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Species Hypercompe scribonia - Giant Leopard Moth - Hodges#8146
Classification Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
No Taxon (Moths)
Superfamily Noctuoidea
Family Arctiidae (Tiger Moths)
Subfamily Arctiinae (Tiger Moths)
Tribe Arctiini
Genus Hypercompe
Species scribonia (Giant Leopard Moth - Hodges#8146)
Other Common Names Eyed Tiger Moth
Great Leopard Moth Synonyms and other taxonomic changes formerly Ecpantheria scribonia (see genus page for classification info and references) Numbers one of seven species in this genus in North America Size wingspan 57-91 mm
larva to about 50 mm Identification The caterpillar is mostly black with tufts of stiff black hairs of equal length radiating around its body. Rolls up head to tail when disturbed. When curled, red intersegmental rings are visible between the hairs. Spiracles are orange or red. Early instars also have the hairy tufts, but are colored dark brown and orange.
Moth is white with black spots. Many of the spots are hollow rings. Hindwing with black shading along inner margin, and black terminal spots near apex.
The abdomen is beautifully marked with blue and orange (below), but the color is not visible when at rest.
Range southern Ontario and Massachusetts to Florida, west to Texas, north to Nebraska and Michigan Food larvae feed on a great variety of broad-leaved plants, including banana, cabbage, cherry, dandelion, maple, orange, sunflower, violet, willow Life Cycle Spends the winter as a caterpillar ( Caterpillars of Eastern Forests(1) says it overwinters August to May - presumably this varies by location). One generation per year in the north; sometimes two generations in the south. Remarks Unlike some hairy caterpillars, this one will not sting you if handled. Its defense is just to stay rolled up until you go away and leave it alone!
Yellowish droplets of liquid are sometimes seen emitted from the adults when threatened or handled. These droplets are a chemical defense against predators. See Also Leopard Moth ( Zeuzera pyrina) forewing has smaller spots, and none are hollow rings.
See here for side-by-side images.
The western Hypercompe permaculata is similar but its black spots are more rectangular, and its range apparently does not overlap with H. scribonia. Internet References live adult comparison images with the European introduced Leopard Moth ( Zeuzera pyrina: Cossidae) and other info (John Himmelman, Connecticut)
live adult and larva images plus common name reference [Great Leopard Moth], description, seasonality, food plants (Texas A&M U.)
pinned adult images of male and female plus live larva images (James Adams, Dalton State College, Georgia)
pinned adult image by Paul Opler, and US distribution map (butterfliesandmoths.org)
live larva image plus description, food plants, seasonality, life cycle (David Wagner and Valerie Giles, Caterpillars of Eastern Forests; USGS)
live larva images plus common name references [Giant Leopard Moth, Eyed Tiger Moth] (Emily Earp and Josh Hillman, floridanature.org)
information on rearing plus description, habits, biology, life cycle (Bill Oehlke, silkmoths.bizland.com)
synonyms plus common name reference [Eyed Tiger Moth], links, distribution, references (Markku Savela, FUNET)
classification - Ecpantheria treated as a junior synonym of Hypercompe (Brian Pitkin, Butterflies and Moths of the World) Works Cited | 1. | Caterpillars of Eastern Forests
By David L. Wagner, Valerie Giles, Richard C. Reardon, Michael L. McManus | |
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