Fun Tolype Moth Facts For Kids

The Tolype velleda is a moth species that belongs to the kingdom Animalia and the family Lasiocampidae. Some common names of this moth include the large tolype moth, phalaena bombyx velleda stoll, and velleda lappet moth. It is found in various parts of Canada and the United States, including Michigan, Minnesota, and North America. Moths are similar to butterflies as they both go through the same life-transformation process. The identification characteristics of the adult moth include hairy body, head, forepart, and edges of thorax white, the center of thorax black, and belly gray to white. Both genders have a postmedial broad and straight line.

The female is similar to the male, except it is larger in size and paler in color. A female lays up to 300 eggs. The larva of the Tolype velleda is known as a caterpillar. Its body consists of many segments and legs. The caterpillar feeds on various food resources, such as the leaves of the apple tree, the plum tree, and the oak tree. Various habitats of the Tolype velleda include deciduous, mixed, or coniferous forests. Mature moths are nocturnal animals. These insects usually grow up on their own without the help of their parents.

Moths are interesting insects, and to know more about them; you can also check out the five-spotted hawk moth and plume moth.
 

What type of animal is a large tolype moth?

The large tolype moth (Tolype velleda) is a species of moth.

What class of animal does a large tolype moth belong to?

The large tolype moth species belongs to the class Insecta.

How many large tolype moths are there in the world?

The population size of large tolype insects has not been quantified yet.

Where does a large tolype moth live?

The large tolype moth forms their habitation in a variety of trees and shrubs. It thrives in numerous parts of the United States(North America), such as Texas, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Carolina, Florida and. It is also found in Ontario, British Columbia, and Nova Scotia of Canada.

What is a large tolype moth's habitat?

The large tolype moth or velleda lappet moth lives mostly in forests and urban regions. Various host plants of this moth include cherry, apricot, birch, elm, ash, oak, plum, and apple.

Who do large tolype moths live with?

The large tolype moths or velleda moths are solitary insects and like to live alone.

How long does a large tolype moth live?

The exact life span of the large tolypes is unclear, but the adults mostly expire shortly after mating.

How do they reproduce?

The large tolype moth (Tolype velleda) produces one generation per year. The females lay their eggs in winter, which hatch in the spring season, revealing masses of larvae. These life forms start feeding on surrounding leaves and continue to eat until August. In this period, the larvae go through numerous instars before attaining maturation. After that, the larvae go through pupate state on the leaves of the host plant for several weeks before becoming adults. The larvae feed on host plants. The male insects do not feed themselves. Instead, they start focusing on passing their genes to the next generation. The females release a specific pheromone to attract the males. When males found their companions, they mate. Subsequently, the females with fertilized eggs deposit them on the host plant and then cover the eggs with their thorax scales. The eggs spend the winter and hatch in the coming spring, beginning the new cycle.

What is their conservation status?

The conservation status of large tolype moths is not available. However, they can commonly be seen in North America and some regions of Canada.

What do large tolype moths look like?

The large tolype moth species larvae are gray-whitish in color with long hairs. Enlarged knobs of reddish-orange appear on the dorsal side of the third thoracic segment. There is a distinct flap on the prolegs. When larvae feel threatened, a black band occurs on their thorax. Tolype velleda species have a wingspan of 1.2-2.2 in (32-58 mm). The adult females are bigger than the males. On the forewings of the males, there are some plane white veins and a wide dark gray band—alternatively, the light brown or black hindwings have fine white, waxy bands on their surfaces. The females possess the same markings but are paler than the males. Both genders have gray to pale white coloration on the head, collar, and tip of the abdomen. A tone of metallic scales is eminent in the middle of the thorax. Their bodies are covered with long lines of hair.

How cute are they?

The Tolype velleda are adorable insect species with their tiny size, white and gray scales, and beautiful wings. Their antennas give them an appearance of a fighter.

How do they communicate?

It is uncertain as to how they communicate since even though they may communicate, the sound or actions may be beyond our hearing frequency and hard to understand.

How big is a large tolype moth?

The moth Tolype velleda is 10 times smaller than a grasshopper.

How fast can large tolype moths fly?

The speed of the velledas species has not been measured by any person.

How much does a large tolype moth weigh?

The weight of the large tolype moth is unknown, but the female is usually bigger than the male. Therefore, the weight of a female moth must be larger than a male moth.

What are the male and female names of the species?

There are no specific names given to the male and female of lappet moth species, separately.

What would you call a baby large tolype moth?

The young of a tolype moth is known as a larva or caterpillar. It consists of a segmented body with many pairs of legs.

What do they eat?

The large tolype insect species are herbivores. Adults and larvae both feed on leaves of various trees such as apple, oak, plum, poplar, birch, elm, ash, beech, almond, apricot, and cherry, and shrubs.

Are they dangerous?

In a large population size, the large tolype insects often defoliate plants. The infestation reduces the delightful quality of those plants. Additionally, some people in the United States believe that the large tolypes are poisonous, especially the caterpillars. The hair of these insects causes urticarial rashes. Accidently, when the skin of a human being touches the Tolype velleda caterpillars, their spines break off, discharging a fluid that results in an immediate stinging, burning sensation. In severe cases, this irritation can extend to the whole arm or leg. It also infects the associated lymph nodes, which cause systematic reactions, such as vomiting and nausea.

Would they make a good pet?

The large tolype moth is a diminutive beautiful furry insect and requires a small diet of leaves of fruit trees. But the life span of this creature is less than a year. It might be a disadvantage to an emotional person who gets attached to animals.

Did you know...

The large tolype moth in Wisconsin is one out of 398 types of butterflies and moths found in Prince Edward Island.

You can check out various quality images taken by Brian S, St Charles, and Shannon S. from Onekama, Michigan.

As a caterpillar, they appear similar to butterflies.

Moths have a fuzzy butterfly look due to the luxurious pelts of scales that they have acquired.

Another fluffy-looking moth is the poodle moth. There was speculation over whether this moth does exist or not, but its existence has since been verified.

Why are they called velleda lappet moths?

The velleda lappet insects got their name because of their furry appearance. The name derives from the Greek word tolype, meaning a ball of wool or lump, which itself comes from the Greek root meaning 'wind up.'

What is the difference between a large tolype moth and other moths?

The large tolype moth has a unique protruding mouth part. Therefore, it is also known as a 'snout moth.' Also, this moth has decorative flips on the legs, a pair of dorsal glands, distinct antennas, and white and gray color fur, which lack in other types of moth. The Tolype velleda is also known as 'eggars' because of neat egg-shaped cocoons. Also, the caterpillar of this moth is hairy and larger in size than other moth species. Many large tolype caterpillars have a habit of living with each other in nests spun of silk.

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 painted lichen moth facts and puss moth facts pages.

You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable butterfly coloring pages.