Orgyia leucostigma, the White-marked tussock moth, is a moth in the family Lymantriidae. The caterpillar is very common especially in late summer in eastern North America, as far west as Texas, Colorado, and Alberta. There are two or more generations a year in eastern North America (Wagner 2005). They overwinter in the egg stage. Eggs are laid in a single mass over the cocoon of the female, and covered in a froth (Wagner 2005). Up to 300 eggs are laid at a time. he larvae are brightly coloured, with tufts of hair-like setae. The head is bright red, the body has yellow or white stripes, with a black stripe along the middle of the back. There are bright red defensive glands on the hind end of the back. Four white toothbrush-like tufts stand out from the back, and there is a grey-brown hair pencil at the hind end. Touching the hairs will set off an allergic reaction in many humans (Wagner 2005). Young larvae skeletonize the surface of the leaf, while older larvae eat everything except the larger veins (Rose and Lindquist, 1982). They grow to about 35 mm.

White-marked Tussock Caterpillar

Orgyia leucostigma, the White-marked tussock moth, is a moth in the family Lymantriidae. The caterpillar…

The Brown-tail (Euproctis chrysorrhoea) is a moth of the family Lymantriidae. It is distributed throughout Europe. The wings of this species are pure white, as is the body, apart from a tuft of brown hairs at the end of the abdomen. The brown colouration extends along most of the back of the abdomen in the male. In the female, the back of the abdomen is white but the tuft of brown hairs is much bigger. Ths wingspan is 36-42 mm. The species flies at night in July and August and is attracted to light.

Brown-tail Moth Web

The Brown-tail (Euproctis chrysorrhoea) is a moth of the family Lymantriidae. It is distributed throughout…