Moths of North Carolina
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310 NC Records

Megalopyge crispata (Packard, 1864) - Black-waved Flannel Moth


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Taxonomy
Superfamily: Zygaenoidea Family: MegalopygidaeP3 Number: 57a0038 MONA Number: 4644.00 MONA Synonym: Lagoa crispata
Comments: One of four members of this genus in North America, two of which occur in North Carolina. Variably placed in the genera Megalopyge and Lagoa, it is currently assigned to the latter.
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Covell (1984)Online Photographs: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLDTechnical Description, Adults: Forbes (1923)Technical Description, Immature Stages: Wagner (2005)                                                                                 
Adult Markings: This is a heavy-bodied species with a furry head and thorax that is medium to pale yellow. The legs are also furry and pale yellow, with prominent black tips. The forewing is pale yellow with wavy "hairs" across the basal half that imparts a distinctive wrinkled or woolly appearance. The most obvious marks are discrete black waves running just above the costa, typically with several orange or brown waves beneath. These marks vary in intensity in the female and on worn individuals. Megalopyge crispata is similar in size and shape to M. opercularis but the forewings are pale yellow rather than orange-brown as seen in the latter. In addition, M. opercularis tends to have more extensive black scaling on the tips of the legs.
Wingspan: 25-25 mm (Forbes, 1923)
Adult Structural Features: Males have pectinate antennae that 2/3 as long as the forewing, whereas those of male M. opercularis are only about 1/2 the length of the wing (Forbes, 1923). Forbes describes the forelegs of M. crispata as pale with black tips; in our specimens, the tarsi of all of the legs appears to be pale, with only the metatarsi black. In M. opercularis, in contrast, both the tarsi and metatarsi are blackish.
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.
Immatures and Development: The larvae are generalists and primarily feed on the leaves of hardwood trees and shrubs. The early instars have a sordid white body that is covered by thin, long, fluffy white hairs. In the older instars the body has a pelt of shorter, dense hairs that are soft, smooth and directed backwards. The body tapers to a wispy "tail" that is composed of setae that barely extend past the body, unlike the much more prominent "tail" of Megalopyge opercularis. The coat varies from orange to grayish and the hairs are sufficiently dense to conceal the body. The larvae are very similar to those of Megalopyge crispata and best identified by either rearing or geographic range (Wagner, 2005). The larvae are capable of producing a painful sting or sometimes more serious reactions due to urticating hairs on the body (Wagner, 2005; Mullen and Zaspel, 2019).
Larvae ID Requirements: Identifiable only through rearing to adulthood.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution: Probably occurs statewide, from the Barrier Islands to the High Mountains
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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