Arctiidae

Arctiidae is a large family of moths with around 11,000 species found all over the world. It included 6,000 neotropical species. This family includes the groups commonly known as tiger moths (or tigers). Tiger moths usually have bright colours, footmen (which are usually much drabber), lichen moths and wasp moths. Many species have 'hairy' caterpillars which are popularly known as woolly bears or woolly worms. The scientific name refers to this (Gk. arktos = a bear). Caterpillars may also go by the name 'tussock moths' (more usually this refers to Lymantriidae, however).
Notable species
Banded tussock moth, Halysidota tesselaris
banded woolly bear or Isabella tiger moth, Pyrrharctia isabella
Buff ermine, Spilarctia lutea
Cinnabar moth, Tyria jacobaeae
common footman, Manulea lurideola
dogbane tiger moth or delicate cycnia, Cycnia tenera
fall webworm, Hyphantria cunea
garden tiger moth, Arctia caja
giant leopard moth, Hypercompe scribonia
hickory tussock moth, Lophocampa caryae
Jersey tiger moth, Euplagia quadripunctaria
milkweed tussock moth, Euchaetes egle
scarlet tiger pygmy moth, Callimorpha dominula
Maltese ruby tiger moth, Phragmatobia fuliginosa ssp. melitensis
Related links
List of arctiid genera
Notes and references
Other references
Bates DL, Fenton MB (1990) Aposematism or startle? Predators learn their responses to the defenses of prey. Can J Zool 68:49-52
Dunning DC, Kruger M (1995) Aposematic sounds in African moths. Biotropica 27:227-231
Dunning DC, Acharya L, Merriman CB, Ferro LD (1992) Interactions between bats and arctiid moths. Can J Zool 70:2218-2223
Fullard JH, Fenton MB, Simmons JA (1979) Jamming bat echolocation: the clicks of arctiid moths. Can J Zool 57:647-649
Science Fridays: Moths Can Escape Bats By Jamming Sonar
Main species catalogs
Dubatolov VV (2010) Tiger-moths of Eurasia (Lepidoptera, Arctiidae) (Nyctemerini by Rob de Vos & Vladimir V. Dubatolov). Neue Entomologische Nachrichten 65:1-106
Edwards ED (1996) Arctiidae. Monographs on Australian Lepidoptera 4:278-286,368-370
Ferguson DC, Opler PA (2006) Checklist of the Arctiidae (Lepidoptera: Insecta) of the continental United States and Canada. Zootaxa 1299:1-33
Goodger DT, Watson A (1995) The Afrotropical Tiger-Moths. An illustrated catalogue, with generic diagnosis and species distribution, of the Afrotropical Arctiinae (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae). Apollo Books Aps.: Denmark, 55 pp.
Watson A (1971) An illustrated Catalog of the Neotropic Arctiinae type in the United States National Museum (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae) Part 1. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 50:1-361
Watson A, Goodger DT (1986) Catalogue of the Neotropical Tiger-moths. Occasional Papers on Systematic Entomology 1:1-71
Phylogenetic analyses
Da Costa MA, Weller SJ (2005) Phylogeny and classification of Callimorphini (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae: Arctiinae). Zootaxa 1025:1-94
Dubatolov VV (2006) Cladogenesis of tiger-moths of the subfamily Arctiinae: development of a cladogenetic model of the tribe Callimorphini (Lepidoptera, Arctiidae) by the SYNAP method. Euroasian Entomological Journal 5(2):95-104 (in Russian).
Dubatolov VV (2008) Construction of the phylogenetic model for the genera of the tribe Arctiini (Lepidoptera, Arctiidae) with the SYNAP method. Entomological Review 88(7):833-837. Translated from: Entomologicheskoe Obozrenie 87(3):653-658
Dubatolov VV (2009) Development of a phylogenetic model for the tribe Micrarctiini (Lepidoptera, Arctiidae) by the SYNAP method. Entomological Review 89(3):306-313. Translated from: Zoologicheskii Zhurnal. 88(4):438-445
Jacobson NL, Weller SJ (2002) A cladistic study of the Arctiidae (Lepidoptera) by using characters of immatures and adults. Thomas Say publications in entomology. Entomological Society of America | Lanham, Maryland, 98 pp.
Distribution analyses
Dubatolov VV (2008) Analysis of Insect Distribution in the Northern Hemisphere by the Example of the Subfamily Arctiinae (Lepidoptera, Artctiidae). Contemporary Problems of Ecology 1(2):183-193, 194-203.
Further reading
William Conner (ed.). (2009). Tiger moths and woolly bears : behavior, ecology, and evolution of the Arctiidae. Oxford University Press: New York.
Other websites
Family Arctiidae at Lepidoptera.pro
Belize Arctiidae Digital colour "plates"
Jamaica Actiidae Digital colour "plates"
Digital images of Neotropical Arctiidae and Geometridae
SZM Digital images
on the UF / IFAS Featured Creatures Web site
Empyreuma affinis, spotted oleander caterpillar
Estigmene acrea, saltmarsh caterpillar
Lycomorpha pholus, black and yellow lichen moth
Lymire edwardsii, Edwards wasp moth
Syntomeida epilais, oleander caterpillar
Utetheisa ornatrix, bella moth
Beattyville Wolly Worm Festival 2012 Site