White-marked Tussock Moth (Orgyia leucostigma intermedia)

From Bugwoodwiki

whitemarked tussock moth Photo by Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station Archive, Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, Bugwood.org Taxonomy Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Hexapoda (including Insecta) Order: Lepidoptera Family: Lymantriidae Genus: Orgyia Species: leucostigma Subspecies: intermedia Scientific Name Orgyia leucostigma intermedia Fitch, 1856

Maier, C.T.; Lemmon, C.R.; Fengler, J.M.; Schweitzer, D.F.; Reardon, R.C.; Caterpillars on the Foliage of Conifers in the Northeastern United States. Morgantown, WV. USDA Forest Service. Forest Health Technology Enterprise Team Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station. FHTET-2004-01. March 2004. 151 p.

Contents 1 Description 2 Food 3 Life Cycle 4 Comments

Description

Hairy, blackish body with compact tufts of long, black plumed hairs on T1 and A8, with white dorsal abdominal tufts, and with colored stripes and spots. Reddish head and prothoracic shield; compact tuft of hairs before spiracle on T1 and middorsally on A8. Broad, black middorsal stripe; large, white dorsal hair tuft on A1 to A4; reddish dorsal gland on A6 and A7. Yellowish subdorsal stripe, broader after dorsal tufts; light gray supraspiracular and subspiracular hair tufts on partly or wholly yellow tubercles; yellowish subspiracular stripe reduced to yellow spots on abdomen. Up to 35 mm.

Food

Many woody plants, including balsam fir, eastern hemlock, eastern larch, and spruces.

Life Cycle

Apparently two generations. Egg overwinters in egg mass usually on empty female cocoon. Mature caterpillar present from May to September, with generations well separated at any one place.

Comments

During outbreaks, this caterpillar has damaged balsam fir and other conifers in plantations.