Thaumetopoea

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: Noctuoidea

Familia: Notodontidae
Subfamilia: Thaumetopoeinae
Genus: Thaumetopoea
Species: T. bonjeani – T. hellenica – T. loxostigma – T. mediterranea – T. pinivora – T. pityocampa – T. processionea
Name

Thaumetopoea Hübner, 1820

Type species: Phalaena processionea Linnaeus, 1758 by subsequent designation by Kirby, 1892.
References
Additional references

Freina de, J.J. & Witt, T.J. 1985: Taxonomische Veränderungen bei den Bombyces und Sphinges Europas und Nordwestafrikas. Helianthocampa gen. nov.; Traumatocampa galaica (Palanca Soler et al. 1982) comb. nov. et. syn. nov. (Lepidoptera, Thaumetopoeidae, Thaumetopoeinae). Nota lepidopterologica (n.f.), 8(2): 175–183. Reference page.
Trematerra, P., Scalercio, S. & Colacci, M. 2017. Thaumetopoea hellenica sp. n. and Thaumetopoea mediterranea sp. n. new taxa from southern Europe (Lepidoptera Notodontidae Thaumetopoeinae). Redia 100: 3–10. Full article (PDF). Reference page.

A Thaumetopoea species, pine processionary caterpillars

Thaumetopoea is a genus of moths belonging to the family Notodontidae. It was first described by Jacob Hübner in 1820.

In their caterpillar form, they bear the vernacular name of processionary because their gregarious larvae conspicuously move in single file. The adults live a few days without feeding.

Some Thaumetopoea species, for example Thaumetopoea pityocampa, are expanding their range towards higher latitudes and altitudes due to the current climate warming.[2] The caterpillars carry urticating hairs which cause health problems in humans.[3]
Systematics

The etymology of the name of the genus is from the Ancient Greek words θαυματόεις (thaumatóeis), "marvellous", and ποιέω (poiéō), "to create", thus meaning "creating wonder", i.e. "looking remarkable".[4][5] This explains why the name is sometimes incorrectly spelled Thaumatopoea.[6]

The genus Thaumetopoea contains the following species:

Thaumetopoea bonjeani (Powell, 1922) - cedar processionary
Thaumetopoea herculeana Rambur, 1840
Thaumetopoea pinivora (Treitschke, 1834) or Traumatocampa pinivora (Treitschke 1834) - eastern pine processionary
Thaumetopoea pityocampa (Denis and Schiffermüller, 1775) or Traumatocampa pityocampa (Denis & Schiffermüller 1775) - pine processionary
Thaumetopoea processionea (Linnaeus, 1758) - oak processionary
Thaumetopoea solitaria (Freyer, 1838) - pistachio processionary or solitary
Thaumetopoea wilkinsoni Tams, 1924 or Traumatocampa wilkinsoni (Tams 1926)
Thaumetopoea hellenica
Thaumetopoea mediterranea

Thaumetopoea pityocampa, imago
References

Kirby, W. F. (1892). Sphinges and Bombyces. A synonymic catalogue of Lepidoptera Heterocera (Moths). Vol. 1. London: Gurney & Jackson. p. 591.
Gschloessl, Bernhard; Vogel, Heiko; Burban, Christian; Heckel, David; Streiff, Réjane; Kerdelhué, Carole (2014). "Comparative analysis of two phenologically divergent populations of the pine processionary moth (Thaumetopoea pityocampa) by de novo transcriptome sequencing". Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. 46: 31–42. doi:10.1016/j.ibmb.2014.01.005. PMID 24468684.
Battisti, Andrea; Larsson, Stig; Roques, Alain (31 January 2017). "Processionary Moths and Associated Urtication Risk: Global Change–Driven Effects". Annual Review of Entomology. 62 (1): 323–342. doi:10.1146/annurev-ento-031616-034918. ISSN 0066-4170. PMID 27860523.
Bailly, Anatole (1981). Abrégé du dictionnaire grec français. Paris: Hachette. ISBN 2010035283. OCLC 461974285.
Bailly, Anatole. "Greek-French dictionary online". www.tabularium.be. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
Quicke, Donald L. J. (22 December 2014). The Braconid and Ichneumonid Parasitoid Wasps: Biology, Systematics, Evolution and Ecology. John Wiley & Sons. p. 515. ISBN 9781118907054.