Malacosoma species are notable for their caterpillars which are brightly coloured and form silken tents to regulate their temperature.

Its habitat is the edges of woodland, bushy grassland, coppices, hedgerows and road verges.

The caterpillar's food plants include apple, pear, plum, willow, hornbeam, lime and oak.

[1] Eggs of the lackey moth are laid in ring-like bands in late summer on twigs of the host trees where they overwinter.

When ready to pupate they drop to the ground and undergo metamorphosis, each forming a pupa sandwiched between leaves of plants growing beneath the tree.