Arctiidae

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Arctiidae (tiger moths, ermines, footmen, tussocks, woolly bears; subclass Pterygota, order Lepidoptera) Family of small to medium-sized moths, many of which are brightly coloured, and which are often distasteful to predators. The larvae are often hairy (and so called ‘woolly bears’), and hairs are used to construct the cocoon. There are about 10 000 species with a world-wide distribution.

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