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Species Megalopyge crispata - Black-waved Flannel Moth - Hodges#4644

Megalopyge caterpillar - Megalopyge crispata Fuzzy White/Cream Caterpillar - Tiger Moth? - Megalopyge crispata Black-waved Flannel Moth - Megalopyge crispata - male Whitish Moth - Megalopyge crispata - male Moth to porch light - Megalopyge crispata - male flannel moth of some sort....how venomous ? Puss? - Megalopyge crispata - male Unknown Moth, Brunswick County, North Carolina - Megalopyge crispata - male Megalopyge crispata - Black-waved Flannel Moth - Megalopyge crispata - female
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 Zygaenoidea (Flannel, Slug Caterpillar, Leaf Skeletonizer Moths and kin)
Family Megalopygidae (Flannel Moths)
Genus Megalopyge
Species crispata (Black-waved Flannel Moth - Hodges#4644)
Hodges Number
4644
Other Common Names
Crinkled Flannel Moth (1), White Flannel Moth (2)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Megalopyge crispata (Packard, 1864)
Lagoa crispata Packard, 1864
Phylogenetic sequence # 660058
Explanation of Names
This species was listed in the genus Lagoa in the Hodges 1983 Checklist (3). Lagoa had at times been previously treated as a synonym of Megalopyge by authors. The synonymy was revived in Becker (1995) (4). See the Megalopyge genus page for a more information.
Size
Wingspan 2.5-4 cm
Identification
Small creamy white, wavy black lines on forewing.
Sexually dimorphic. Females (thin antennae) are almost white, with subtle markings:



Males (feather-like antennae) are more strongly marked, and more yellowish:

Range
Eastern US (mostly: TX-FL-NJ-NE) - Map (MPG)
Type locality: Massachusetss
Habitat
Deciduous forests
Season
May-October
Food
Adults likely do not feed.
Larvae feed on many different trees and shrubs, see Covell. (5)
Life Cycle
Overwinter as pupa.(6)
The cocoon is unique; it's urn-shaped an has a flat, hinged, circular lid which is lifted as the moth emerges.(6)
Remarks
Caution, Hairs on caterpillar highly irritating, as in all of this family!
See Also
Megalopyge opercularis - Southern Flannel Moth .
Print References
Covell illustrates adult (imago), plate 56 #9, describes species, p. 412. (5)
Himmelman illustrates caterpillar, plate A-2 (7)
Holland illustrates this, plate 38 #23, describes, page 369. (2)
Packard, 1864. Proc. ent. Soc. Philad. 3: 335
Wagner, page 53. (8)
Wagner illustrates caterpillar, page 90. (1)
Internet References
Toxicon. The venomous hair structure, venom and life cycle of Lagoa crispata, a puss caterpillar of Oklahoma.
Works Cited
1.Caterpillars of Eastern Forests
David L. Wagner, Valerie Giles, Richard C. Reardon, Michael L. McManus. 1998. U.S. Dept of Agriculture, Forest Health Technology Enterprise Team.
2.The Moth Book
W.J. Holland. 1968. Dover.
3.Check list of the Lepidoptera of America north of Mexico.
Hodges, et al. (editors). 1983. E. W. Classey, London. 284 pp.
4.The Atlas of Neotropical Lepidoptera. Checklist: Part 2
Becker, V.O. Megalopygidae. in J.B. Heppner (ed.). in J.B. Heppner (ed.). 1995. Association for Tropical Lepidoptera and Scientific Publishers, 118-122.
5.Peterson Field Guides: Eastern Moths
Charles V. Covell. 1984. Houghton Mifflin Company.
6.Eastern Forest Insects
Whiteford L. Baker. 1972. U.S. Department of Agriculture · Forest Service.
7.Discovering Moths: Nighttime Jewels in Your Own Backyard
John Himmelman. 2002. Down East Books.
8.Caterpillars of Eastern North America
David L. Wagner. 2005. Princeton University Press.