Dryocampa rubicunda

Dryocampa rubicunda, more commonly known as the rosy maple moth, is a small silk moth in the Saturniidae family. Identified by its bright pink and yellow coloring, the rosy maple moth can be found near its host trees throughout North America.

Rosy maple moth with bright pink and yellow

Description

Rosy Maple Moth
Scientific Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Anthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Saturnidae
Genus: Dryocampa
Species: D. rubicunda [1]

The colors of the rosy maple moth make it easy to spot. Bright pink and yellow is the most common color combination, but the colors can also vary from light purple, cream or white. The rosy maple moth is the smallest of the silk moths [4]. The average wingspan for both males and females is 32 to 55mm. Males have narrower wings with less rounded hindwings and have more ornamental bipectinate antennae. Known as green-striped mapleworms, the caterpillars of the rosy maple moth vary in color depending on age. Young larvae are yellow/cream in color with faint longitudinal green stripes and black heads. Once the caterpillar is fully grown it has a yellow/green body with seven dark green lines and a red/brown head [3].

Growth and Reproduction

Green-striped maple worm

Rosy maple moths are solitary creatures, unless mating. During early summer, when a female is ready to mate she gives off a pheromone that is detected by the males from up to a half mile away [2]. The female lays her eggs on the underside of tree leaves [4]. The eggs are a pale yellow color laid in clusters of 20 to 30 [1]. Once they feed and mature, the larvae will crawl down the tree to find a place to burrow and form a pupa, it is in this form where it spends most of its life [4]. Like other members of the silk moth (Saturnidae) family, the caterpillars form a silk cocoon [2]. The pupal stage can last from about two weeks to several months until a moth emerges and the cycle repeats[4]. The rosy maple moth has a lifespan of between 2 and 9 months [3].

Habitat and Range

The rosy maple moth is native to North America. Their range extends from southern Canada down the eastern coast to Florida and as far west as Michigan down to Texas. As its name would suggest, this moth prefers a variety of maple trees (sugar maple, red maple, silver maple and box elder maple) and turkey oak trees. It can be found in suburban areas where its host trees exist [3].

Ecological Signifigance

Rosy maple moths serve as a food source for many other animals including birds (blue jays, tufted tit mice, and black-capped chickadees) parasitic flies, wasps and beetles. These moths are not generally considered to be pests. While their feeding habits may decimate leaves on a tree and cause it to be less aesthetically pleasing, it does not cause long-term harm to the tree.

Interesting Factoids

Note the antennae and setae

The adult rosy maple moth does not have a mouth and therefore cannot eat.
An adult female can lay up to 200 eggs per mating season.
Rosy maple moths cannot hear and must use their entire bodies (antennae, palps, legs and setae) to interpret their environment.
The larvae have a venomous sting.
Their bright color actually serves as camouflage to blend with flowering trees [5].