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Ailanthus webworm

Atteva aurea

Description:

Wikipedia: The Ailanthus webworm, Atteva aurea, is an ermine moth now found commonly in the United States. It was formerly known under the scientific name Atteva punctella

Habitat:

The Ailanthus webworm is thought to be native to South Florida and the American tropics (south to Costa Rica), habitat to its original larval host plants, the Paradise Tree (Simarouba glauca) and Simarouba amara. Another tree called Tree-of-Heaven (Ailanthus altissima), originally from China, has been widely introduced and Atteva aurea has jumped to this new host plant (giving it its common name, Ailanthus webworm). 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).

Notes:

Found this guy outside when I left the back light on for a few hours to see what I found. Beautiful.

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Dragoon
Spotted by
Dragoon

York, Pennsylvania, USA

Spotted on Aug 9, 2012
Submitted on Aug 9, 2012

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