Common moths of north america. In comparison there are about 825 species of north american butterflies. Most moths operate in night time hours attracted to light sources and are generally viewed as pests of the night sky. If everyone who uses this resource gives a small amount we could cover our ongoing costs develop new features and upgrade the system. We depend on donations to keep butterflies and moths of north america online and freely available.
It is one of the largest moths in north america. Often aspens and maples but not red maple unlike other tent caterpillars malacocoma disstria do not make tent like webs. Butterflies of north america fewer than 800 of the known 12000 lepidopterans found across the united states and canada are actually butterflies the rest being recognized as moths. It belongs to the saturniidae family also known as saturniids.
The gypsy moth is known to feed on the foliage of hundreds of species of plants in north america but its most common hosts are oaks and aspen. It is often common locally with adults moving as they seek fresh food sources. Reduce the number of. If everyone who uses this resource gives a small amount we could cover our ongoing costs develop new features and upgrade the system.
These moths have a wingspan which is typically 114 mm but can extend to 178 mm as well. Knitters and others relying on fabrics and fibers abhor moths for their inherently destructive capabilities. We need your help. The forest tent caterpillar moth occurs throughout eastern north america.
Gypsy moth hosts are located through most of the coterminous us but the highest concentrations of host trees are in the southern appalachian mtns the ozark mtns and in the northern lake states. Luna moth can be found in eastern texas central florida eastern north dakota and nova scotia west to saskatchewan. This list is sorted by mona number mona is short for moths of america north of mexico. North american moths represent about 12000 types of moths.
Explore more than 7000 species profiles to discover the variety of butterflies and moths found in north america. The moths mostly nocturnal and butterflies mostly diurnal together make up the taxonomic order lepidoptera.