Moths of North Carolina
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119 NC Records

Euchaetes egle (Drury, 1773) - Milkweed Tussock Moth

Euchaetes egleEuchaetes egleEuchaetes egle
Taxonomy
Superfamily: Noctuoidea Family: ErebidaeSubfamily: ArctiinaeTribe: ArctiiniP3 Number: 930412 MONA Number: 8238.00
Comments: One of twelve species in this genus that occur in North America (Lafontaine and Schmidt, 2010), and the only one that is found in North Carolina
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Covell (1984); Beadle and Leckie (2012)Online Resources: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLDTechnical Description, Adults: Forbes (1960)Technical Description, Immature Stages: Forbes (1960); Wagner (2005)                                                                                 
Adult Markings: Larger but similar in coloration to both Pygarctia abdominalis and Pagara simplex, with wings predominantly gray and abdomen yellow or orange with a mid-dorsal row of black dots. Apart from the abdomen, egle is completely gray, lacking the yellow or orange marks on the head found in both abdominalis and simplex and also lacking the similarly colored marks found on the thorax of abdominalis.
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.
Immatures and Development: The larvae are very distinctively marked tussock caterpillars, with orange tufts running down dorsally and subdorsally along the abdomen, flanked with black tufts laterally, and with longer black and white pencils located at both ends of the body. The larvae of Lophocampa maculata are similar in color but have yellow on the sides of the abdomen and a row of mid-dorsal black tufts running down the middle of the back; L. maculata also lacks the black pencils at the ends of the body and feeds on species other than milkweeds.
Larvae ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos, especially where associated with known host plants.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution: Possibly occurs throughout the state but with many counties lacking records
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)

Click on graph to enlarge
Immature Dates:
 High Mountains (HM) ≥ 4,000 ft.
 Low Mountains (LM) < 4,000 ft.
 Piedmont (Pd)
 Coastal Plain (CP)

Click on graph to enlarge
Flight Comments: Wagner (2005) states there are two flights over most of its range but our data are too few to make out a clear pattern
Habitats and Life History
Habitats: Records from the Mountains and Piedmont come from both riparian and ridgetop habitats, including open sites and closed canopy forests. In the Coastal Plain, the few records we have come from bottomland forests but with either an herbaceous ground cover present or open habitats located close by.
Larval Host Plants: The larvae feed only on milkweeds (Asclepias spp.) (Wagner, 2005). As of 2024, we have feeding records for Poke Milkweed (A. exaltata), Swamp Milkweed (A. incarnata), Common Milkweed (A. syriaca) and Butterfly Milkweed (A. tuberosa). - View
Observation Methods: Appears to come fairly well to blacklights with up to 20 having been observed at a sheet on a given occasion. None of our records come from bait. The larvae are easy to spot during the day as they feed on milkweeds.
Wikipedia
See also Habitat Account for Open Apocynaceous Forblands
Status in North Carolina
Natural Heritage Program Status:
Natural Heritage Program Ranks: G5 [S4]
State Protection: Has no legal protection, although permits are required to collect it on state parks and other public lands
Comments: Uncommon but apparently widely distributed across the state and making use of a wide variety of habitats; appears to be secure

 Photo Gallery for Euchaetes egle - Milkweed Tussock Moth

54 photos are available. Only the most recent 30 are shown.

Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2024-08-17
Buncombe Co.
Comment: On Poke Milkweed (Asclepias exaltata).		Recorded by: David George, Jeff Niznik, Patrick Coin, Steve Hall, Carol Tingley, Tom Howard on 2024-07-27
Chatham Co.
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Recorded by: Stephen Dunn on 2024-06-28
Orange Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Mark Basinger on 2024-06-26
Yancey Co.
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Recorded by: Mark Basinger on 2024-06-26
Yancey Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Emily Stanley on 2024-06-03
Buncombe Co.
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Recorded by: Owen McConnell on 2024-05-26
Graham Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Jim Petranka, Mark Basinger and Becky Elkin on 2024-05-16
Buncombe Co.
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Recorded by: tom ward on 2023-09-19
Buncombe Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Morgan Freese on 2023-08-06
Buncombe Co.
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Recorded by: Dean Furbish on 2023-08-05
Wake Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Dean Furbish on 2023-08-05
Wake Co.
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Recorded by: Dawn-Michelle Oliver on 2023-07-30
Caswell Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Dawn-Michelle Oliver on 2023-07-30
Caswell Co.
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Recorded by: Dawn-Michelle Oliver on 2023-07-30
Caswell Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2023-07-27
Buncombe Co.
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Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2023-06-24
Buncombe Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Chuck Smith on 2022-09-13
Davidson Co.
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Recorded by: Chuck Smith on 2022-08-19
Davidson Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2022-06-13
Madison Co.
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Recorded by: G. Schneider on 2021-08-17
Ashe Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2021-08-14
Madison Co.
Comment: Large numbers were feeding on Common Milkweed.
Recorded by: David George on 2021-08-09
Alamance Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2021-07-06
Madison Co.
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Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2021-07-06
Madison Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: tom ward on 2021-06-30
Buncombe Co.
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Recorded by: tom ward on 2021-06-11
Buncombe Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: J. Thomson on 2020-07-30
Orange Co.
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Recorded by: J. Thomson on 2020-07-30
Orange Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Ed Corey on 2020-07-23
Surry Co.
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