Salt Marsh Moth
Estigmene acrea
Insecta
COMMON
Stats
- Lifespan
- A few weeks
- Size
- Medium
- Diet
- Herbivore
- Activity
- Nocturnal
- Social
- Solitary
- Biome
- Temperate grassland
- Range
- North America
- Movement
- Flight
- Breeding
- Egg-laying
- Defense
- Warning Colors
- Status
- Common
About
The Salt Marsh Moth is a striking tiger moth whose white forewings are boldly spotted with black, while its hindwings flash vivid orange-yellow — a warning to predators of its chemical defenses. Its woolly-bear caterpillars are famously polyphagous, capable of eating over 100 different plant species.
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
- Estigmene
- Species
- Estigmene acrea