Red-humped oakworm moth facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Red-humped oakworm moth |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| Phylum: | |
| Subphylum: | |
| Class: | |
| Order: | |
| Family: |
Notodontidae
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| Genus: |
Symmerista
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| Species: |
S. canicosta
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| Binomial name | |
| Symmerista canicosta Franclemont, 1946
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The red-humped oakworm moth, known scientifically as Symmerista canicosta, is a type of moth. It belongs to a group of moths called the Notodontidae family.
You can find this moth in many places, from southern Canada all the way down to states like North Carolina, South Carolina, and Mississippi in the United States.
Contents
About the Red-Humped Oakworm Moth
This moth is known for its interesting appearance and its life cycle. Like all moths, it starts as a tiny egg, hatches into a caterpillar (larva), then turns into a pupa, and finally becomes an adult moth.
What the Moth Looks Like
The adult red-humped oakworm moth has a wingspan of about 35 millimeters (which is about 1.4 inches). This is the distance from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other when the wings are spread open.
Life Cycle
Most of the time, there is one full life cycle, or "generation," of these moths each year. This means they go from egg to adult once a year. However, in warmer southern areas, they might complete two generations in a single year.
The Larva (Caterpillar)
The young stage of the moth is a caterpillar, also called a larva. These caterpillars are quite colorful and easy to spot. They have a bright orange head. Their bodies are yellowish with cool black, yellow, orange, and white stripes.
These caterpillars are known for being gregarious, which means they like to live and feed together in groups. You might see many of them on a single tree.
What the Caterpillars Eat
Red-humped oakworm caterpillars love to munch on the leaves of certain trees. Their favorite foods include Fagus trees, Castanea trees, and especially Quercus trees.
From Caterpillar to Moth
When the caterpillars are fully grown, usually around late September, they drop to the ground. They then find some rolled-up leaves in the leaf litter on the ground. Inside these leaves, they change into a pupa. This is a resting stage where they transform into an adult moth.
Sometimes, instead of turning into a pupa right away, some caterpillars will stay as "prepupal larvae" and spend the winter in this stage. They will then pupate in the spring.
Gallery
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Egg
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Larva
