Eight-Spotted Forester

This lovely caterpillar and moth is the Eight-Spotted Forester (Alypia octomaculata). These are a very common day flying moth found throughout North America. The adult moth has approximately a 1 1/4 inch wingspan and are very beautifully marked. Their body is entirely black with tiny white spotting running down the middle that looks like a line from head to tail. Their wings are also black with 2 yellow spots on each forewing and 2 white spots on each hindwing. One striking feature they have are orange "socks" at the top of the first set of legs. They are commonly mistaken for butterflies, not only because of their habit of flying about during the daylight hours, but their antennae are even very butterfly-like. The caterpillar is bluish-white with orange stripes and black lines with black spots. The head is also orange with black spots. The caterpillar is as striking as the adult. They feed on grapevine, Virginia creeper, and in large numbers can be a pest. The adults sip nectar from various flowers. The caterpillar here was on a Virginia Creeper vine that covers our cellar shed and chicken coop. I've also seen them on a wild grape vine in our yard. So far I haven't noticed them on our domestic grapes. I spotted the first adult this year on Friday (picture 3), she was nectaring in our flower garden and sat very patiently for a picture. The second picture was taken last year on a morning glory vine. They are truly a wonderful little moth and take you by surprise with how colorful they are.