Anisota virginiensis

The female's wings are purplish red with ochre-yellow. They have thin scales and are almost transparent. The male's wings are purplish brown with a large transparent space in the middle.{{cite book | last1 = Henry Comstock | first1 = John | last2 = Botsford Comstock | first2 = Anna | title = A manual for the study of insects | publisher = Comstock Pub. Co. | year = 1899 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_4lMDAAAAYAAJ/page/n361 348] | url = https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_4lMDAAAAYAAJ| quote = Anisota virginiensis. }} The female is larger than the male. The wing span is 4.2 to 6.6 centimeters.

The moth can be found across Canada from Nova Scotia to southeastern Manitoba, and in the United States. It lives in deciduous woodlands and suburbs.

Females release a pheromone which attracts males that swarm around her like bees. Mating occurs during the morning. It is a rapid process. The male and female stay together for the rest of the day and then the female finds a place to lay eggs, usually under oak leaves.{{cite book | last1 = M. Tuskes | first1 = Paul | last2 = P. Tuttle | first2 = James | last3 = M. Collins | first3 = Michael | title = The wild silk moths of North America: a natural history of the Saturniidae of the United States and Canada | publisher = Cornell University Press | year = 1996 | pages = 74–75 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=3vqpGATXU2oC&pg=RA1-PA75 | isbn = 978-0-8014-3130-2}} Such mating swarms have been observed at carrion, where host plants may be higher quality due to the influx of nutrients associated with decomposition.{{cite journal | last1 = Mason | first1 = D. | last2 = Baruzzi | first2 = C.| year = 2019 | title = Love in strange places. | journal = Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment | volume = 17 | issue = 3| pages = 184-184 | doi=10.1002/fee.2027| doi-access = free }}

The caterpillars are gray or greenish with dull brownish yellow or rosy stripes. There are scales on each segment and two long spines on the mesothorax. The caterpillars pupate for a short time. They feed on the foliage of oak trees, maples, birches, and hazels. The caterpillar overwinters in the soil as a pupa. Caterpillars that are newly hatched or are in the middle of growing feed in groups while those that are mature or nearly so feed separately.{{cite web | url = http://www.ag.auburn.edu/enpl/bulletins/pinkoakworm/pinkoakworm.htm | title = Pinkstriped Oakworm Anisota virginiensis (Drury) (Saturniidae) | accessdate = 2010-05-29 | last = L. Hyche | first = L. | work = Auburn University}} The caterpillar is about an eighth of an inch long. The head is large in proportion to the body. The inside of the mouth is yellow. The legs are semi-translucent.{{cite book | last1 = Entomological Society of Ontario | last2 = Ontario. Dept. of Agriculture | last3 = Ontario. Legislative Assembly | title = Annual report, Volumes 38-41 | publisher = The Society | year = 1908 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/annualreportvol00assegoog/page/n86 74] | url = https://archive.org/details/annualreportvol00assegoog| quote = Anisota virginiensis. }}

Conservation regimes are not required for this species.{{cite web | url = http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species?l=3350 | title = Pink-striped oakworm moth Anisota virginiensis (Drury, 1773) | accessdate = 2010-05-29 | work = Butterflies and Moths of North America | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080531170035/http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species?l=3350 | archive-date = 2008-05-31 | url-status = dead }} It is considered a pest of forests because it defoliates trees. Outbreaks can be treated with an arsenical spray.{{cite book | last1 = Massachusetts Agricultural Experiment Station | title = Bulletin on Forestry, Volume 1, Issues 156-435 | year = 1914 | pages = 32 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=uE3VAAAAIAAJ&q=Anisota+virginiensis&pg=RA3-PA32}}

File:Anisota virginiensis mating.jpg|Mating

File:Anisota virginiensis eggs.jpg|Eggs

File:Anisota virginiensis larvae feeding.jpg|Larvae feeding on Quercus texana

File:Anisota virginiensis larva2.jpg|Larva

File:Anisota virginiensis pupa.jpg|Pupa

{{Reflist}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q2331755}}

Category:Ceratocampinae

Category:Moths described in 1773

Category:Moths of North America

Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus