第 1046 號，共 1 402 號

Brown-tail moth

Euproctis chrysorrhoea

只是會痛不要碰會痛，但不會對你造成嚴重傷害。

會螫人的毛吃：植物

The brown-tail moth is a moth whose caterpillars are covered in tiny irritating hairs. It is native to Europe, neighbouring parts of Asia and the north coast of Africa. Its hairs can cause a very itchy rash, so it matters to anyone who works or plays near trees it feeds on.1

分布在

Native to Europe, western Asia and northern Africa. Introduced to the north-eastern United States and Canada.1

歐洲, 亞洲

首頁

It lives in trees and shrubs, including pear, apple, maple and oak, and is a pest of fruit orchards and hardwood forests. People meet it when the caterpillars and their winter tents are on trees, and when shed hairs blow onto lawns, clothes and shoes.1

長度

3,6 cm 到 4,2 cm (1,4 in 到 1,7 in)1

最高速度

大約 0,03 km/h（0,02 mph）

在陸地上, 粗略估計

牠吃什麼？

Caterpillars feed on the leaves of many kinds of trees and shrubs, a habit that is unusual for a single species. They feed in groups in the spring and summer and then overwinter in communal tents.1

Brown-tail moth 的照片 — Brown-tail moth。照片：Drepanostoma。 CC BY 4.0, iNaturalist.

怎麼認出牠

Adults have pure white upper wings and a hairy white body with a tuft of brown hair at the tip of the tail end.1
Adults have a wingspan of 36 to 42 millimetres.1
Caterpillars are very hairy, brown with white markings, and have two prominent red spots toward the tail end.1
In late autumn and winter, silken tents hang on branch tips, which are a sign that the caterpillars are present.1

常被誤認為： Euproctis similis, also native to Europe, is similar as an adult but the female has a yellow tail tuft. Hyphantria cunea, native to North America, is similar too, but it lacks the coloured tail tuft.1

毒液力量

會螫人的毛

細小的毛或刺毛會斷在皮膚裡，造成刺痛。

牠的毒液有什麼作用？

The hairs are not venom injected by a bite or sting. They are toxic and irritating to skin. Barbed hairs lodge in the skin and cause physical irritation, and chemicals in the hairs also irritate it. If inhaled, the hairs can cause breathing difficulties similar to asthma. The toxins stay active for up to three years after the hairs are shed.1

牠對人有多危險？

對人的危險: 疼痛可能會非常痛，但幾乎從來不會很嚴重。

Contact with the hairs causes a very itchy rash that can last for weeks. Doctors reported rashes worse than poison ivy rash in the early 1900s. Breathing difficulties can occur if the hairs are inhaled.1

牠害怕時會做什麼？

Its hairs protect the caterpillars from predators, and the caterpillars use some hairs in their cocoons.1

如果你碰到牠的毛

被會螫人的毛毛蟲毛刺到時：用膠帶把毛黏起來，再清洗皮膚。不要搓揉。
被咬時：清洗並冷敷。如果傷者覺得不舒服或容易流血，要就醫。

一定要先打緊急電話（112、000、911）。這是一般急救指引，不是醫療建議。急救基本知識

注意安全

絕對不要碰、抓或捉弄野生動物，就算是很小的動物，就算牠看起來在睡覺或已經死了也一樣。
給牠空間。如果遇到了，保持冷靜，慢慢往後退，讓牠自己離開。
如果你碰到牠的毛：保持冷靜，保持不動，打緊急電話（112、000、911）或趕快去醫院。記住牠的樣子，有照片會很有幫助。

牠不是想來抓你。牠用毒液來捕捉食物或保護自己，而且牠更想躲起來。更多安全知識

在世界上的哪裡？

非洲亞洲歐洲北美洲南美洲澳洲與大洋洲

牠有多大？

牠有多長？

比你的小指頭還短比花園蝸牛還慢

Brown-tail moth 跟「你」比起來有多大？

只是在你的瀏覽器裡做算術。什麼都不會儲存，也不會傳送到任何地方。

牠有多快？

Brown-tail moth 大約 0,03 km/h (0,02 mph)

一隻花園蝸牛 大約 0,05 km/h (0,03 mph)

一隻陸龜 大約 0,3 km/h (0,19 mph)

值得知道

小知識

The hairs of the caterpillars can cause a rash even when no one touches a caterpillar, because shed hairs can blow in the wind.1

Brown-tail moths were described in outbreaks in Paris, London and Berlin as far back as the 1500s, when they stripped trees of leaves.1

The species spends about nine months of its year as caterpillars, which is unusually long for a moth.1

Caterpillars spend the winter together in silken tents built at branch tips, rather than spreading out.1

A parasitic fly introduced to North America in 1906 to control spongy moths also strongly affected brown-tail moths.1

破解迷思

迷思： You can only get the rash by touching the caterpillars.

真相： Hairs are shed and can become windblown, and they can be carried indoors on clothing and shoes, so a rash can occur without direct contact with the caterpillars.1

給毒液專家

學名: Euproctis chrysorrhoea
類群: 毛毛蟲和其他蟲子
家人: Erebidae2
排序: Lepidoptera
各大洲: 歐洲, 亞洲
寶寶: Females lay one cluster of 200 to 400 eggs, usually on the underside of a leaf.1
對人的危險: 2 / 5: 疼痛3