Spotted tussock moth
The spotted tussock moth is a tiger moth, but it is famous for its hairy caterpillar. The caterpillar wears fluffy tufts of hair, black at both ends and yellow or orange in the middle, like a little furry bus.
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Fun facts
The caterpillar changes its skin five times as it grows, and its colours can change each time.
Some young caterpillars are white with a row of orange spots.
There is only one family of babies each year. The moths fly from May to July.
Caterpillars can be seen from July to September.
Most asked questions about Spotted tussock moth
?What does a spotted tussock moth caterpillar eat?
Leaves of trees such as poplar, willow, birch, maple and oak.
?Why is it called a tussock moth?
Because its caterpillar has tufts of hair that look like little clumps of grass.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Lophocampa maculata
- Named by
- Harris, 1841
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Erebidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Erebidae
- Lives on
- North America
- Also known as
- Yellow-spotted tussock moth, Mottled tiger, Spotted halisidota
Where the facts come from
- Lophocampa maculata (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Jeremy deWaard, University of British Columbia. CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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