Fun Orange Tipped Oakworm Moth Facts For Kids

The orange tipped oakworm moth (Anisota senatoria) is also known as spiny oakworm moth since they are similar in their appearance. It is a Nearctic member of the Saturniidae family and subfamily of the Ceratocampinae. This moth species is also called orange striped oakworm as a larva. The males and females of this moth species can be differentiated through their size, where the female is way smaller than the male. Adult moths are day fliers, and mating usually takes place from late morning to early afternoon and females can lay up to 500 eggs.

Caterpillar hosts can be seen mostly on various oak trees. They tend to stay in deciduous forests and the woodlands since they feed on trees and plants. Their presence is more in America and European regions. Since they have a stable and large population, which is large enough to cause defoliation of oaks, their conservation status is not given much priority. They can be found globally, even though they can be observed more in certain regions. Their love for oaks has driven their presence to areas with abundant oak trees. Yellow stripes also belong to the same genus of the orange tipped oakworms.

If you find this moth species interesting, continue reading for more, and you may also want to have a look at similar moth species like the puss moth and poodle moth.

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What type of animal is an Orange Tipped Oakworm Moth?

The Anisota senatoria is a type of moth from the family Saturniidae.

What class of animal does an Orange Tipped Oakworm Moth belong to?

This moth species belongs to the Insecta class of animals.

How many Orange Tipped Oakworm Moths are there in the world?

Not much attention is given to moths, since they can cause harm to the environment by degrading and spreading diseases to trees, and their total population across the world is unknown.

Where does an Orange Tipped Oakworm Moth live?

Orange oakworms moths' habitat can be found in deciduous forests with oak trees and is native to America. Their habitat has been distributed across the North of America, Maryland, Texas, North Carolina, central Mississippi, south to central Georgia, central Minnesota, and much more. They prefer places with more trees and gardens.

What is an Orange Tipped Oakworm Moth's habitat?

They are known to live mostly in the woodlands, grassland, and savanna of North Carolina, Maryland, Texas, and in the European and Asian region. They live in oak trees or any trees that provide them both food and shelter.

Who does Orange Tipped Oakworm Moth live with?

Oakworms generally live alone, even though they appear together at times. They are solitary insects.

How long does an Orange Tipped Oakworm Moth live?

Moth species can generally live up to 12 months if they survived harsh weather and can protect themselves from predators. However, most do not live up to six months also since they are sensitive beings.

How do they reproduce?

The mating between the male and female moth takes place from early morning to late evening. The females fly to a susceptible tree once they have been fertilized, and they lay up to 500 eggs on lower leaf surfaces in large clusters. The eggs usually hatch between 7-10 days as caterpillars, and the orange tipped oakworm moth caterpillar often stays on a leaf and feeds together, as they are voracious feeders. Once they mature, the caterpillars establish small chambers to pupate by burrowing a few inches into the soil, where they overwinter and transform or appear as adults with wings the following summer.

What is their conservation status?

The conservation status of this moth species is Not Evaluated, since they are not given attention due to the fact that they contribute to forests of tree degradation by feeding and spreading disease on them. However, they have a stable and large population which does not require conserving.

What do Orange Tipped Oakworm Moths look like?

The male and female oakworms differ greatly in their size. The female oakworms are smaller than the males, but they have similar color distribution. The upper side of the female is yellow to orange and brown, with white spots on its wings, with varying amounts of black specks scattered. The male's upper side is reddish or brownish-orange with small white cell spots and a whitish translucent patch which is small in size. Their white spots on their wings make it easy to distinguish them from other types of moths species. These moths have a wingspan of 1-2 in (3-5 cm), which is smaller than butterfly wings.

How cute are they?

As caterpillars, they are like cute wiggly worms with smooth and yellow, with black stripes, which later transforms into a winged moth. However, they may not look bad, but they aren't really cute, rather quite scary and dangerous for trees.

How do they communicate?

It is unknown how they communicate among themselves.

How big is an Orange Tipped Oakworm Moth?

An adult oakworm is 1-2 in (3-5 cm), which is five times bigger than a bee.

How fast can an Orange Tipped Oakworm Moth fly?

The flight speed of moths is unidentified, but they may fly slower and weaker than butterflies.

How much does an Orange Tipped Oakworm Moth weigh?

This moth species is too small that it is difficult to know how much they actually weigh.

What are their male and female names of the species?

The males and females of the oakworm moths do not have names to describe them separately.

What would you call a baby Orange Tipped Oakworm Moth?

A baby moth is generally known as a caterpillar or larvae.

What do they eat?

Their diet consists of birch, maple leaves, oak leaves, hazelnut, and other plant-based foods.

Are they poisonous?

These moths are not poisonous for humans but are poisonous for trees as they spread diseases to the trees as they feed on them, and thereby can cause degradation of the tree.

Would they make a good pet?

It is very rare to pet moths. They have a short lifespan and mostly prefer to spend their time feeding and transforming in the wild.

Did you know...

People in certain states or regions often use pest control to avoid this moth from destroying their lawns and trees.

Are Yellow Striped Oakworms poisonous?

Yes, they are capable of infesting disease to trees that can lead to their degradation and can further pass on the disease to other trees in the area. But they do not harm humans directly, but by destroying trees.

What does an Orange Striped Oakworm turn into?

The transformation process of moths is similar to butterflies as they belong to the same insect species, and this period of their transformation is quite interesting to know about. This moth is known to produce one generation in the north and two generations in the south. The adults emerge from their pupal chambers from late June to early July. After a female lays about 500 eggs in a leaf, the eggs hatch within 7-10 days, where they are born as larvae or caterpillars, and feeding occurs constantly to prepare them for the transformation period during winter. The caterpillars grow fast in size and progress rapidly. Once the larvae mature, they descend from the tree and then burrow a few inches into the soil where they build small chambers to pupate, where they overwinter and transform as an adult winged moth the following summer. The colors are not visible when they are caterpillars, but as they transform and come out of their pupa, they inhibit the orange, brownish, with white spots in its wings, like that of the adults.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other arthropods from our luna moth interesting facts and  Imperial moth fun facts for kids pages.

You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable Orange Tipped Oakworm Moth coloring pages.

*Please note, the main image is of a spiny oakworm moth which is similar in appearance. If you have an image of an orange tipped oakworm moth, let us know!