Silver Spotted Tiger Moth (Lophocampa argentata) on Jun 16, 2023
Submitter has sample
Description of specimen
We have been noticing them around our place. We have several old growth shore pines and white cedars. I have one in a jar
moth, Lophocampa argentata, a native species. The larvae are gregarious for most of their time feeding,
but thankfully only feed on a few kinds of conifers. Mostly spruce and pine in your area on the immediate
coast, but also doug fir.
Here's a link for more info about the moth:
http://pnwmoths.biol.wwu.edu/browse/family-erebidae/subfamily-arctiinae/tribearc
tiini/lophocampa/lophocampa-argentata/
They are apparently having a boom year, perhaps with all the moisture, and we have had several reports so
far. They are naturally controlled by native parasitic wasps but may have outpaced their enemies, so it
takes a few years sometimes for the wasps to build in numbers and then reduce the moth population back
to normal.
Tom Valente
June 21, 2023, 9:15 a.m.