Minnesota Seasons - Giant Leopard Moth

Conservation • Description • Habitat • Ecology • Distribution • Taxonomy

Hodges #

8146

Photo by Nicole Rojas-Oltmanns

Conservation Status

IUCN Red List

not listed

NatureServe

NNR - Unranked

Minnesota

not listed

Description

Giant leopard moth is a common, large, easily recognized tiger moth. It is one of the largest tiger moths in eastern North America. Males are up to 2″ long with a wingspan up to 3½″. Females are much smaller, no more than 1¼″ in length.

The thorax is white with twelve bluish-black spots. There is a tympanal hearing organ on each side of the thorax, but this is covered with hairs and is not visible from above.

The abdomen is strikingly colored but not visible when the moth is at rest. It is bright orange above with large iridescent blue and black bands in the middle (dorsally) and a row of large iridescent blue and black spots on each side (laterally).

The forewings are white with numerous glossy bluish-black spots. The spots are highly variable. They may be solid, boldly outlined with a white center, or narrowly outlined and hollow. The outer portions of the forewing lose their white scales and become translucent as the moth ages.

The caterpillar is up to 3″ long and is densely covered with long stiff bristles (setae). The setae are sharply pointed and barbed. They are in clusters rising from prominently raised warts. A narrow, dull red ring between each abdominal segment is visible when the caterpillar moves or curls up into a defensive posture. There is a small breathing hole (spiracle) on both sides of each thoracic segment and all but the last abdominal segment. The spiracles are dull red.

Size

Male Total length: up to 2″

Female Total length: up to 1¼″

Wingspan: 2¼″ to 3½″

Similar Species

Habitat

Ecology

Season

One generation per year: May to June

Behavior

The caterpillar hides in leaf litter or under loose bark during the day and comes out at night to feed. When threatened, it will roll up.

Adults are active at night. Male adults are attracted to light. Females are not. When threatened, they will curl up, displaying their brightly colored abdomen, and exude a yellow, acrid-smelling liquid.

Life Cycle

Almost mature caterpillars overwinter under logs and beneath bark.

Larva Food/Hosts

Deciduous trees and a wide array of low growing herbaceous and woody plants.

Adult Food

Adults do not feed.

Distribution
		Sources 21, 24, 29, 30, 71, 75, 82, 83. Biodiversity occurrence data published by: Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas (accessed through the Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas Portal, bellatlas.umn.edu, 10/1/2025).
10/2/2025

Occurrence
Common in the United States east of the Great Plains

Taxonomy

Order

Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths)

Superfamily

Noctuoidea (owlet moths and allies)

Family

Erebidae (underwing, tiger, tussock, and allied moths)

Subfamily

Arctiinae (tiger moths and allies)

Tribe

Arctiini (tiger moths)

Subtribe

Spilosomina

Genus

Hypercompe

Subfamily
Until recently, tiger moths and lichen moths were treated as a separate family Arctiidae. A recently published monograph (Lafontaine and Schmidt, 2010) contended that the Arctiidae “were more closely related to groups within the Noctuidae than to non-noctuid families.” The Arctiidae were transferred intact to the family Erebidae as a subfamily (Arctiinae). The former subfamilies are now tribes and the former tribes are now subtribes.

Subordinate Taxa

giant leopard moth (Hypercompe scribonia denudata)

giant leopard moth (Hypercompe scribonia scribonia)

Synonyms

Bombyx chryseis

Bombyx cunegunda

Ecpantheria confluens

Ecpantheria denudata

Ecpantheria scribonia

Hypercompe chryseis

Hypercompe confluens

Hypercompe deflorata

Hypercompe denudata

Phalaena oculatissima

Phalaena scribonia

Common Names

eyed tiger moth

fever-worm (caterpillar)

giant leopard moth

great leopard moth

Glossary

Seta

A usually rigid bristle- or hair-like structure on butterflies and moths used to sense touch. Plural: setae.

Spiracle

A small opening on the surface of an insect or arachnid through which it breathes.

Tympanum

An external hearing structure. In reptiles and amphibians, the circular, disk-like membrane that covers the ear opening. In insects, the membrane covering the air sac and sensory neurons. Plural: tympani.

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Nicole Rojas-Oltmanns
Found the caterpillar in the bog at Lake Bemidji State Park …


… and the moth in the lake where our oldest kid rescued and cleaned it up. Unfortunately, it could not fly.