Wings are olive brown to brown with wide pinkish median bands. Each wing has a large crescent-shaped transparent spot edged with gold. In the evening, females lay eggs on the host plant in rows of 10-20. The eggs hatch in 2-3 weeks and the young caterpillars feed in tight groups.
Older caterpillars are solitary feeders.
The grayish cocoons are attached to the main petiole of a leaf, and may drop to the ground if the main petiole falls off in autumn. One brood from June-July. The Ailanthus silkmoth was introduced from China in the late 1800s in an attempt to establish a silk industry in the eastern United States. Its current distribution is spotty along the Atlantic coast from Connecticut to Georgia and west to northern Kentucky. TX - Presumed extinct.