Cossus cossus

Cossus cossus, the goat moth, is a moth of the family Cossidae. It is found in Europe.

This is a large heavy moth with a wingspan of 68–96 mm. The wings are greyish brown and marked with fine dark cross lines. The moth flies from April to August depending on the location.

The caterpillars feed in the trunks and branches of a wide variety of trees (see list below), taking three or four years to mature.

As a food

Pliny reported in Natural History that a grub which may have been Cossus cossus was considered a Roman delicacy after it was fed with flour.

Recorded food plants

Alnus
Betula
Castanea
Citrus
Cydonia
Fagus
Fraxinus
Juglans
Malus
Olea
Populus
Prunus
Pyrus
Quercus
Salix
Sorbus
Ulmus
Vitis
Taxonomy

Cossus balcanicus Lederer, 1863 from Bulgaria is probably a hybrid between C. cossus and Lamellocossus terebrus (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775).

Subspecies

Cossus cossus cossus
Cossus cossus albescens Kitt, 1925 (Kazakhstan, Russia)
Cossus cossus araraticus Teich, 1896 (Georgia, Azerbaidzhan, Turkey, Iran)
Cossus cossus armeniacus Rothschild, 1912 (Turkey)
Cossus cossus chinensis Rothschild, 1912 (China: Shaanxi)
Cossus cossus dauricus Yakovlev, 2007 (Russia: Transbaical)
Cossus cossus dersu Yakovlev, 2009 (Russia: southern Ussuri, Primorsky Krai)
Cossus cossus deserta Daniel, 1953 (Mongolia)
Cossus cossus gueruenensis Friedel, 1977 (Asia Minor)
Cossus cossus kopetdaghi Yakovlev, 2009 (Turkmenistan)
Cossus cossus kossai Wiltshire, 1957 (Iraq, Jordan)
Cossus cossus lucifer Grum-Grshimailo, 1891 (Tibet)
Cossus cossus mongolicus Erschoff, 1882 (Mongolia)
Cossus cossus omrana Wiltshire, 1957 (Iraq, Iran)
Cossus cossus tianshanus Hua, Chou, Fang & Chen, 1990 (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tadzhikistan, Afghanistan)
Cossus cossus uralicus Seitz, 1912 (Uralsk)

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