Species Estigmene acrea - Salt Marsh Moth - Hodges#8131

8131

Salt Marsh Caterpillar (larva)

Salt Marsh Caterpillar Moth (adult)

Salt Marsh Tiger (adult)

Acrea Moth (adult)

wingspan 45-68 mm

larvae length to 55 mm

Adult (imago): forewing white with about 20 small black spots scattered across the disk, and 5 larger black spots spaced along the costa. Males have dark yellow hindwings, those of females are mostly white (with 3 or 4 black blotches in both sexes).

Larva (caterpillar): highly variable, blond to brown to black, with long bristly hairs standing upright in dense tufts from orange or black tubercles; hairs longer at both ends of body, especially toward the rear end. Spiracles white. Moves very rapidly. Face mainly black with yellow down the center.

all of North America except Alaska and Yukon

open wooded areas, meadows, farm fields, weedy waste places, prairie grasslands, and marshes - including salt marshes; adults are nocturnal and come to light

Adults fly from May to September.

Larvae feed on a wide variety of mainly weedy plants including pigweed (Amaranthus spp.), anglepod (Gonolobus spp.), Sicklepod (Cassia tora), Dog Fennel (Eupatorium capillifolium), ground cherry (Physalis spp.), and mallow (Anoda spp.), plus crops such as alfalfa, asparagus, bean, beet, cabbage, carrot, celery, clover, corn, cotton, lettuce, onion, pea, potato, soybean, sugarbeet, tobacco, tomato, and turnip. On rare occasions, they also feed on leaves of deciduous trees and shrubs: alder, apple, cherry, elderberry, pear, poplar, and serviceberry, according to Handfield.

one generation per year in the far north, 2 in southern Quebec and Ontario, 3 or 4 generations in the south; overwinters as a mature larva which pupates in early spring on the soil among leaf debris; adults emerge about 2 weeks later and lay 400-1200 eggs in clusters on leaves of host; eggs hatch in 4-5 days, and larvae pass through 5 to 7 instars over a period of 20-45 days; larvae are active dispersers, and are often found wandering over the soil in search of suitable food