Genus MALACOSOMA HUbner 



Malacosoma Hiibner, 1820, Verzeichniss Bekannter SchmettUnge [sic], p. 192. 

 Type species: Bombyx franconica Esper; designated by Kirby, 1892, Cata- 

 logue of Lepidoptera Heterocera, vol. 1, Sphinges and Bombyces, p. 819. 



Clisiocampa Curtis, 1828, British Entomology, vol. 5, Insect No. 229. Type 

 species: Phalaena neustria Linnaeus, original designation. 



\rion\ Malacosoma (Ghevrolat, MS); Dejean, 1835, Catalogue des Col6opt^res, 

 2d edition, p. 379 (nomen nudum), [Fide Neave, 1940, Nomenclatur Zoologi- 

 cus, vol. 3, p. 31.] Falderman, 1837, Nouveaux Memoiresdela Society 

 Imperiale des Naturalistes de Moscou, vol. 5, pp. 335-336, pi. 12, fig. 5. 

 (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). 



[nan] Malacosoma De Man, J. G., 1879, Notes from the Royal Zoological 

 Museum of the Netherlands. 1: 67. (Crustacea :Pinnotheridae). 



[non] Malacosoma Kopperi, A. J., 1935, Annales Zoologici Societatis Zoologicae- 

 Botanicae Fennicae Vanamo, 3(2): 21. (Protozoa :Butschliidae), 



A few early descriptions of tent caterpillars vs^ere made under the 

 generic name Bombyx, but all work of any importance on North Ameri- 

 can species has been published under one of two generic names, either 

 Malacosoma Hiibner, 1 820, or Clisiocampa Curtis, 1 828. No other generic 

 names have been proposed for tent caterpillars, although species (mostly 

 European) have at one time or another been included in other genera. 

 See Collier (1936) for a list of these references. 



Francis Walker (1855, p. 1444) appears to be the first person to again 

 use the name Malacosoma for tent caterpillars after Hiibner described the 

 genus in 1820. Walker listed the European species franconicum under 

 Malacosoma, but listed the rest of the Old and New World species under 

 Clisiocampa. Grote (1864) used Hiibner's name disstria (1820) in place of 

 Harris's name sylvatica (1841) for the forest tent caterpillar, but retained 

 the generic name Clisiocampa. Clisiocampa remained in use until 1892 

 when Kirby listed four European species in the genus Malacosoma, one 

 in Lachneis, and the rest (including all North American species) in 

 Clisiocampa. Dyar (1898) was the first person to consistently use Mala- 

 cosoma instead of Clisiocampa, hut later he described tigris (1902), lutei- 

 margo (1907), and onissa (1911) under Clisiocampa. After 1900 Clisiocampa 

 was rapidly replaced by Malacosoma, but Clisiocampa was still used oc- 

 casionally, even as late as 1930 by Ancona. Malacosoma seems to be uni- 

 versally used at the present time. 

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