How to identify the Virginian Tiger Moth
The Virginian Tiger Moth is a fairly small tiger moth, with a wingspan around 3 to 4.5 cm (about 1.2 to 1.8 inches). Both wings are clean white, usually with only a sparse scatter of tiny black dots, and the legs show orange and black banding. As with the related Salt Marsh Moth, the abdomen carries yellow shading and a line of black dots, but the Virginian Tiger Moth is smaller and tends to be cleaner and more uniformly white. It holds its wings in a low tent shape at rest and looks fuzzy and woolly because of its dense white thorax scales.
Where the Virginian Tiger Moth lives
This is a widespread, adaptable moth of the eastern and central part of the continent. The open records show it most concentrated in New York, Virginia, Texas, Maryland and Ohio. It thrives in gardens, forest edges, meadows, parks and suburban yards, so it is a moth that backyard moth-watchers across these states encounter regularly.
When the Virginian Tiger Moth flies
The species has more than one generation per year, which is why it is on the wing for a long stretch of summer. In the records it peaks across June, July, August and September. That gives you a wide window: any warm, calm night from early summer into early fall is a good time to look.
Caterpillar, host plants and life cycle
The caterpillar is known as the "yellow woolly bear," a very hairy larva that ranges from pale yellow to reddish-brown or darker. It is a generalist that feeds on a long list of low plants and woody species, including many weeds, garden plants and the leaves of various trees and shrubs. Like other tiger moth caterpillars, its hairs can irritate sensitive skin, so don't handle it. It overwinters as a pupa in a hairy cocoon spun near the ground or in leaf litter, then emerges to begin the next brood.
How to see a Virginian Tiger Moth at night
This moth comes well to artificial light, so a backyard light session is the simplest way to find one. Drape a white sheet and aim a UV (blacklight) or mercury-vapor lamp at it; UV and short-wavelength light pull in many more moths than a white LED. Moths collect at lights because the bright source disrupts their normal flight orientation, so a steady light against a pale sheet works best, checked over the first hours after dark. New to this? Start with our mothing for beginners guide, and compare with the larger, blockier-spotted Salt Marsh Moth.