Tag: Orgyia definita

2025 Caterpillar Season – Definite Tussock Moth

2025 Caterpillar Season, Caterpillars of Tyson Research Center, insects, Lepidoptera, macro, wildlife, wildlife photography

Definite Tussock Moth
Orgyia definita fam. Erebidae (Hodges#8314)
Host plant: Found on sycamore (Platanus occidentalis)
Dates found: 01 September, 2025
Locations found: Tyson Research Center, St. Louis County, MO
Notes: This species range seems to weirdly stop in extreme eastern Missouri based on official collection records as well as online databases like iNaturalist and BAMONA. I wonder if this species might be more abundant in the state than the data suggests, mainly by the numbers I have found during the past two years.

2025 Caterpillar Season – Definite Tussock Moth

2025 Caterpillar Season, insects, Lepidoptera, macro, wildlife, wildlife photography

Definite Tussock Moth
Orgyia definita fam. Erebidae (Hodges#8314)
Host plant: Found on common blackberry (Rubus allegheniensis)
Date found: 09, Aug, 2025
Location found: Cuivre River State Park, Lincoln County, MO
Notes: Found in dense populations east of the Mississippi River, this species has only a handful of records in Missouri databases such as iNaturalist and butterfliesandmoths.org. I realize that I had seen this caterpillar before, but being the amateur that I am, I though I was looking at a lightly colored or recently molted Orgyia leucostigma.