Kingdom Animalia Class Insecta Family Lymantriidae Rank Species | Phylum Arthropoda Order Lepidoptera Genus Somena | |
 | ||
Similar Orgyia postica, Euproctis, Arctornis, Artaxa subflava, Orgyia | ||
The Yellow tail tussock moth, (Somena scintillans) is a moth in the Lymantriidae family. It is found in northern India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Andaman Islands. Though considered as a minor pest, larva can be sporadically serious in certain regions.
Description
Head yellow color. Thorax brownish. Abdomen black or yellow with orange anal tuft. Fore wing vinous brown, irrorated with dark scales, which color extends as two spurs across the yellow marginal area below the apex and to center of margin, but sometimes not reaching the margin. Costa often yellowish. Hind wings yellow, or in some specimens fuscous brown with a broad yellow margin.
It is a polyphagous species. Larva dark brown with a series of crimson lateral tubercles on a yellow line bearing tufts of grey hair. The third somite banded with yellow. Dorsal tufts of short brown hair on fourth, fifth and eleventh somites. Fifth to tenth somites with a broad, dorsal yellow stripe. There is a yellow spot on anal somite.
Larva is known to damage apple plantations, and commonly collected on ragi, castor, pigeonpea, cowpea, field bean, cucurbits, mango, citrus, hibiscus, rose, ficus, coffee, tea, and many more.