Spilosoma lubricipeda

White ermine
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Superfamily:	Noctuoidea
Family:	Erebidae
Subfamily:	Arctiinae
Genus:	Spilosoma
Species:	S. lubricipeda
Binomial name
	Spilosoma lubricipeda; (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms
	Phalaena Bombyx lubricipeda Linnaeus, 1758; Spilosoma lubricipedum; Bombyx menthastri [Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775]; Spilosoma menthastri; Phalaena lepus Retzius, 1783; Phalaena Bombyx menthastri Esper, 1786; Bombyx mendica Rossius, 1790; Phalaena Bombyx erminea Marsham, 1791; Chelonia luxerii Godart, 1822 [1823]; Spilosoma walkerii Curtis, 1825; Diacrisia menthastri chishimana Matsumura, 1929; Diacrisia mashuensis Matsumura, 1930; Spilosoma menthastri elegans Bryk, 1948 [1949]; Spilosoma menthastri sotiriadis Koutsaftikis, 1973;

Spilosoma lubricipeda, the white ermine, is a moth of the family Erebidae. It is found throughout the temperate belt of Eurasia from Europe through Kazakhstan and southern Siberia to Amur Region, China, Korea and Japan. In China several sibling species occur.

Illustration from John Curtis's *British Entomology* Volume 5

The wingspan is 34–48 mm. Wing pattern is very variable, from entirely white wings to strongly covered with black dots. Hindwings often with one or several black dots (rarely without any black dot). Antennae branches long (much longer than in similar Spilosoma urticae), 3–5 times longer than the antenna stem diameter.