Virginian tiger moth
The Virginian tiger moth is a snowy white moth that folds its wings over its back like a little tent. Its caterpillar is a fuzzy woolly bear, often yellow, that you can find crawling in yards and gardens.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
Its caterpillar is one of the most common caterpillars in yards and gardens.
The male has big feathery feelers that help him smell a female from far away.
The female lays 20 to 100 eggs in a single neat layer under a leaf.
Young caterpillars stay together, but older ones go off on their own.
There can be two or three families in one year, and one of them sleeps through the winter.
Most asked questions about Virginian tiger moth
?Is the yellow woolly bear caterpillar poisonous?
No, it is not poisonous. Some people can get an itchy reaction from its hairs, so it is best not to touch it.
?What does the Virginian tiger moth look like?
It is a white moth with a darker body, and it holds its wings like a tent over its back.
?What do yellow woolly bear caterpillars eat?
Many low plants, like grass and clover, and garden plants too.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Spilosoma virginica
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Erebidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Erebidae
- Lives on
- North America
- Also known as
- Yellow woolly bear, Yellow bear caterpillar
Where the facts come from
- Spilosoma virginica (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by xpda. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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