Tulip-Tree Beauty

Fascinating facts about the Tulip-Tree Beauty

• A single tulip-tree beauty can stretch its wings up to 55 mm, making it one of the larger geometer moths you'll meet in a backyard. Its wingspan ranges from 43-55 mm, a size comparable to a small ruler laid across a leaf. Adults are attracted to lights. The thick-bodied caterpillar sports a swollen third thoracic segment.
• From the forests of New England to the piney woods of Texas, the tulip-tree beauty. Its range stretches. This geographic spread also links the moth to a variety of host trees.
• The tulip-tree beauty flutters from late March all the way to early October. In Florida, adults even persist year-round.
• Caterpillars of Epimecis hortaria are picky diners, munching on a select menu of trees: Magnolia, Asimina, Populus, Sassafras and Liriodendron. The Wikipedia entry confirms they while BugGuide adds.
• There are two forms, one being "Dendraria" and the other being "Carbonaria" and describes the latter as "melanic "carbonaria"

Sources

Every fact above was checked against these pages, and kept only where one of them states it.

• Wikipedia

At a glance

About the Tulip-Tree Beauty

In the dappled shadows of the forest, the Tulip-Tree Beauty moth dances with delicate precision, its wings a mesmerizing mosaic of brown and grey that blends seamlessly with the mottled tree bark. As it flutters from branch to branch, the soft rustle of its wings is like a whispered secret, a gentle reminder of the hidden world that exists just beyond our gaze. With each delicate beat, this enchanting creature weaves a subtle spell, its very existence a testament to the beauty and mystery that still awaits discovery in the uncharted realms of the natural world.

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