agreeable tiger moth

(Spilosoma congrua)

agreeable tiger moth
Photo by Greg Watson
  Hodges #

8134

 
 
Conservation Status
  IUCN Red List

not listed

     
  NatureServe

NNR - Unranked

SNR - Unranked

     
  Minnesota

not listed

     
           
           
           
 
Description
 
 

Agreeable tiger moth is a common, medium-sized, tiger moth. It occurs throughout the united States and southern Canada, but is most common east of the Great Plains and is mostly absent from the southwest. In Minnesota it is uncommon in the east and north but absent from the southwestern third of the state. Adults are found between late May and early July in a wide variety of open and forested habitats. Larvae are food generalists, feeding on a wide variety of herbaceous and woody plants, including dandelion, plantain, and pigweed.

Adults are to 1516(15 to 24 mm) in length and have a 1116 to 1 (27 to 47 mm) wingspan.

The head is white. The compound eyes are black and prominent. The antennae on the male are feathery, with extensions along both sides of the shaft (bipectinate). They are wider on males than on females. They are white above. black below.

The body is robust. The thorax is densely covered with long white hairs. The abdomen is white.

The wings are pure white. The forewing may be unspotted but usually has postmedial (PM) and subterminal (ST) rows of small black spots, and sometimes a few spots representing the antemedial (AM) and basal lines. The hindwing has a small spot in the discal cell but is otherwise unmarked.

The first segment of the front legs (coxa) is yellowish-orange. The third segment (femur) is densely covered with long yellowish-orange hairs above, long white hairs below. The fourth segment (tibia) is densely covered with white hairs. The tibia on the hind leg has two pairs of spurs, one pair at the tip (apical) and another pair just before the tip (preapical). The last part of the leg (tarsus), corresponding to the foot, is black.

 
     
 

Size

 
 

Total length: to 1516(15 to 24 mm)

Wingspan: 1116 to 1 (27 to 47 mm)

 
     
 

Similar Species

 
 

Virginian tiger moth (Spilosoma virginica) abdomen is white with yellow patches and a row of black spots on each side. The forewing is less spotted, with no spots or just a few dark spots.

 
     
 
Habitat
 
 

A wide variety of open and forested habitats

 
     
 
Biology
 
 

Season

 
 

One generation per year in Minnesota

All available records from Minnesota are between late May and early July.

 
     
 

Behavior

 
 

 

 
     
 

Life Cycle

 
 

 

 
     
 

Larva Hosts

 
 

A wide variety of herbaceous and woody plants, including dandelion, plantain, and pigweed.

Larva have been reported boring into mushroom stems.

 
     
 

Adult Food

 
 

 

 
     
 
Distribution
 
 

Distribution Map

 

Sources

21, 24, 29, 30, 71, 75, 82.

 
  7/14/2021      
         
 

Occurrence

 
 

Uncommon in Minnesota

 
         
 
Taxonomy
 
 

Order

Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths)  
 

Superfamily

Noctuoidea (owlet moths and allies)  
 

Family

Erebidae (underwing, tiger, tussock, and allied moths)  
 

Subfamily

Arctiinae (tiger moths and allies)  
 

Tribe

Arctiini (tiger moths)  
  Subtribe Spilosomina  
 

Genus

Spilosoma  
       
 

Until recently, tiger moths and lichen moths were treated as a separate family Arctiidae. A recently published monograph (Lafontaine and Schmidt, 2010) contended that the Arctiidae “were more closely related to groups within the Noctuidae than to non-noctuid families.” The Arctiidae were transferred intact to the family Erebidae as a subfamily (Arctiinae). The former subfamilies are now tribes and the former tribes are now subtribes.

 
       
 

Synonyms

 
 

 

 
       
 

Common Names

 
 

agreeable tiger moth

yellow-legged tiger moth

 
       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary

Femur

On insects and arachnids, the third, largest, most robust segment of the leg, coming immediately before the tibia. On humans, the thigh bone.

 

Tarsus

On insects, the last two to five subdivisions of the leg, attached to the tibia; the foot. On spiders, the last segment of the leg. Plural: tarsi.

 

Tibia

The fourth segment of an insect leg, after the femur and before the tarsus (foot). The fifth segment of a spider leg or palp.

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
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Greg Watson

 
 

I took the pictures in my backyard in La Crescent, MN yesterday. It was clinging to a grass stem.

 
    agreeable tiger moth   agreeable tiger moth  
           
 
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Species Spilosoma congrua - Agreeable Tiger Moth - Hodges#8134
Scott
  Species Spilosoma congrua - Agreeable Tiger Moth - Hodges#8134  
     

 

slideshow

       
 
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  Greg Watson
6/9/2021

Location: La Crescent, MN.

I took the pictures in my backyard in La Crescent, MN yesterday. It was clinging to a grass stem.

agreeable tiger moth

 
           
 
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Created: 7/14/2021

Last Updated:

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