Species Phragmatobia fuliginosa - Ruby Tiger Moth - Hodges#8156

8156

Phragmatobia fuliginosa – (Linnaeus, 1758)

* polygenetic sequence #930332

one of three species in this genus in North America (a)

*the entire North American population was considered the subspecies P. f. rubricosa

wingspan 28-34 mm

Adult: body hairy; head and thorax dark reddish-brown; foreleg with red hair on femur; abdomen red with rows of black spots; wings translucent; forewing dull reddish brown with black reniform spot but no lines; hindwing pale pink with black discal spot and uneven black shading along costal and outer margins

[adapted from description by Charles Covell]

Larva: early instars are yellowish and gray with sparse tufts of black hair; each abdominal segment with round black dorsolateral spot on each side of midline; later instars are densely hairy black and brown

northern half of United States and all of Canada, including the arctic

also occurs throughout Eurasia

damp shrubby or weedy areas bordering rivers, streams, marshes where food plants grow; adults are nocturnal and attracted to light

adults fly from May to September

larvae feed on dock (Rumex spp.), goldenrod, ironweed, joe-pye-weed, plantain, skunk cabbage, sunflower, Sweet Gale (Myrica gale) and other plants

two generations per year

Large Ruby Tiger Moth (Phragmatobia assimilans) and Lined Ruby Tiger Moth (P. lineata) have faint lines across the forewing, and more extensive red/pink shading on the hindwing (compare images of all three species)

Moth Photographers Group - range map, photos of living and pinned adults.

BOLD - Barcode of Life Data Systems - species account with collection map and photos of pinned adults.

pinned adult image (CBIF)

distribution in western Canada list of provinces and territories (CBIF)