Silver-spotted tiger moth
Lophocampa argentata
The silver-spotted tiger moth has brown front wings covered in rows of silvery white spots. Each spot has a thin black outline. Its caterpillar is brown and very hairy.
Lives in
Western North America, from British Columbia to California, in conifer forests
Wingspan
5.2 cm (2 in)
a femaleWhat does it eat?
The caterpillars eat the needles of conifer trees, especially the Douglas fir.
How big is it?
How wide are its wings?
🧱wings as wide as 1.5 toy building bricks⚽could fly across a whole football pitch in 24 seconds
How big is Silver-spotted tiger moth compared to YOU?
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How fast is it?
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
Silver-spotted tiger moth about 16 km/h (9.9 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
A car driving in town about 50 km/h (31 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
Young caterpillars live together in a silk tent and stay in it all winter.
2
In spring the caterpillars leave the tent and feed alone.
3
Its caterpillar has bundles of black and yellow hairs along its back.
4
There is only one generation of moths each year.
you asked
Most asked questions about Silver-spotted tiger moth
?What does the silver-spotted tiger moth eat?
Its caterpillars eat conifer needles, mostly from Douglas fir trees.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Lophocampa argentata
- Named by
- Packard, 1864
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Erebidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Erebidae
- Lives on
- North America
Where the facts come from
- Lophocampa argentata (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 Benoit Vincent, Research Collection of Benoit Vincent. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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