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)

one of 2 species in this genus in North America listed at All-Leps

common

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 pupa in a spacious cocoon; adults emerge in early spring. Females lay 400-1200 eggs in clusters on leaves of host; eggs hatch in 4-5 days, and larvae pass through 5 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.

Estigmene albida has smaller and fewer black spots on the wings, and a more southern distribution (e.g. doesn't occur in Canada) - see pinned adult image by Bruce Walsh from Arizona.

Larvae of Virginian Tiger Moth are somewhat similar in some color forms, but seem to lack black facial markings, at least in BugGuide examples.

Covell, adult, p. 66, plate 13 #13,16) (1)

Wright, caterpillar and adult, pp. 98-99 (2)

Himmelman, caterpillar, plate A-2 (3)

Wagner, caterpillar, p. 464 (4)

Handfield, adult males, plate 60 #8131-1,2,3; adult female, plate 61 #8131-4; text, pp. 291-292 (5)

adult image by Paula Kennedy, plus US distribution map and common name reference [Acrea Moth] (butterfliesandmoths.org)

live and pinned adult images of males and females plus larvae by various photographers, and common name reference [Salt Marsh Moth] (Moth Photographers Group)

Univ. FL Extension excellent account with photos of all life stages, description of life history, host plants, damage, natural enemies, references (John Capinera, U. of Florida)

pinned adult image plus common name reference [Salt March Tiger], habitat, flight season, description, foodplants, distribution (Strickland Entomological Museum, U. of Alberta)

Maryland Moths adult images (Larry Line, Maryland)

Georgia Leps live larva image (James Adams, Dalton State College, Georgia)

Dallas Butterflies pinned adult images of male and female, plus foodplants (Dale Clark, Texas)

Forestry Images links to images of larvae (forestryimages.org)

Lepidoptera of East Tennessee live adult image of male (Dean Edwards, Tennessee)

common name reference [Salt Marsh Caterpillar] plus foodplants and flight season (Ohio State U.)

foodplants; PDF doc plus flight season and life cycles (Macrolepidoptera of Mont Saint-Hilaire Region, McGill U., Quebec)

distribution in Canada list of provinces and territories (U. of Alberta, using CBIF data)