Giant leopard moth

Description

The giant leopard moth (Hypercompe scribonia) is a moth of the family Erebidae. They are distributed through North America from southern Ontario, and southern and eastern United States through New England, Mexico and down to Panama.The obsolete name Ecpantheria scribonia is still occasionally encountered. This species has a wingspan of 76 mm (3 in). The wings of this moth are bright white with a pattern of neat black blotches, some solid and some hollow. The overside of the abdomen is dark blue with orange markings, while the underside is white with solid black spots, and males have a narrow yellow line on the sides. Their legs have black and white bands. Adult moths are strictly nocturnal and do not generally fly before nightfall. This species has a notable sexual dimorphism in size, the adult male reaching about 51 mm (2 in) in length, while the adult female grows up to 30 mm (1.2 in). During mating sessions, the wings of the male cover most of the female's abdomen, and this can sometimes lead up to loss of wing scales in the female, which can have negative effects on its flight efficiency.Their mating sessions are notably long-lasting, taking more than 24 hours. They stay mostly immobile during the whole process but will move from spot to spot to thermoregulate, walking into shadowy areas if it is too hot or into sunlight if it is too cold. The male is the one that effectuates the locomotion, while the female folds her legs to be easier to carry. The caterpillar is of the "woolly bear" kind, with a thick coat of black bristles (setae) and red or orange bands between its segments, which become conspicuous when the caterpillar rolls into a ball for defense. Like the banded woolly bear, its hairs are not urticant nor venomous and do not typically cause irritation. Hypercompe is a genus of tiger moths in the family Erebidae erected by Jacob Hübner in 1819. Several species were formerly separated in Ecpantheria, which is now regarded as a junior synonym.