The agreeable tiger moth, with its striking white wings, is a true eye-catcher in the insect world. This beautiful moth not only stands out for its unique look but also captivates everybody with its larvae. Let’s dive into the world of this moth with us and explore some interesting facts about it.
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Erebidae
Subfamily: Arctiinae
Genus: Spilosoma
Agreeable tiger moth appearance
The agreeable tiger moth is a common, medium-sized moth. It has a distinctive appearance with a white body with a few black spots. With this look, the species is often mistaken for other 2 common white tiger moths in the US: the Virginian tiger moth and the pink-legged tiger moth. However, you can still distinguish these insects with their unique features.
Unlike the pink-legged tiger moth, the agreeable moth doesn’t have pink legs. It has yellow forelegs instead. Similarity, it has an orange “bib”, which distinguishes it from the Virginia tiger moth.
The agreeable tiger moth has pronounced black eyes. Its wings are white and covered in a cloud of silky white dust. If you touch them, you can feel this dust on your skin.
The larvae of this moth species, also known as the fall webworm, have a distinctive appearance. They are black with yellow or orange intersegmental rings, which distinguish them from other tiger moth species. They are also covered in bristles, which are generally considered “agreeable” rather than irritating like those of some other species. This means that their bristles are not perceived as causing discomfort or irritation to humans or other organisms that come into contact with them.
Habitat
Diet
The agreeable tiger moth has a plain diet that primarily consists of herbaceous plants. The caterpillars feed on a variety of plants, such as dandelions, plantain, and pigweed. These caterpillars also eat bracket polypore fungus. The adult moths do not eat. However, some moths have been observed consuming various kinds of mushrooms. With this diet, the larvae sequester chemicals called iridoid glycosides from their food plants, which make them bitter and distasteful to predators
Life cycle
The life cycle of the agreeable tiger moth starts with a white and spherical egg. Immediately after hatching, the caterpillars eat their eggshells to obtain the necessary proteins for growth. The larvae come in two color morphs: orange with black stripes separating each segment and black with a continuous red stripe. Each separated segment has black hairs.
After several moltings, they enter the pupal stage. The pupa is black, encased in a cocoon made up of discarded larval hairs. The pupae spend the winter in a cocoon constructed using their own hairs, whereas some tiger moths overwinter as caterpillars.
In the late spring, the adult emerges, finds a mate, and starts a life cycle all over again. The species has one generation per year in Minnesota, with all available records between late May and early July. The lifespan of the agreeable tiger moth is around 7-10 days.
Source feature image: Wikipedia
