Kingdom Animalia Class Insecta Superfamily Noctuoidea Rank Species | Phylum Arthropoda Order Lepidoptera Family Erebidae | |
Similar Agreeable tiger moth, Virbia laeta, Platarctia parthenos | ||
Spilosoma vestalis top 5 facts
Spilosoma vestalis, the Vestal tiger-moth, is a moth in the family Erebidae. It was described by Alpheus Spring Packard in 1864. It is found along the coast of western North America, from California north to the Kitsap Peninsula in Washington and western Idaho. The habitat consists of wet forests, moist forests, coastal rainforests, low elevation mixed hardwood forests and high elevation mixed conifer forests.
The length of the forewings is 19–26 mm. The wings are pure white, marked with a few black dots. Adults are on wing from May to June.
The larvae feed on various plants, including Alnus rubra and Quercus garryana. They are black with long tufts of black hairs along the dorsum of the body and pale yellow-white hairs along the lateral line.