Ailanthus Webworm Moth
Atteva aurea
Insecta
COMMON
Stats
- Lifespan
- A few weeks
- Size
- Small
- Diet
- Herbivore
- Activity
- Diurnal
- Social
- Solitary
- Biome
- Temperate forest
- Range
- Central America
- Movement
- Flight
- Breeding
- Egg-laying
- Defense
- Warning Colors
- Status
- Common
About
The ailanthus webworm moth is a striking diurnal moth with vivid orange-red wings densely spotted in white and yellow — often mistaken for a beetle at rest. Despite its name, it is a native North American species that historically bred on paradise tree before adapting to the invasive tree-of-heaven.
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
- Attevidae
- Genus
- Atteva
- Species
- Atteva aurea