---
title: "Spongy Moth"
description: "Lymantria dispar — Insetti e ragni. Lymantria dispar, also known as the gypsy moth, and in the United States, the spongy moth, is a species of moth in the family Erebidae native to Europe and Asia."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/it/animal/spongy-moth
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Spongy Moth

> Lymantria dispar — Insetti e ragni. Lymantria dispar, also known as the gypsy moth, and in the United States, the spongy moth, is a species of moth in the family Erebidae native to Europe and Asia.

- Scientific name: *Lymantria dispar*
- Category: `insects` (Insetti e ragni)
- Habitats: `forest` (Foresta)
- iNaturalist observations: 83617
- Wikidata: [Q45532](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q45532)
- iNaturalist taxon: [47802](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/47802)

## Names

- en: Spongy Moth
- de: Schwammspinner
- es: Polilla gitana asiática
- fr: Bombyx disparate
- nl: Plakker
- pt: Mariposa-cigana
- pl: Brudnica nieparka

## Countries with the most observations

US (28765), CA (22372), FR (5260), RU (3581), DE (3214), IT (3191), GB (2171), ES (1399), NL (1015), KR (779), CZ (777), PL (774)

## Summary

Lymantria dispar, also known as the gypsy moth, and in the United States, the spongy moth, is a species of moth in the family Erebidae native to Europe and Asia. Lymantria dispar is subdivided into several subspecies, with subspecies such as L. d. dispar and L. d. japonica being clearly identifiable without ambiguity. Lymantria dispar has been introduced to several continents and is now additionally found as an invasive species in Africa, North America and South America. The polyphagous larvae live on a variety of deciduous and coniferous trees and can cause severe damage in years of mass reproduction. Due to these…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lymantria_dispar

## Photo

![Spongy Moth](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/spongy-moth/medium.jpg)

Photo: vicki hird · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/207583734

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/spongy-moth?lang=it` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).