Poplar Kitten

Taxobox
name = Poplar Kitten

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image_width = 240px
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
classis = Insecta
ordo = Lepidoptera
familia = Notodontidae
genus = "Furcula"
species = "F. bifida"
binomial = "Furcula bifida"
binomial_authority = Brahm, 1787The Poplar Kitten ("Furcula bifida") is a moth of the family Notodontidae. It is distributed throughout Europe.

This species has white forewings with a broad brown band in the centre and brown dots along the margin. The hindwings are also white with brown dots along the margin. The wingspan is 44-48 mm. It flies at night from May to July ref|flight_season and is attracted to light, the male more so than the female.

The larva is like a small version of the bizarre-looking larva of the Puss Moth, with the last pair of prolegs modified into two long "tails". It feeds on poplar and aspen, and occasionally on willow. The species overwinters as a pupa in a cocoon on the trunk of its food plant.

#Note|flight_season"The flight season refers to the British Isles. This may vary in other parts of the range."

Subspecies

*"F. b. bifida"
*"F. b. lype"
*"F. b. urocera"

References

*Chinery, Michael "Collins Guide to the Insects of Britain and Western Europe" 1986 (Reprinted 1991)
*Skinner, Bernard "Colour Identification Guide to Moths of the British Isles" 1984