Ctenucha virginica
Encyclopedia
The Virginia Ctenucha (Ctenucha virginica) is a moth
of the Arctiidae
family. It is endemic to eastern North America
, but has expanded its range westward. It inhabits wet meadows and open spaces with bushes from North Carolina to Canada east of the Rocky Mountains.
The wingspan
ranges from 30 –. The wing color varies from black to olive-brown. The body is a metallic blue-green. The head is yellow-orange, with feathery antennae. The caterpillar (about 20–25 mm) has multiple tufts of white and yellow hair. It feeds mostly on grasses and undergoes metamorphosis in May–August. Adults feed primarily on nectar in daylight.
The larvae feed on various grasses, such as Iris and Sedge species.
Moth
A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...
of the Arctiidae
Arctiidae
Arctiidae is a large and diverse family of moths with around 11,000 species found all over the world, including 6,000 neotropical species. This family includes the groups commonly known as tiger moths , which usually have bright colours, footmen , lichen moths and wasp moths...
family. It is endemic to eastern North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, but has expanded its range westward. It inhabits wet meadows and open spaces with bushes from North Carolina to Canada east of the Rocky Mountains.
The wingspan
Wingspan
The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...
ranges from 30 –. The wing color varies from black to olive-brown. The body is a metallic blue-green. The head is yellow-orange, with feathery antennae. The caterpillar (about 20–25 mm) has multiple tufts of white and yellow hair. It feeds mostly on grasses and undergoes metamorphosis in May–August. Adults feed primarily on nectar in daylight.
The larvae feed on various grasses, such as Iris and Sedge species.