'' is an example of
sexual dimorphism in insects. Adult moths of this subfamily do not feed. They usually have muted colours (browns and greys), although some are white, and tend to be very hairy. Some females are flightless, and some have reduced wings. Usually, the females have a large tuft at the end of the abdomen. The males, at least, have
tympanal organs. They are mostly nocturnal, but Schaefer lists 20 confirmed diurnal species and 20 more likely diurnal species (based on reduced eye size). The
larvae are also hairy, often with hairs packed in tufts, and in many species the hairs break off very easily and are extremely irritating to the skin (especially members of the genus
Euproctis). This highly effective defence serves the moth throughout its life cycle. The hairs are incorporated into the
cocoon. An emerging adult female of some species collects and stores the hairs at the tip of the
abdomen and uses them to camouflage and protect the
eggs as they are laid. In other species, the eggs are covered by a froth that soon hardens or are camouflaged by material the female collects and sticks to them. In the larvae of some species, hairs are gathered in dense tufts along the back and this gives them the common name of
tussocks or
tussock moths.
Lymantria means "destroyer", and several species are important defoliators of forest trees, including the
spongy moth Lymantria dispar, the
Douglas-fir tussock moth Orgyia pseudotsugata, and the
nun moth Lymantria monacha. They tend to have broader host plant ranges than most Lepidoptera. Most feed on trees and shrubs, but some are known from vines, herbs, grasses, and lichens. '' ==Tribes==