A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife
Project Noah Nature School
Atteva aurea
Identification: Forewing orange, with four bands of yellow spots outlined in black. Spots smaller in Florida population, which until recently was considered a separate species. Hindwing smoky gray with a wingspan of 1.8-3 cm. Larvae produce nests on the host plant by pulling two to three leaflets around a network of loose webbing. Then they consume the leaflets. The caterpillars have a wide, light greenish-brown stripe down their backs and several thin, alternating white and olive-green stripes along their sides. The adult moth visits flowers, is diurnal, and is a pollinator.
Caterpillar Hosts: Ailanthus and paradise tree. The larva lives in communal webs. The moth does not survive cold winters, but migrates north each year so it is commonly seen in summer throughout the continental US, and occasionally eastern Canada (its northern limit in eastern Ontario and south-western Quebec beyond the host range).
Found this under my porch light tonight. It's colors are orange and yellow. The white looking spots are the yellow and the yellow is actually orange. Thanks to Jellis for the species suggestion. I felt like it might be a moth but had no clue. The last photo was taken on 9/7/12 at sundown. I had no idea that it was there because I was focused on the nocturnal butterflies at my Orange Jubilee Esperanza. So I added it here.
Spotted on Aug 27, 2012
Submitted on Aug 28, 2012
