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PUSS MOTH NOT SUCH A PUSSYCAT
16/11/2023
The adult puss moth Cerura vinula (Linnaeus, 1758), photographed here resting happily on my hand, is a lovely, fluffy creature. It is common in the UK where its foodplants (poplar, aspen and willows) grow. They are nocturnal but are sometimes attracted to light, as this one was. They fly from May to July. Once they are fully fed, the caterpillars make a tough cocoon of chewed-up wood in which to pupate and pass the winter. It is usually on the tree where they have been feeding or sometimes on a fencepost or similar substratum nearby.
The moths are lovely as you can see, and their feathery legs and soft appearance lent them their name, but the chemicals from its foodplants make it distasteful to at least some predators. Its caterpillars even have a surprising behaviour, not at all like a gentle pussycat. When provoked or attacked, they start off by lifting up their head to display the red markings and waving their two whip-like appendages at the tail end of their body. If that does not work, though, they can squirt venom (an acid similar to that in a bee sting) from their thorax! Although not all predators are deterred, it can be an effective defence, unusual in moths.
A study of the puss moth and other notodontids using a similar defence by Schnurrer & Paetz, published online in May 2023[1], found that the caterpillars are able to degrade their foodplants’ toxic chemicals, called salicortinoids which aspens, poplars and willows use to try to discourage animals from eating their leaves. This chemical detoxification happens in the caterpillar’s gut and avoids their being poisoned.
Betts Ecology have a database of records of all sorts, including moths. Do tell us if you see a puss moth or its larva, or any other interesting moths, and send a photo if you can.
© Betts Ecology
[1] Journal of Chemical Ecology (2023) 49:251–261 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-023-01423-4
