Moths of North Carolina
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87 NC Records

Yponomeuta multipunctella Clemens, 1860 - American Ermine Moth


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Taxonomy
Superfamily: Yponomeutoidea Family: YponomeutidaeSubfamily: YponomeutinaeTribe: [Yponomeutinae]P3 Number: 360017.00 MONA Number: 2420.00
Comments: Y. multipunctella is one of five species of Yponomeuta that occur north of Mexico. Three North American species (Y. euonymella, Y. leucothorax, and Y. semialba) are no longer recognized and are treated as Y. multipunctella (Lewis and Sohn, 2015). A fourth species (Y. atomocella) was transferred to the genus Prays. Four of the five currently recognized North American species of Yponomeuta are introduced, and some have become defoliating pests of apples, cherries and ornamental Euonymus species.
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Covell (1984); Beadle and Leckie (2012)Online Photographs: MPG, BugGuide, GBIF, BOLDTechnical Description, Adults: Lewis and Sohn (2015); microleps.org                                                                                 
Adult Markings: Adults are white with 3-4 rows of black dots. Y. cagnagella is an introduced species that resembles Y. multipunctella, but has fewer black dots, particularly near the middle of the forewing. This species is a pest on ornamental Euonymus species and was first recorded in North America from Ontario in 1967. Y. cagnagella has since spread to the northern US and south to Delaware and Maryland. It could potentially reach North Carolina in the future.
Wingspan: 17-20 mm (Covell 1982).
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.
Immatures and Development: Caterpillars can be found in early spring before the adults first appear, suggesting that the eggs overwinter and hatch as the host plants begin their spring growth. The larvae feed in small communal webs, primarily on the shoots of American Strawberry-bush (Euonymus americanus). Individual bushes that have been observed in North Carolina often have most shoots covered with webs, and a single web typically contains fewer than 10 larvae. In many cases, individual plants can be heavily defoliated by foraging caterpillars during the spring months. Many older instar larvae leave the communal webs, but some remain and pupate beneath the webbing (microleps.org; Covell, 1984).

Jim Petranka found larvae in Madison Co. that were pupating communally on the undersides of low-lying vegetation within 15 cm of the ground surface. The nests were within 3 meters of E. americanus shrubs where the earlier instars fed. The larvae constructed communal nests by folding 1-3 leaves under with silk. They then spun very thin whitish cocoons within the silk refuge. The nests contained from 2-30 pupae and were construct using the leaves of Golden Ragwort (Packera aurea), Red Maple, and Southern Red Oak. The larvae presumably dropped or crawled from the overlying Euonymus foliage, then managed to locate other larvae or pupae, perhaps by using scent trails. In a different year, larvae were observed pupating within the folded leaves of a Maple-leaf Viburnum (Viburnum acerifolium). The leaf folds were located 5-6 feet above the ground and each contained a single larva or pupa. The late-instar larvae appeared to have migrated from a nearby E. americanus plant to the Viburnum. The adults began emerging about two weeks after the leaf folds were collected.
Larvae ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos, especially where associated with known host plants.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution: Almost all records are from the Piedmont and Blue Ridge where the host species are most common.
County Map: Clicking on a county returns the records for the species in that county.
Flight Dates:
 High Mountains (HM) ≥ 4,000 ft.
 Low Mountains (LM) < 4,000 ft.
 Piedmont (Pd)
 Coastal Plain (CP)

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