Wildlife Watching Wednesday: The Ailanthus Webworm Moth
By: Tom Berg
Did you know there are nearly 11,000 species of moths living in the United States? Most people have seen many of the various common moth species living around their house, yard and garden, but there is one species in particular that is pretty unusual. It is the Ailanthus Webworm moth.
These moths are unlike most moths that we see which lie at rest with their wings spread out flat. Ailanthus webworm moths roll their wings into a tube-like shape lengthwise on their bodies when they land on a flower or other plant. The color pattern on their wings is very unusual, too. The wings are bright orange with rows of white spots ringed in black. Most people who see them don’t even know they are moths; they think they are just some other kind of flying insect.
Ailanthus webworm moths get their name from the Ailanthus tree (also called the Tree of Heaven), since that is one of their preferred host trees. Females lay their eggs on the leaves of this tree and when the small caterpillars hatch they spin thin webs – hence the name webworms. The webs are unsightly and these moths are considered to be pests.
Although the vast majority of America’s moths are nocturnal and fly at night, the adult Ailanthus webworm moth usually flies during the daytime. It visits a variety of flowers in gardens and parks, pollinating the flowers as it drinks their nectar. So even though it is considered a pest it has value as a pollinator.
Originally from tropical areas like Costa Rica in Central America, the Ailanthus webworm moth does not like temperatures that are below freezing. In fact, during normal winters these moths are completely killed off – at least in the northern half of the USA. However, as soon as the weather warms up in the springtime, these colorful moths start migrating north again and they arrive before the first days of summer. Thus the cycle begins again.
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