Giant Leopard Moth

Conservation status

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthropoda

Class: Insecta

Order: Lepidoptera

Suborder: Macrolepidoptera

Superfamily: Noctuoidea

Family: Arctiidae

Subfamily: Arctiinae

Tribe: Arctiini

Genus: Hypercompe

Species: H. scribonia

Binomial name
Hypercompe scribonia
(Stoll, 1790)
Subspecies

• 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:

• Bougainvillea
• Brassica
• Brugmansia (angel trumpet)
• Citrus
• Euphorbia
• Helianthus (sunflowers)

• Lonicera (honeysuckles)
• Magnolia
• Musa (bananas/plantains)
• "Paulownia" (Empress Tree)
• Persea
• Phytolacca
• Plantago

• Pyrostegia
• Ricinus
• Robinia
• Salix (willows)
• Lilac
• Taraxacum (dandelions)
• Viola
• Ocimum basilicum (Basil)

Gallery

References

• Fullard, James H. & Napoleone, Nadia (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 PDF fulltext

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Giant Leopard Moth

• Hilton Pond Center
• Entweb
• E-nature

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