Field Guide

At rest, tortricid moths often have a distinctive shape, resembling an arrowhead or a bell, with the forewing tips either squared-off or flared outward.

The spiny oak-slug moth is named for its caterpillar, which is armed with gaudy, stiff, stinging spines. If you touch them, the sting can feel something like a bee sting.

The silken tents of eastern tent caterpillars are conspicuous each spring in the forks of apple, cherry, and plum trees. The adult moths are brown with two pale stripes on the forewings.

Adult slug caterpillar moths are heavy-bodied and furry. The weird-looking caterpillars have suckers instead of prolegs, so they glide around like slugs. Don’t touch — many have stinging spines or hairs.

Fall webworm moths may be either completely white or have varying amounts of dark spots. The larvae are hairy caterpillars that live communally in late summer and fall in tentlike webs on the branch tips of trees.

The larvae of bagworm moths live in protective cases they make out of their own silk plus plant materials or other debris. These spindle-shaped cases dangle from the food plants they’re eating.

The lucerne moth is one of many types of moths in the crambid family. Its caterpillars eat plants in the grass, celery, clover/alfalfa, and smartweed families.

Sod webworms are very common small moths that develop as caterpillars among the roots and leaves of grasses. They are attracted to lights at night.

Litter moths are a subfamily of rather nondescript brownish moths, often with intricate patterns that camouflage them as they rest on tree bark or among leaves on the forest floor.

Hagen's sphinx is also called Osage orange sphinx for its larval food plant. Fresh adults will have a beautiful olive-green cast, while older individuals will look more tan.