Aglia tau

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Protostomia
Cladus: Ecdysozoa
Cladus: Panarthropoda
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Classis: Insecta
Cladus: Dicondylia
Subclassis: Pterygota
Cladus: Metapterygota
Infraclassis: Neoptera
Cladus: Eumetabola
Cladus: Endopterygota
Superordo: Panorpida
Cladus: Amphiesmenoptera
Ordo: Lepidoptera
Subordo: Glossata
Cladus: Coelolepida
Cladus: Myoglossata
Cladus: Neolepidoptera
Infraordo: Heteroneura
Cladus: Eulepidoptera
Cladus: Ditrysia
Cladus: Apoditrysia
Cladus: Obtectomera
Cladus: Macroheterocera
Superfamilia: Bombycoidea

Familia: Saturniidae
Subfamilie: Agliinae
Genus: Aglia
Species: Aglia tau
Subspecies: A. t. amurensis – A. t. ferenigra – A. t. tau
Name

Aglia tau (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms

Phalaena Bombyx tau Linnaeus, 1758

References

Phalaena Bombyx tau Linnaeus, 1758, Syst. Nat. (Edn 10) 1: 497
Naumann, S., Brosch, U. & Nässig, W.A. 2003. A catalogue and annotated checklist of the subfamily Agliinae Packard, 1893 (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae). 1. Review of the Aglia species with description of a new taxon from Sichuan, China. Nachrichten des Entomologischen Vereins Apollo 24(4): 173–182. Full article zobodat (PDF). Reference page.

Vernacular names
čeština: Martináč bukový
Deutsch: Nagelfleck
English: Tau Emperor
français: Hachette
svenska: Nagelspinnare

Aglia tau, the tau emperor, is a moth of the family Saturniidae. It is found in Europe. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.

The wingspan is 60–84 mm. The moth flies in one generation from March to July depending on the location.

The larvae primarily feed on European beech, but also birch, Alnus glutinosa, Salix caprea. and Sorbus aucuparia. The larvae look rather like hickory horned devil caterpillars in the early instar