Identification
Adult: forewing white with three or four longitudinal rows of round black spots (usually more than 40 spots on each wing); hindwing mostly white; legs completely white
Range
southeastern Canada and eastern half of United States
Habitat
woodlots, parks, gardens, suburban yards
Season
adults fly in June and July
Food
larvae feed on Euonymus spp.
Life Cycle
larvae construct communal webs among the foliage of Nannyberry and Highbush Cranberry (Viburnum spp.) and Euonymus plants
Remarks
Adults of this species are abundant from late-June to mid-July in southern Ontario, where the larval host plant is presumably Running Strawberry-bush (Euonymus obovata), a low trailing shrub that forms much of the ground cover in woodlots throughout the region.
See Also
Streaked Ethmia (
Ethmia longimaculella) forewing has elongated black streaks, not round black spots, and its legs are banded black-and-white, not completely white; the Streaked Ethmia also has a chunkier body and appears two or three weeks earlier in the season than the American Ermine
Orchard Ermine Moth (
Y. padella) has less than 30 spots on forewing
Internet References
pinned adult image plus description, distribution, and other info (Gerald Fauske, Moths of North Dakota)
live adult images (Bob Patterson, Maryland)
live adult images (Dean Edwards, Tennessee)
adult images (Larry Line, Maryland)
