Giant Leopard Moth

Taxobox
name = Giant Leopard Moth


image_width = 204px
status = NE
status_system = IUCN3.1
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
classis = Insecta
ordo = Lepidoptera
subordo = Macrolepidoptera
superfamilia = Noctuoidea
familia = Arctiidae
subfamilia = Arctiinae
tribus = Arctiini
genus = "Hypercompe"
species = "H. scribonia"
binomial = "Hypercompe scribonia"
binomial_authority = (Stoll, 1790)
subdivision_ranks = Subspecies
subdivision =
* "H. s. scribonia" (Stoll, 1790)
* "H. s. denudata" (Slosson, 1888)
synonyms =
*"Bombyx chryseis" Olivier, 1790
*"Phalaena scribonia" Stoll, 1790
*"Phalaena oculatissima" J.E. Smith, 1797 (unjustified emendation)
*"Bombyx cunegunda" Palisot de Beauvois, 1824
*"Ecpantheria confluens" Oberthür, 1881
*"Ecpantheria denudata" Slosson, 1888
*"Ecpantheria scribonia"

The Giant Leopard Moth or Eyed Tiger Moth ("Hypercompe scribonia") is a moth of the family Arctiidae. It is distributed throughout the Southern and Eastern United States from New England to Mexico. The obsolete name "Ecpantheria scribonia" is still occasionally encountered.

This species has a wingspan of 3 inches (nearly 8 cm). The wings of this moth are bright white with a pattern of neat black blotches, some solid and some hollow. The abdomen is dark blue with orange markings, the male has a narrow yellow line on the sides. Its legs have black and white bands. Adult moths are rather strictly nocturnal and do not generally fly before nightfall (Fullard & Napoleone 2001).

The caterpillar is of the "Woolly Bear" kind, with a thick coat of black bristles (setae) and red bands between its segments which become conspicuous when caterpillar rolls into a ball for defense. It should not be touched, as its setae may break off and cause a rash.

Recorded food plants

The caterpillar eats a variety of broad-leaf plants such as broadleaf plantains, dandelions and violets:

Gallery

References

* (2001): Diel flight periodicity and the evolution of auditory defences in the Macrolepidoptera. "Animal Behaviour" 62(2): 349–368. doi|10.1006/anbe.2001.1753 [http://www.erin.utoronto.ca/~w3full/reprints/FullNapolDielAB.pdf PDF fulltext]

External links

* [http://www.hiltonpond.org/ThisWeek020608.html Hilton Pond Center]
* [http://entweb.clemson.edu/museum/moths/local/moth7.htm Entweb]
* [http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?allSpecies=y&searchText=giant%20leopard%20moth&curGroupID=2&lgfromWhere=&curPageNum=1 E-nature]
* [http://internt.nhm.ac.uk/jdsml/research-curation/projects/hostplants/list.dsml?PSpeciesqtype=starts+with&PFamilyqtype=starts+with&Species=scribonia&sort=Family&sqlpageinfo=27%3a1%3a0&Familyqtype=starts+with&Speciesqtype=starts+with&Genus=hypercompe&Genusqtype=starts+with&PGenusqtype=starts+with&Country=%25 Caterpillar hostplants database]