Edwards' Wasp Moth
Lymire edwardsii
Insecta
UNCOMMON
Stats
- Lifespan
- A few weeks
- Size
- Small
- Diet
- Herbivore
- Activity
- Diurnal
- Social
- Solitary
- Biome
- Tropical forest
- Range
- North America
- Movement
- Flight
- Breeding
- Egg-laying
- Defense
- Warning Colors
- Status
- Uncommon
About
This moth lives among the rubber trees of southern Florida. Its larvae consume toxic leaves to store chemical defenses in their own bodies.
Life cycle
- 1.eggA tiny ribbed egg laid on the underside of a host-plant leaf, hatching within days.
- 2.caterpillarA voracious caterpillar feeds and molts through several instars, growing rapidly.
- 3.cocoonA silk cocoon spun in leaf litter or soil while the body remodels into a winged adult.
- 4.mothA winged adult with feathery antennae and scaled wings, most active after dark.
Learn more
Taxonomy
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Arthropoda
- Class
- Insecta
- Order
- Lepidoptera
- Family
- Erebidae
- Genus
- Lymire
- Species
- Lymire edwardsii