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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Owlet Moths and kin (Noctuoidea) » Erebidae » Tiger and Lichen Moths (Arctiinae) » Tiger Moths (Arctiini) » Spilosomina » Arachnis » Painted Tiger Moth - Hodges#8152 (Arachnis picta)

Species Arachnis picta - Painted Tiger Moth - Hodges#8152

Classification · Hodges Number · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Size · Identification · Range · Season · Food · Life Cycle · See Also · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited
Arachnis picta Painted Tiger Moth? - Arachnis picta Painted Tiger Moth - Arachnis picta Painted Tiger Moth - Arachnis picta - female 8152 - Arachnis picta Moth - Arachnis picta Moth, dorsal - Arachnis picta Painted Tiger Moth - Arachnis picta
Show images of: caterpillars · adults · both
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
Superfamily Noctuoidea (Owlet Moths and kin)
Family Erebidae
Subfamily Arctiinae (Tiger and Lichen Moths)
Tribe Arctiini (Tiger Moths)
Subtribe Spilosomina
Genus Arachnis
Species picta (Painted Tiger Moth - Hodges#8152)
Hodges Number
8152
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Arachnis picta Packard, 1864
* phylogenetic sequence #930327
Explanation of Names
picta is Latin for "painted".
Size
Forewing length 19-25 mm. (1)
Larva to 5 cm. (2)
Identification
Larva - covered in dense black and cinnamon-colored bristles. (2)
Egg - hemispherical, shiny pearl-colored. (2)
Range
Central and southern California to Colorado, south to western Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. (1)
Season
Adults fly June to October. In Arizona the larvae go into prepupal diapause during the dry season, from the end of the monsoons (September) until spring. (2), .(1)
Food
Larvae are generalists of low herbacious plants. (2)
Life Cycle
Eggs laid in large, equally spaced massses up to 200. Larvae are primarily nocturnal. Adults do not feed. (2)
See Also
Arachnis citra
Arachnis aulaea
Bruce Walsh on the four species of Arachnis present in southeastern Arizona:
Arachnis picta - the most common.
Arachnis nedyma - a pale version of picta. While picta flies after the monsoons in the desert mountain ranges, nedyma is a rarer pre-monsoon flier in just a few of the ranges in SE Arizona and at elevation (over 6000 feet).
Arachnis aulaea - has a much darker (almost black) hindwing relative to picta. Flies just at the start of the monsoons, and typically a little lower in elevation (around 4000-6000 feet).
Arachnis zuni - truly spectacular, much larger (and more colorful) than picta. Rare, again a pre-monsoon flier at elevation.
Print References
Powell, J.A. & P.A. Opler 2009. Moths of Western North America. University of California Press. p.270, pl.47.29-30 (1)
Internet References
Moth Photographers Group - species page
Works Cited
1.Moths of Western North America
Powell and Opler. 2009. UC Press.
2.Tiger Moths and Woolly Bears: behavior, ecology, and evolution of the Arctiidae.
William E. Conner (ed.). 2009. Oxford University Press.
Contributed by Eric R. Eaton on 21 October, 2005 - 5:21pm
Additional contributions by anitagould, Maury Heiman, Graham M, Randy Hardy
Last updated 5 October, 2021 - 9:10pm

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