Wild Facts About The Ailanthus Webworm Moth
Orange And Black Usually Means “Beware”
- Ailanthus Webworm Moths are brightly colored in a bold pattern of orange, black, and white that looks like French millefiori.
- Usually, this color combination means the animal is “aposematically colored”.
- Aposematic coloration communicates visually to potential predators that these insects are distasteful and possibly toxic to eat.
- Usually, this color combination means the animal is “aposematically colored”.
- Ailanthus Webworm caterpillars only eat leaves of the Tree-of-Heaven (Ailanthus altissima) plant.
- This plant manufactures toxic compounds called quassinoids in defense against herbivores like the Ailanthus Webworm Moth caterpillar.
- But rather than deter the caterpillars from feeding on the plants’ leaves, the Ailanthus Webworm caterpillars likely store the toxins in their own body tissues to make themselves unpalatable to predators.
One Invader Bests Another
- Ailanthus Webworms are not native to the eastern United States.
- Their native range is subtropical and tropical America.
- Over time, this species spread into temperate North America (i.e. approximately north of 35 degree north latitude) and is likely to expand its range further north as winter temperatures rise.
- Recently, another invading species has begun driving populations of Ailanthus Webworm Moths down in many areas—the Spotted Lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula).
- Both Ailanthus Webworm caterpillars and Spotted Lanternfly use Tree-of-Heaven (Ailanthus altissima) as a host plant.
- In areas where the Spotted Lanternfly has invaded, “observations of the Ailanthus Webworm Moth in invaded counties increased by only 1.8 times (164 before and 291 after) compared to 6.6 times (142 before and 939 after) in control counties” (Frank 2025, https://doi.org/10.1656/045.032.0210).
Scientific Classification
|
Kingdom |
Animalia (animals) |
|
Phylum |
Arthropoda (arthropods) |
|
Class |
Insecta (insects) |
|
Order |
Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) |
|
Family |
Attevidae (tropical ermine moths) |
|
Genus |
Atteva |
|
Species |
A. aurea |
Scientific Name |
Atteva aurea |
- The scientific binomial for this species used to be Atteva punctella.
- Research using DNA barcoding (among many other things), scientists determined that this species should be called A. aurea, whereas as a similar species found in Central America should be called A. pustulella (Wilson et al. 2010, https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.46.406).
Ailanthus Webworm Moth Photo Gallery
Ailanthus Webworm Moth. Atteva aurea. Insect. Photograph taken and design created by the author. Copyright © 2025 Now I Wonder. All rights reserved.- Ailanthus Webworm Moth. Atteva aurea. Insect. Photograph taken and design created by the author. Copyright © 2025 Now I Wonder. All rights reserved.
- Ailanthus Webworm Moth. Atteva aurea. Insect. Photograph taken and design created by the author. Copyright © 2025 Now I Wonder. All rights reserved.
Ailanthus Webworm Moth. Atteva aurea. Insect. Photograph taken and design created by the author. Copyright © 2025 Now I Wonder. All rights reserved.
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