Red-Shouldered Ctenucha Moth - (Ctenucha rubroscapus)

The Red-Shouldered Ctenucha Moth lives on the West Coast where is enjoys life in the sun, and an all-natural diet of flowers and grasses.

Staff Writer (8/3/2017): Bold colors on the Red-Shouldered Ctenucha Moth mimic that of wasps. This helps in avoiding predators. The blue-black body offsets the bright orange-red hairs on the thorax ('shoulders') and head. The black wings are tipped with a thin line of white at the bottom edges. This species of moth is only found in the low-elevations of the western U.S.. Adults feed on flowers, but the caterpillars feed on grasses. The caterpillar is black with bits of white and a brown-ish head and rear. Tufts of light gray hairs cover the body and when it prepares to pupate, it encases itself in a 'cage' of hairs.

Seen during the day, this species is active from the beginning of summer to the beginning of autumn. Look for them in the coastal grasses and adjacent meadows and marshes.

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Details of the:
Red-Shouldered Ctenucha Moth

Category: Butterfly or Moth
Common name: Red-Shouldered Ctenucha Moth
Scientific Name: Ctenucha rubroscapus

Taxonomy:

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthropoda

Class: Insecta

Order: Lepidoptera

Family: Arctiidae

Genus: Ctenucha

Species: rubroscapus

Size (Adult, Length): 15mm to 20mm (0.59in to 0.79in)

Identifying Colors: black, red, orange, blue, white

Additional Descriptors: flying, bee, wasp, large, tipped

North American Reach (Though Not Limited To*): California; Oregon; Washington

* Keep in mind that an insect's reach is not limited by lines on a map and therefore may appear in areas/regions/states beyond those listed above.

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