Insects › Lappet Moths

Pacific Tent Caterpillar

Malacosoma constricta

Easily confused with

Study checks a spoken answer against these, and tells you which one you named.

Where it is recorded

Records by month in California.January 152, February 131, March 241, April 954, May 812, June 121, July 104, August 106, September 134, October 137, November 176, December 136.
California2,104
United States1,835
Oregon115
Washington32
Nevada20
Minnesota1
Wisconsin1

Counts show where people looked, not only where it lives.

Traits

Physical

  • MetamorphosisUndergoes dramatic body transformation during developmentFrom its classification
  • ExoskeletonHas a hard external skeletonFrom its classification

Group and habits

  • Animal pollinatorDescends from an animal lineage whose members commonly pollinate flowers.Inferred from its group

Classification

KingdomAnimals · Animalia
PhylumArthropods · Arthropoda
ClassInsects · Insecta
OrderButterflies and Moths · Lepidoptera
FamilyLappet Moths · Lasiocampidae
GenusTent Caterpillar Moths · Malacosoma

Sources

Remember the name next time.

Practise Pacific Tent Caterpillar with real photos from different observers. Say the name out loud, and it comes back just before you would forget it.