Giant Leopard Moth

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iGiant Leopard Moth

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Arctiidae
Genus:	Hypercompe
Species:	H. scribonia

Binomial name

Hypercompe scribonia
(Stoll, 1790)

The Giant Leopard Moth (Hypercompe scribonia) is a moth of the family Arctiidae. It is distributed throughout the Southern and Eastern United States from New England to Mexico. This species is sometimes known as Ecpantheria scribonia (an archaic genus name which has recently been rendered obsolete; all the species formerly known as Ecpantheria are now in Hypercompe).

This species has a wingspan of 3 inches. The wings of the moth are bright white with irregular black markings, some solid and some hollow. The abdomen is dark blue with orange markings, the male has a narrow yellow line on the sides. Its legs have black and white bands.

The caterpillar is one of the Woolly Bear kind with a thick coat of black bristles (setae) and red bands between its segments (can be seen when caterpillar is rolled into a ball).

The caterpillar eats a variety of broad-leaf plants such as broadleaf plantains, dandelions and violets.