stems and branches before emerging to pupate under the bark. It can be a pest of fruit production.

Recorded food plants

Subspecies

Zeuzera biebingeri is treated as a subspecies of Z. pyrina by some sources, but is mostly treated as a valid species.^[3]

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  Illustration from John Curtis's British Entomology Volume 5

General references

• Vlindernet (Dutch)
• Skinner, Bernard (1984). Colour Identification Guide to Moths of the British Isles. Viking Press. p. 3. ISBN 0-670-80354-5. 
• Waring, Paul; Townsend, Martin (2003). Field Guide to the Moths of Great Britain and Ireland. British Wildlife Publishing. p. 22. ISBN 0-9531399-2-1. 

References