Anisota virginiensis

• Overview
• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Biology
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Overview

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Description

Family Saturniidae

'The Saturniidae are members of the Superfamily Bombycoidea . These species are medium to very large in size, and this family includes the largest moths in North America. Adults have a wingspan of 3 to 15 centimeters, relatively small heads , and densely hairy bodies. Larvae are usually very fleshy , with clumps of raised bristles . Buck moth and Io moth caterpillars have sharp, stinging hairs . Caterpillars mostly feed on leaves of trees and shrubs ; some cause severe damage. Pupa develop in silken cocoons or in the soil. This family does not contain the commercial silkworm moth (Bombyx mori), which is not native to North America.

'[1]

Subfamily Citheroniinae

Royal moths are members of the Family Saturniidae. Adults are medium to very large in size; some species have wingspans 3-7cm and others have wingspans as large as 17 cm. The adult moths have hairy bodies and relatively small heads that are held close to the thorax. Caterpillars feed mostly on leaves of trees and shrubs . Royal moths pupate in a cell in the soil.

Physical Description

Habitat

Deciduous woodland, suburbs, tree-lined city streets.

Biology

Diet

Caterpillar hosts: Various oaks (Quercus species). Adult food: Adults do not feed .

Reproduction

Adults are day fliers and mate in the morning. Females lay eggs after dusk in groups on the underside of oak leaves. Caterpillars feed together in groups, and pupate and overwinter in shallow underground burrows.

Behavior

Flight: One brood from June-July in the north, at least two broods from May-September in the south, several broods throughout the year in Florida.

Taxonomy

Synonyms

Anisota Virginensis • Anisota virginensis (Drury

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Similar Species

Members of the genus Anisota

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 8 species and subspecies in this genus:

A. consularis (Consular Oakworm Moth) · A. finlaysoni (Hornless Oakworm Moth) · A. manitobensis (Manitoba Oakworm Moth) · A. oslari (Oslar's Oakworm Moth) · A. peigleri (Peigler's Oakworm Moth) · A. senatoria (Orange-Tipped Oakworm Moth) · A. stigma (Spiny Oakworm) · A. virginiensis (Pink-Striped Oakworm Moth)

More Info

• Search for Pictures: images.google.com
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• Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books

Further Reading

• A manual for the study of insects / by John Henry Comstock and Anna Botsford Comstock. Ithaca, N.Y.: The Comstock Pub. Co., 1920. url p. 348.
• A manual for the study of insects, by John Henry Comstock. .. and Anna Botsford Comstock. .. Ithaca, N.Y., Comstock Publishing Company, 1916 [c1895] url p. 348.
• A manual for the study of insects. Rev. ed. By John Henry Comstock, and Anna Botsford Comstock, and Glenn W. Herrick. Ithaca, N. Y., Comstock Pub. Co., 1930. url p. 248.
• A manual of the study of insects, Ithaca, N.Y.: Comstock publishing company, 1895. url p. 348.
• An annotated list of the important North American forest insects / compiled by F.C. Craighead. Washington, D.C.: s.n., 1909-1930? url p. 18, p. 29.
• An introduction to entomology, by John Henry Comstock. Ithaca, New York, The Comstock publishing co., inc., 1933. url p. 718.
• An introduction to entomology. Ithaca, N.Y., Comstock, 1949. url p. 1030, p. 718.
• Annals - Entomological Society of America. [College Park, Md., etc.]Entomological Society of America. url p. 287.
• Annals of the Carnegie Museum. [Pittsburgh]: Published by authority of the Board of Trustees of the Carnegie Institute, 1901- url p. 40.
• Annals of the Entomological Society of America. [College Park, Md., etc.]: Entomological Society of America. url p. 287.
• Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. New York, New York Academy of Sciences. url p. 209.
• Annual report / Entomological Society of Ontario. Toronto, The Society. url p. 10, p. 33, p. 33, p. 4, p. 40, p. 40, p. 73, p. 75, p. 81.
• Annual report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, -1965. url p. 598.
• Annual report of the Maine Agricultural Experiment Station. [Orono, Me.: Maine State College, 1885-1953. url p. 22, p. 338, p. 353, p. 369.
• Annual report of the New Jersey State Museum. Trenton, N.J.: MacCrellish & Quigley, url p. 433.
• Annual report of the New Jersey state museum. 1901-12, 1914. Trenton, New Jersey. [etc.]1902-15. url p. 433.
• Annual report of the Quebec Society for the Protection of Plants from Insects and Fungous Diseases. Quebec: The Society, 1909-1920. url p. 22, p. 67.
• Annual report of the Regents / Albany: J.B. Lyon, State Printer, 1890-1903. url p. 407.
• As nature shows them; moths and butterflies of the United States, east of the Rocky mountains. With over 400 photographic illustrations in the text and many transfers of species from life. BostonB. Whidden1900 url p. 92.
• Bibliographical catalogue of the described tranformations of North American Lepidoptera by Henry Edwards. Washington: G.P.O., 1889. url .
• Bulletin - Maine Agricultural Experiment Station. [Orono]Maine Agricultural Experiment Station. url , p. 353.
• Bulletin - Massachusetts Agricultural Experiment Station. Amherst, : Massachusetts Agricultural Experiment Station, 1907-1974. url p. 32.
• Bulletin - New York State Museum. Albany: New York State Education Dept. url p. 407.
• Bulletin - State Geological and Natural History Survey of Connecticut. [Hartford]State Geological and Natural History Survey of Connecticut, 1904- url p. 267.
• Bulletin - United States National Museum. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, [etc.];1877-1971. url p. 76.
• Bulletin / U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Entomology. Washington: G.P.O., 1904-1916. url p. 198.
• Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. New YorkAmerican Museum of Natural History1881- url p. 440.
• Bulletin of the Brooklyn Entomological Society. Brooklyn, N.Y.: The Society, url p. 152, p. 31, p. 70.
• Bulletin of the Illinois State Laboratory of Natural History. Bloomington, Ill.: The Laboratory, 1876-1918. url p. 144, p. 144, p. 144.
• Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College. 87 1941 Cambridge, Mass.: The Museum, 1863- url descr. of plate 5 , p. 475.
• Bulletin of the Wisconsin Natural History Society. Milwaukee, The Society, [1900-1920] url p. 13.
• Catalog of hymenoptera in America north of Mexico / prepared cooperatively by specialists on the various groups of Hymenoptera under the direction of Karl V. Krombein. .. [et al.]. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1979- url p. 1512, p. 677.
• Catalogue of insects found in New Jersey. Trenton, N. J.: John L. Murphy, 1890. url p. 303.
• Cooperative economic insect report. Hyattsville, MD. [etc.]Plant Protection and Quarantine Programs Animal and Plant Health Service. url p. 15, p. 2, p. 476, p. 628, p. 734, p. 770, p. 798, p. 822, p. 881, p. 954.
• Destructive insects affecting Ohio shade and forest trees / J. S. Houser. Wooster, Ohio: Experiment Station, 1918 url , , .
• Entomological news, and proceedings of the Entomological Section of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Philadelphia[Entomological Rooms of the Academy of Natural Sciences] url p. 126, p. 126, p. 371, p. 70, p. 70.
• Entomological news. [Philadelphia]American Entomological Society, 1925- url p. 58.
• Final report of the state geologist. Trenton, N.J.: The Survey, 1888- url p. 303.
• Final report. v. 1-8. Trenton, 1888-1917. url p. 303.
• Guide to the insects of Connecticut, prepared under the direction of Wilton Everett Britton. .. Hartford, Printed for The State Geological and Natural History Survey, 1911-27. url p. 267.
• Illinois biological monographs. Urbana, Univ. of Illinois Press. url p. 125.
• Index to the literature of American economic entomology. Melrose Highlands, Mass. [etc.], American Association of Economic Entomologists [etc.], 1917-62. url p. 13, p. 18.
• Insects affecting park and woodland trees / by Ephraim Porter Felt. Albany: New York State Education Dept., 1905-1906. url p. 704, p. 704.
• Journal of economic entomology. [College Park, Md., etc.]Entomological Society of America [etc.] url p. 148.
• Journal of the New York Entomological Society. Lawrence, Kan.: Allen Press [etc.] url .
• List of the specimens of lepidopterous insects in the collection of the British Museum / London: Printed by order of the Trustees, 1854-66. url p. 1949.
• Memoir / Ithaca, N.Y. url p. 660.
• Memoirs of the American Entomological Society. Philadelphia, American Entomological Society, 1916- url p. 667, p. 794.
• Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences. Washington, D. C.: Government Printing Office, 1866- url , , , , p. 13, p. 145, p. 52, p. 59, p. 98.
• Memorial of life and entomologic work of Joseph Albert Lintner, state entomologist, 1874-98, by Ephraim Porter Felt. Albany: University of the State of New York, 1899. url p. 407.
• Monograph of the bombycine moths of North America, including their transformations and origin of the larval markings and armature. By Alpheus Spring Packard. Washington, Govt. Print. Off., 1895-1914 url , , p. 13, p. 52, p. 98.
• Pamphlets on forestry in Maine. [1900?- url p. 62.
• Pamphlets on forestry in Ohio. [1900?- url p. 404, p. 475, p. 479, p. 482.
• Proceedings - Staten Island Institute of Arts and Sciences. Staten Island, N.Y., Staten Island Institute of Arts and Sciences. url , p. 13.
• Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society held at Philadelphia for promoting useful knowledge. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society url p. 145, p. 145, p. 146.
• Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington. Washington, etc.: Entomological Society of Washington url p. 344.
• Proceedings. Halifax url p. 265.
• Report of the State Entomologist of Connecticut for the year. .. New Haven, [1902- url p. 266.
• Reports of the Director. .. / Experimental Farms. Ottawa: Experimental Farms, 1888-1916. url p. 233.
• The Canadian entomologist. Ottawa [etc.]Entomological Society of Canada [etc.] url , p. 227, p. 227, p. 297, p. 52, p. 52, p. 52.
• The Natural history of the Toronto Region, Ontario, Canada / edited by J.H. Faull. -- Toronto: Canadian Institute, 1913. url p. 356.
• The Ohio journal of science. Columbus, Ohio, The Ohio State University and the Ohio Academy of Science url p. 237.
• The University of Kansas science bulletin. 44 1963 [Lawrence]: University of Kansas, 1902-1996. url p. 649.
• The butterfly book; a popular guide to a knowledge of the butterflies of North America. By W.J. Holland. .. With 48 plates in color-photography, reproductions of butterflies in the author's collection, and many text illustrations presenting most of the species found in the United States. Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, Page & Co., 1914. url , .
• The classification of lepidopterous larvae, with ten plates, by Stanley Black Fracker. Urbana, University of Illinois, c1915 url p. 125, p. 125.
• The moth book: a popular guide to a knowledge of the moths of North America / by W.J. Holland. New York: Doubleday, Page, 1915. url , p. 94, p. 95.
• The moth book; a popular guide to a knowledge of the moths of North America. .. With forty-eight plates in color photography and numerous illustrations in the text, reproducing specimens in the collection of the author, and in various public and private collections. 1916 Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Page & company, 1916. url fig. 46, p. 94, p. 95, explanation of plate VIII.
• The natural history of the Toronto region, Ontario, Canada / edited by J.H. Faull. Toronto: Canadian Institute, 1913. url p. 356.

Notes

Contributors

• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 15, 2012.
• LepIndex: The Global Lepidoptera Names Index. Release date: June 15, 2005
• Opler, Paul A., Harry Pavulaan, Ray E. Stanford, Michael Pogue, coordinators. Butterflies and Moths of North America. Bozeman, MT: Mountain Prairie Information Node. March 26, 2007.
• Opler, Paul A., Kelly Lotts, and Thomas Naberhaus, coordinators. 2009. Butterflies and Moths of North America. Bozeman, MT: Big Sky Institute. http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/ (Version of April 17, 2009).
• Ruggiero M., Gordon D., Bailly N., Kirk P., Nicolson D. (2011). The Catalogue of Life Taxonomic Classification, Edition 2, Part A. In: Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2011 Annual Checklist (Bisby F.A., Roskov Y.R., Orrell T.M., Nicolson D., Paglinawan L.E., Bailly N., Kirk P.M., Bourgoin T., Baillargeon G., Ouvrard D., eds). DVD; Species 2000: Reading, UK.

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 1
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: Lep-65468.0
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 4490920
• Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: IILEW0K080
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 171365

Footnotes

1. http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/taxonomy?f=29&sci=Saturniidae&com=Wild Silk Moths [back]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.