#2511 · 🦋 butterflies & moths
The Lackey
🇳🇱 Ringelrups ·Malacosoma neustria
10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
- 1. © Paolo Mazzei · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 2. © Misha · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 3. © Callum Carpenter · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 4. © Nikolai Vladimirov · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 5. © Michał Brzeziński · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 6. © Donald Hobern · CC BY 4.0
- 7. © Michał Brzeziński · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 8. © oceanauk · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 9. © Dino Quinzani · CC BY-SA 4.0
- 10. © praposo · CC BY-NC 4.0
what is it?
The lackey moth ( Malacosoma neustria ) is common across southern Britain and central Europe. Malacosoma species are notable for their caterpillars which are brightly coloured and form silken tents to regulate their temperature. Malacosoma neustria caterpillars are brown with blue, orange and white stripes. The adults are a fairly uniform brown. The larvae feed mainly on trees and shrubs from within their tents.
base stats
Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).
fun facts
- Spotted 211 times in the Netherlands on iNaturalist.
- 11,619 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Scientifically named in 1758 (268 years ago).
fact sheet
- English
- The Lackey
- Nederlands
- Ringelrups
- scientific name
- Malacosoma neustria
- class
- Insecta
- order
- Lepidoptera
- family
- Lasiocampidae
- sightings in NL
- 211
- sightings in Europe
- 9,681
- sightings worldwide
- 11,619
- GBIF records in NL
- 14,333
- weight
- —
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1758
relatives· Lasiocampidae
#2419 📷 8Fox Moth
🇳🇱 Veelvraat
Macrothylacia rubi
👀 661 in NL
#2448 📷 10Drinker Moth
🇳🇱 Rietvink
Euthrix potatoria
👀 408 in NL
#2483 📷 7Oak Eggar
🇳🇱 Hageheld
Lasiocampa quercus
👀 295 in NL
#2614 📷 7Grass Eggar
🇳🇱 Kleine hageheld
Lasiocampa trifolii
👀 107 in NL
#2733 📷 10Ground Lackey
🇳🇱 Heideringelrups
Malacosoma castrensis
👀 57 in NL
#2914 📷 10Pine-tree Lappet
🇳🇱 Dennenspinner
Dendrolimus pini
👀 23 in NL
#3094 📷 8Eastern Tent Caterpillar Moth
Malacosoma americana
🌍 66.4k seen
#3111 📷 10Forest Tent Caterpillar Moth
Malacosoma disstria
🌍 41.9k seen
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 354737, Wikidata Q30685, GBIF 5101745, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.