Rosy maple moth
Its bold pink and yellow wings mimic the warning colors of a toxic insect, yet the moth carries no venom or poison of its own.
| Where | Deciduous forests with maple trees |
|---|---|
| Size | 32 to 58 mm wingspan |
| When | April to August |
The Rosy maple moth is a small, fuzzy bodied moth with wings that range from pale cream to bright pink and yellow, and males have broad, feathery antennae while females have slimmer ones.
Caterpillars, known as greenstriped mapleworms, feed in groups on red, silver, and sugar maple leaves and can strip branches bare in outbreak years within the deciduous forests where their host trees grow.
Traits
Habitat
Woodland
Colour
Yellow, Red, White
Active
Night
To people
Harmless to people despite its bold, warning colored wings.
Activity through the year
Often confused with
Has thinner, almost transparent wings in a purplish red and ochre yellow pattern, unlike the solid pink and yellow blocks of color on the Rosy maple moth's wings.
Questions
Is the Rosy maple moth dangerous to people?
Harmless to people despite its bold, warning colored wings.
When can you see the Rosy maple moth?
The Rosy maple moth can be seen from April to August, at night.
Plate retouched from a photo by skitterbug, CC BY 4.0, iNaturalist Licence
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Butterflies and moths›Emperor moths›Dryocampa
Last updated 2026-09-26. Every entry is checked against published sources.