orange virbia moth

Orange virbia moth, formerly known as orange holomelina moth, is a common, colorful, relatively small, tiger moth. It occurs in the United States and southern Canada east of the Rocky Mountains. It also occurs in Mexico. It is common in Minnesota. The specific hosts for the larvae are unknown, but they have been reported on dandelion, plantain, common lambsquarters, corn, and grasses. Adults do not feed. They are found from May through September, low on vegetation, in most open and forested habitats and in gardens.

Adults are ⅜″ to 9⁄16″ (10 to 14 mm) in length and have a ¾″ to ⅞″ (19 to 23 mm) wingspan. Size for moths is sometimes given in terms of forewing length. The forewing length of the male is ⅜″ (10 mm), that of the female is ⅜″ (9.7 mm). The body is slender. Adults are highly variable in appearance, and this has resulted in several species being named based on observable characteristics.

The forewing of the female is pale orange, clay colored, cinnamon, or salmon colored. There is a faint, dark, discal spot and sometimes a faint, dark, subterminal band. The forewing of the male is dark clay colored, brown, or cinnamon, but otherwise similar to that of the female. Both sexes usually have no obvious markings.

The hindwing of both sexes is orange, peach red, or pink. There is a small, dark, discal spot; and a broad, dark band on the outer margin. The band is often incomplete, sometimes more or less broken into separate spots. It is more complete, sharply defined, and darker, sometimes black, on the female.

Virbia caterpillars are grayish or brownish with a conspicuous, broad, pale stripe above. Clusters of black spines mixed with some white spines rise from black warts on each segment of the thorax and abdomen. Identification of an individual to the species level requires rearing it to adulthood.

Total length: ⅜″ to 9⁄16″ (10 to 14 mm)

Wingspan: ¾″ to ⅞″ (19 to 23 mm)

Open areas, forests, and gardens

Two generations per year: May through September

Adults are active both day and night. They rest with their wings tightly closed.

Leaves of low growing plants

Adults do not feed

Sources

21, 24, 27, 29, 30, 75, 82, 83.

Biodiversity occurrence data published by: Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas (accessed through the Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas Portal, bellatlas.umn.edu, 7/12/2025).

Common

Family
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.

Genus
This species was formerly classified as Holomelina aurantiaca. A recent phylogenetic review of the genus Virbia, done as a masters thesis (Zaspel, J. M., 2004) and later published in Zootaxa (Zaspel, J. M. and S. J. Weller, 2006), proposed that the genera Holomelina and Virbia are congeneric, meaning that they belong to the same genus. The move was formerly made in 2009. Holomelina was placed as the junior synonym of Virbia.

Orange Virbia Moth 1
PETE DOVE'S NIAGARA WILDLIFE

Orange Virbia moth flies by Carolina Mantis in slow motion
Zach DuFran

Location: Frenchman’s Bluff SNA

Orange Virbia Moth on Western Poison Ivy

Location: Eagles Bluff Park in La Crescent, MN

… possibly an Orange Virbia Moth. Not a great picture because the moth didn’t give me a lot of time to get decent ones. I took the photo near the Red Apple Drive trailhead for Eagles Bluff Park in La Crescent.