Orgyia leucostigma
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Author(s): Ilona Loser
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Orgyia leucostigma (J.E. Smith, 1797) - (whitemarked tussock moth)
This species is a polyphagous moth found in eastern and central parts of North America. The distribution extends as far west as Alberta in Canada and Texas in the U.S. It is regarded as a quarantine risk to European countries (Marinova-Todorova et al., 2020). Outbreaks develop periodically and can defoliate and kill trees like fir, walnut or poplar. Blueberries are also often insfested. Frass and hairs can become health hazards in urban areas, causing dermatitis and allergies in sensitive persons. The hairs of pupal cocoons persist in the environmental for a year or more.
Often outbreaks are controlled or prevented by natural biological control agents like predators, parasitoids and the entomopathogenic fungus Entomophaga maimaiga which has been introduced into North America against the gypsy moth.
| Vernacular names | |
|---|---|
| • English: | whitemarked tussock moth |
| • Français: | chenille à houppes blanches |
Typically there is one generation per year, two in warmer years. Females are flightless and attract males when they emerge from the cocoon. They die after depositing their eggs. The eggs are the overwintering stage.
The colourful caterpillars reach a length of around 30 mm. Their head is red and the body is marked with black and yellow stripes. Further they have tufts of white or yellow hairs, and in addition, there are two pairs of black hair pencils in front and in the back. On the dorsum there are two red glandular structures on abdominal segments 7 and 8.
The adult female is around 12 mm long, greyish and inconspicuous. Its wings are very small. The adult male has a wing span of 25-30 mm and is brownish grey. The forewings are marked with wavy darker bands and a distinctive white spot near the anal angle.
For a review see Schowalter (2018).
- Other images of Orgyia leucostigma (Wikimedia Commons and IPM Images - click to enlarge)
male
male
female laying eggs on cocoon
caterpillar
caterpillars feeding on Platanus occidentalis
pupae
