How to identify a rosy maple moth
The rosy maple moth is unmistakable for its color. It is small for a silk moth, with a wingspan of only about 1.25 to 2 inches, and a plump, woolly body. The wings combine bright pink and creamy yellow in bands, though the exact pattern and intensity vary from vivid magenta-and-lemon to washed-out cream. The thick fuzzy thorax and the male's feathery antennae complete the look. Despite belonging to the giant silk moth family Saturniidae, this is the family's small, candy-colored member.
Where the rosy maple moth lives
Rosy maple moths range across the eastern United States and into Canada, wherever maples grow. In open records they appear most often in New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and North Carolina. They are common in deciduous and mixed forests and in suburbs and parks planted with maple and oak.
When rosy maple moths fly
Adults are most active in June and July. The South can produce more than one brood across a longer warm season, while northern populations typically fly in a single early-summer generation. A warm, still night in June or July is the prime time to find one, which puts National Moth Week (July 18 to 26 in 2026) right in season.
Caterpillars, host plants, and life cycle
All the feeding is done by the caterpillar, known as the green-striped mapleworm. These caterpillars are pale green to yellowish with darker green or pinkish stripes and a pair of black horns near the head. As the name suggests, they feed mainly on maple leaves, and also on oak. When abundant they can briefly defoliate a maple, though the trees usually recover. After feeding, the caterpillar burrows into the soil to pupate. The adult emerges with no functional mouthparts, cannot eat, and lives only about a week to mate and lay eggs.
How to see a rosy maple moth at night
Rosy maple moths come to lights, and ultraviolet works far better than white LED. The leading explanation is that bright light disrupts flight orientation rather than attracting the moth: it tries to hold a natural light like the moon at a fixed angle, and a close bulb scrambles that navigation. To find one, hang a white sheet and shine a UV or mercury-vapor lamp on it on a warm, windless June or July night near maples, and check it through the first hours of darkness. This site predicts likely species by your location and date rather than identifying a photo, so to confirm a tricky find see what moth is this? or compare with its giant silk moth relatives the luna moth and cecropia moth.