Cossus cossus Insect Nocturnal Butterfly Moth Cossid Miller Carpenter Miller

Cossus cossus one wing lenght cm 2.5-3 Insect Nocturnal Butterfly Moth Cossid Miller Carpenter Miller.
Family: Cossidae
Common name: The Goat Moth.
Syn. Phalaena cossus, Bombyx unguiculatus, Cossus ligniperda, Cossus balcanicus, Cossus araraticus, Cossus giganteus, Cossus lucifer, Cossus chinensis, Cossus cosso.

Cossidae (Cossidae Leach, 1815) are a family of lepidopterans widespread on all continents, with larvae generally xylophagous. It is one of the most primitive families in the Ditrysia division.
Cossus cossus reproduces considerably during the summer period. The females lay up to a maximum of about 800 eggs in plants in good and bad conditions. The larvae dig long tunnels in the xylem of trunks and branches of the host plant, in which they spend the first winter.
These insects can be found in Pomacee, Drupaceae and other forest and ornamental plants. If the larval infestation is at an advanced stage, it is possible to observe its presence by observing affected parts on the outside: in these areas the wood presents passage holes and a crumbling, especially of the bark, to which the plant finds it hard to react. If a trunk affected by Cossus is sectioned, the characteristic galleries of the larvae could be seen.
This insect causes serious damage to the larval state. When the plants are affected they may show deterioration due to the lack of lymph circulation, and if the plant is young, the galleries may even cause branches to break.
It is possible to prevent insect attack through different methods. One solution would be to walk the tunnels with a wire in order to pierce the larva, but it is a Spartan method that in most cases does not solve the problem. Experiments carried out by bringing Neoaplectana nematodes (Steinernema) carpocapsae and feltiae to contact the affected areas have been successful: it has been observed that these worms are able to hunt the larvae sheltered in the furrows. The most widespread type of struggle is the use of sexual traps, arranged according to the culture from 5 to 20 per hectare, to mass trapping, or the capture of the male, which therefore cannot fertilize the eggs, and reducing the proliferation of these insects.
The ancient Romans would have been consumers of the larvae of this insect, as Pliny the Elder testifies, later taken up by Jean-Henri Fabre.