Field Guide

Grapeleaf skeletonizer moths have all-black wings that they typically hold flat, away from the body. There is an unbroken collar of red or orange behind the black head.

Tent caterpillar moths and lappet moths are medium-sized, with thick, long scales that make them look furry. The abdomen usually extends past the wings when they are folded back over the body.

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.

Ailanthus webworm moths visit flowers in the daytime but also come to lights at night. Larvae live communally in silken webs in tree-of-heaven, an invasive tree from Asia.

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.

Leaf skeletonizer moths are also called smoky moths because they have translucent smoky-brown, brownish gray, or black wings. Many species also have patches or orange or rusty color. Larvae eat all but the veins of leaves, leaving a skeleton of veins behind.

The salt marsh moth, a type of tiger moth, is strikingly white with small black spots. Males have yellow-orange hindwings. The caterpillars are fast-moving woolly bears ranging from yellowish to brown to blackish.