The Lasiocampidae family of moths are also known as eggars, snout moths or lappet moths. There are over 2000 species worldwide, and probably not all have been named or studied.
Their common name 'snout moths' comes from their unique protruding mouth parts of some species that resemble a large nose. They are called 'lappet moths' due to the decorative skin flaps found on the caterpillar's prolegs. The name 'eggars' comes from the neat egg-shaped cocoons of some species.
Caterpillars of this family are large in size and are most often hairy, especially on their sides. Most have skin flaps on their prolegs and a pair of dorsal glands on their abdomen. They feed on leaves of many different trees and shrubs and often use these same plants to camouflage their cocoons. Some species are called Tent caterpillars due to their habit of living together in nests spun of silk.
The text above is from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and is licensed under the GFDL.