I recently had a request to write about an amazing species of moth called the Isabella tiger moth which has really cool caterpillars.
Here are five interesting facts about them:
- These cute little moths only have a wingspan of about 5.5 cm.
- They are best known for their furry looking caterpillars which are known as woolly bears.
- As they live in the very cold areas of the Arctic, the woolly bears don’t have enough time to get big enough to turn into adult moths before winter comes, so they have the special ability to be frozen during winter without dying. When they thaw, they start eating again. Some woolly bears take 14 winters before they become adults. After all of this time, the adult Isabella tiger moth only lives for a few days, finding a mate within that time to start the process again.
- They feed on a variety of grasses and weeds.
- Isabella tiger moths are found throughout the Arctic and other cold regions of Canada and the United States in prairies and open areas.
I hope that you found these facts interesting and learned something new.
Are there any other interesting facts that you would like to share about Isabella tiger moths?
Thanks for doing this! Very interesting!
I have one moth just emerged in my makeshift caterpillar house. Should I let it go at nite when there are no birds. It is end of January and I feared to be too cold. We are in Virginia. I have 4 more cocoons probably going to hatch as well.
I’m honestly not sure