Milkweed Tussock Caterpillar - Euchaetes egle

**This is my 8,000 photo on JungleDragon!

This caterpillar sported wild tufts of black, white, and orange hairs (setae), which are characteristic warning colors. As with monarch larvae, milkweed tussock moth caterpillars obtain cardiac glycosides from the milkweed that they feed on, and they continue to retain them as adults.

Habitat: Milkweed in a meadow

comments (2)

Ferdy Christant

Lion

Congratulations on this incredible milestone! To anybody reading along: sharing 8,000 photos along with such accurate identifications and educational text is multiple thousand hours of work combined. It is no laughing matter. It is devotion, discipline, and can only be explained by the deepest love for wildlife.

Thank you for that enormous contribution to this site and the many other ways in which you help it. May it only be the beginning ;) Posted 4 years ago
1. Christine Young
  
  Lion
  
  Thanks Ferdy :) Posted 4 years ago

The Milkweed Tussock Moth

"Euchaetes egle" is a moth in the family Arctiidae. It is a common mid- through late-summer feeder on milkweeds and dogbane. Like most species in this family, it has chemical defenses it acquires from its host plants, in this case, cardiac glycosides. These are retained in adults and deter bats, and presumably other predators, from feeding on them. Adults indicate their unpalatability with clicks from their tymbal organs.

Info 26 0

Similar species: Moths And Butterflies

Species identified by Christine Young