Ottawa (Dunrobin), ON Canada

27 May 2004   10:59PM EST  (top left)
28 May 2003   10:12PM EST  (top right)
10 August 2005   12:12AM EST  (center left)
10 August 2005   12:11AM EST  (center right)
2 July 2003   (date of moth capture)  (bottom)
The two photos in the center are of the same specimen. 

Dryocampa rubicunda, commonly called the Rosy Maple Moth, is one of about 10 species of Saturniidae recorded from the Ottawa area (J.D. Lafontaine, pers. comm., 2001).  The Saturniidae, variously termed the Giant Silkworm or Royal Moths include our largest and some of our most spectacular moths.  In much of its geographic range, Dryocampa rubicunda is a pink and yellow moth, with the basal and subterminal areas of the forewing deep pink, and the median area yellow.  The Rosy Maple Moth seen at my location is not very rosy at all, and is likely the subspecies Dryocampa rubicunda alba.

The Dryocampa rubicunda specimens seen at my location have creamy white wings, sometimes with a faint blush of pink visible along the inner end of the costa, and very occasionally with the hint of a pink band near the apex, as in the photo at top left.  The undersides of the wings tend to show more traces of pink, especially along the costa of the hindwing, as can be seen in the bottom photo.  The thorax and abdomen, seen from above, are usually yellowish with a thickly furred appearance.  The underside of the abdomen is bright pink, as are the legs.  Even in the palest specimen, the pink legs coupled with the pink 'belly" serve to separate this species from other white moths of similar size.  Covell (1984) indicates a wingspan from 3.4 to 5.2 cm.

According to Handfield (1999), the host plant for Dryocampa rubicunda is maple (several species including red maple and sugar maple).  For my general area, he indicates an adult flight season from early May nearly to the end of August.

My records to date for Dryocampa rubicunda (each date representing "the night of") are in the table below: