| Salt Marsh Moth | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Arctiidae |
| Genus: | Estigmene |
| Species: | E. acrea |
| Binomial name | |
| Estigmene acrea (Drury, 1773) |
|
The Salt Marsh Moth or Acrea Moth (Estigmene acrea) is a North American moth in the family Arctiidae.
Contents |
The head and thorax are white with the abdomen being yellow-orange with a row of black spots. The fore wing is white with a variable amount of black spots (some individuals lack these spots). The hind wing is yellow-orange in males and white in females. Both sexes have 3-4 black spots or blotches on their hind wings. The wingspan measures 4.5 to 6.8 cm.[1]
This moth may be seen from May to August.[1] It is seen all year in southern Florida and southern Texas.[2]
The yellowish eggs are laid in clusters on the host plant leaves. The larva, known as the Salt Marsh Caterpillar, is highly variable in color and ranges from pale yellow to dark brownish-black. It has numerous soft setae which are longer towards the end of the body. The thoracic and abdominal segments have a few rows of either orange or black warts. The pupa hibernates in a cocoon.[2]
Here is a list of host plants used by the Salt Marsh Caterpillar:
The moth also seems to handle pyrrolizidine alkaloids of almost all known structural types representative of the major plant families with pyrrolizidine alkaloid-containing species, i.e. Asteraceae with the tribes Senecioneae and Eupatorieae, Boraginaceae, Fabaceae, Apocynaceae and Orchidaceae. It has highly sensitive recognition of alkaloid sources by pyrrolizidine alkaloid-specific taste receptors.[3]