Moths of the Cathance
Maine Forestry Service
CREA is a participant in a Maine Forestry
Service study of invasive moth species.
All species in this slide show have been
collected, at one time or another, by the light
trap set up just behind the Ecology Center.
Hickory Tussock
• White and black and
covered in graysihwhite hairs
• Feed on the leaves of
hardwoods
• Larvae feed for eight
weeks beginning in July
• Winter is spent as
pupae in coccoons
under litter in the soil
Fall Webworm
• Feeds on more than 100
species of trees
• Adults appear from May to
August
• Deposit eggs in hair covered
masses of several hundred
each
• Larvae are pale yellowgreen with a broad stripe
down the back
• Cocoons are usually spun in
the duff or just beneath the
soil
Rosy Maple
• Feed on maple and oak
trees
• Wings are yellow to
cream white, pink at the
margins of the wings
• Lay eggs on the leaves of
plants; eggs hatch two
weeks later
• Caterpillars overwinter in
shallow underground
chambers
Leafrollers
• Heavily mottled with
reddish to blackish brown –
this helps them camouflage
themselves on dead leaves
• Feed on the leaves of
fruiting trees, maple, clover,
sassafras
• There are two broods of
leafrollers each year (spring
and fall)
• Larvae tie the tips of leaves
together and feed within
Forest Tent
• Moth is yellow or tan with a
thick, short, furry body
• Name comes from a silky
sheet they weave where
they lie together during
molting
• Feed on oak, sweetgum,
tupelo, aspen, and maple
trees
• Eggs are stuck to twigs and
covered with a gluey
cement
• These caterpillars are
considered a problem when
they first hatch and
consumer an entire tree’s
foliage
Variable Oakleaf
• Wings are grey colored with
three darker, wavy, and
diffused lines
• Feeds on oaks, reds, willow,
beech, paper birch, and elm
• Harmful to tree life only after
3 years of severe outbreaks
• Eggs are laid on the lower leaf
surface
• Overwinter in cocoons under
leaf litter
• Repeated handling of the
larvae causes blisters due to
an acid they secrete
Satin Moth
• Moths have a black body
covered with white scales
and hair; wings are white
• Cause severe defoliation
of aspen trees but also
feed on poplars and
poplars
• Moths appear in early
July
• Hibernate in a silky web
in cracks in the bark of a
tree
Large Aspen
• Adult is brownish grey
with markings on its
wings
• Eggs are laid en
• Feeds on poplar, birch,
willows, aspen
• Overwinter in moss and
bark crevices at the base
of trees and beaneath
dead bark near the tree
Peppered Moth
• Caterpillars overwinter, live,
in the soil
• The moths rest in trees
during the day
• The caterpillar mimics twigs
to hide itself from predators
• The peppered colored wings
act as camouflage and hide
the moths from birds who
look for reflected light
• This moth has been studied
extensively as evidence of
evolution
Red Humped Caterpillar
• Adults have reddish to
grayish brown forewings
and the hind wings are gray
to brown colored
• Larvae feed on a wide range
of trees
• Eggs are laid on the
undersides of young leaves
• Overwinter in cocoons on
the ground
• This species can through
four or five generations a
year
Saddled Prominent
• Adults are brownish-gray
with a 1.5-2in wingspan
• Feed on beech, sugar
maple, birch, and oak
• This moth can cause severe
defoliation
• Eggs are laid on the
underside of hardwood
leaves
• Can induce a toxic skin
reaction if handled
• Overwinter in the upper
two layers of soil and leaf
litter
Coneworms
• Feeds on a variety of pine
trees
• This is one of the most
damaging insect pests of
pine seed orchards
• Adults have dark grey to
black forewings boldly
patterned with contrasting
white patches and
crossbands; the hind wings
are light grey to tan in color
• Overwinters at the base of
persistent cones and under
bud stems
Oak Leafshred
• Adults are small yellow
moths with brown
markings
• Feeds on red oak mostly
as well as other oaks
• Overwintering moth
eggs on the bark of
smaller branches hatch
in May
Spruce Budworm
• Forewings and body
mottled orange and brown;
hindwings gray-brown
• Feeds on douglas fir, balsam
and spruce
• Eggs are laid on almost any
surface
• Larva bore into and feed on
needles or expanding buds
• Old staminate flower bracts,
bud scales, and bark
crevices are used as
overwintering sites
To learn more about CREA please
visit www.creamaine.org
Work Cited
• http://www.mda.state.md.us/plantspests/forest_pest_mgmt/gypsy_moth/md_hardwood_
defoliators/hickory_tussock_moth.php
• http://www.bugwood.org/factsheets/webworm.html
• http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species?l=3351
• http://ipm.ncsu.edu/AG136/cater13.html
• http://www.maine.gov/doc/mfs/oakleaft.htm
• http://mothphotographersgroup.msstate.edu/Files1/Li
ve/JDom/JDom3637-225.jpg
• http://www.gardensafari.net/pics/nachtvlinders/micro
/lichtmotten/dioryctria_sylvestrella_hs5_1170.jpg
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest_Tent_Caterpillar_Moth
#Appearance
• http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/fidls/variableOLC/voc.h
tm
• http://www.maine.gov/doc/mfs/satinmot.htm
• http://www.fs.fed.us/r10/spf/fhp/leaflets/Fidl139.htm
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peppered_moth
• http://www.maine.gov/doc/mfs/saddledp.htm
• http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/trees/pine_conewor
m.htm
• http://na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/fidls/sbw/budworm.htm
• http://thump01.pbase.com/u12/lilwings/small/3180319.71
7mothid5.jpg
• http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4043/4193264839_8e9f7c24
d3.jpg
• http://www.carolinanature.com/moths/moth6246.jpg
• http://wildflowers.jdcc.edu/Fall_Webworm.JPG
• http://www.duke.edu/~jspippen/naturephotos/rosyma
plemoth080526-4338flls.lkz.jpg
• http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/pic/Argyrotaenia
_velutinana-Lehman_edited.jpg
• https://www.nysdot.gov/divisions/engineering/design/
landscape/trees/repository/forest%20tent%20moth%2
0copy.jpg
• http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3443/3713748564_4f12a
fd4c2_o.jpg
• http://www.dereila.ca/dereilaimages/Moth2.jpg
• http://media-2.web.britannica.com/ebmedia/08/124708-004-1C169DA8.jpg