Stats

Lifespan

A few weeks

Size

Small

Diet

Herbivore

Activity

Nocturnal

Social

Solitary

Biome

Temperate forest

Range

North America

Movement

Flight

Breeding

Egg-laying

Defense

Warning colors

Status

Common

About

A small, brightly colored moth found across the eastern United States and southern Canada, its forewings striped in fiery orange-yellow and pale pink-gray. Its caterpillars feed on lichen growing on tree bark and fence posts, giving the species its common name.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   egg

   A tiny ribbed egg laid on the underside of a host-plant leaf, hatching within days.
2. 2.
   caterpillar

   A voracious caterpillar feeds and molts through several instars, growing rapidly.
3. 3.
   cocoon

   A silk cocoon spun in leaf litter or soil while the body remodels into a winged adult.
4. 4.
   moth

   A winged adult with feathery antennae and scaled wings, most active after dark.

Learn more

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Taxonomy

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Insecta

Order

Lepidoptera

Family

Erebidae

Genus

Hypoprepia

Species

Hypoprepia fucosa