Leptarctia californiae

Ge­o­graphic Range

Cal­i­for­nia tiger moths (Lep­tarc­tia cal­i­for­niae) are na­tive to the Nearc­tic re­gion. They are mainly pre­sent in the west­ern half of the United States, through­out the In­ter­moun­tain West and along the Pa­cific Coast. There are also pop­u­la­tions in west­ern parts of north­ern Mex­ico and south­ern parts of British Co­lum­bia, Canada. Presently, Cal­i­for­nia tiger moths seem to oc­cupy an area sim­i­lar to their his­tor­i­cal range, but pop­u­la­tions are dis­persed and are less com­mon com­pared to his­toric records. (Crabo and Ham­mond, 2021)

Habi­tat

Cal­i­for­nia tiger moths pri­mar­ily in­habit forests and are most ac­tive in open areas, such as open-canopy wood­lands, clear-cuts, or mead­ows. They are typ­i­cally found in mon­tane areas at in­ter­me­di­ate el­e­va­tions and are un­com­mon in arid re­gions, al­though they oc­cupy coastal dunes along the Pa­cific Coast. The exact range of el­e­va­tions that Cal­i­for­nia tiger moths oc­cupy is un­known. (Crabo and Ham­mond, 2021)

Phys­i­cal De­scrip­tion

Cal­i­for­nia tiger moth adults are small or in­ter­me­di­ate in size, with forewings mea­sur­ing be­tween 26 and 34 mm. Cal­i­for­nia tiger moths are highly poly­mor­phic, with a wide range of mor­pho­log­i­cal vari­a­tion be­tween pop­u­la­tions. This makes it dif­fi­cult to iden­tify them con­sis­tently by ap­pear­ance alone. Their forewings vary in color, but are typ­i­cally dark gray or black with white spots, faint white stripes, or white mar­bling. The hind­wings of Cal­i­for­nia tiger moths are usu­ally bright or­ange or red, but can range from white to al­most en­tirely black. Their hind­wings also have black stripes or splotches along the pos­te­rior edges, but there is still a great deal of in­traspe­cific vari­a­tion. For ex­am­ple, pop­u­la­tions with darker hind­wings tend to have white, yel­low, or or­ange mark­ings. The ven­tral sides of their wings are often much brighter, and can be al­most en­tirely or­ange or red, match­ing the dor­sal sides of their hind­wings. Cal­i­for­nia tiger moths usu­ally have dark bod­ies, but can have white or cream-col­ored hairs along their mar­gins and near their heads. Al­though there is very lit­tle sex­ual di­mor­phism, males have more pro­nounced pecti­nate an­ten­nae com­pared to fe­males.

Cal­i­for­nia tiger moth lar­vae are small, reach­ing 1.5 to 2 cm in length. They are ini­tially light col­ored with rows of black tu­ber­cles along their dor­sal and lat­eral sides. From each tu­ber­cle sprouts a clus­ter of long ur­ticat­ing hairs, which pro­tect lar­vae from preda­tors. As lar­vae progress into later in­stars, their heads de­velop a red­dish-brown color and their bod­ies be­come dark gray with faint or­ange ven­tral spots and a faint or­ange dor­sal line. Their ur­ticat­ing hairs also be­come darker, and the hairs on their pos­te­rior ends grow longer than those on the rest of their bod­ies. Cal­i­for­nia tiger moth lar­vae use a com­bi­na­tion of silk and their own hairs to cre­ate a co­coon, in which they pu­pate be­fore emerg­ing as adults. Pupae are dark brown and ap­prox­i­mately 1 cm in length. (French, 1889; "Species Lep­tarc­tia cal­i­for­niae - Hodges#8126", 2021; McLeod, 2019)

  • Sexual Dimorphism
  • sexes alike
  • Range wingspan
    26 to 34 mm
    1.02 to 1.34 in

De­vel­op­ment

There is rel­a­tively lim­ited in­for­ma­tion re­gard­ing the de­vel­op­ment of Cal­i­for­nia tiger moths specif­i­cally. Fe­males lay eggs on veg­e­ta­tion be­gin­ning in March and April and lar­vae eclose any­where from 4 to 21 days after eggs are laid. Lar­vae de­velop through five in­star stages, grow­ing in size and dark­en­ing in color with each in­star. Lar­vae spend about 4 to 7 days in each of the first four in­stars, typ­i­cally reach­ing the fifth in­star by early to mid-July. Lar­vae spend 40 to 60 days in their fifth in­star, al­though French (1899) ob­served that they reach full size within a few days and are in­ac­tive for the ma­jor­ity of this pe­riod. Fifth in­star lar­vae build co­coons and pu­pate be­gin­ning around Au­gust and Sep­tem­ber. Pupae enter di­a­pause and over­win­ter for 6 to 7 months in leaf lit­ter, emerg­ing as adults in early to mid-spring.

It should be noted that the tim­ing of var­i­ous de­vel­op­men­tal stages may be im­pacted by local cli­mates, es­pe­cially given the large range of lat­i­tudes that Cal­i­for­nia tiger moth oc­cupy. Other wide-rang­ing tiger moths (sub­fam­ily Arc­ti­inae) in North Amer­ica have one brood per year (uni­vol­tine) at higher lat­i­tudes and two or more broods (mul­ti­vol­tine) at lower lat­i­tudes. Fur­ther­more, the tim­ing of lar­val ac­tiv­ity and pu­pa­tion for pop­u­la­tions in arid re­gions often co­in­cides with rainy and dry pe­ri­ods, re­spec­tively. (Con­ner, 2008; French, 1889; Mays, 1966)

Re­pro­duc­tion

There is lim­ited in­for­ma­tion re­gard­ing the mat­ing be­hav­ior of Cal­i­for­nia tiger moths specif­i­cally. Males show an at­trac­tion to pheromones re­leased by un­mated fe­males, but do not show the same at­trac­tion to fe­males that have al­ready mated. It is there­fore likely that Cal­i­for­nia tiger moths are polyg­y­nous, but this has not been con­firmed. (Mays, 1966)

There is lim­ited in­for­ma­tion re­gard­ing the mat­ing be­hav­ior of Cal­i­for­nia tiger moths specif­i­cally. Adult ac­tiv­ity typ­i­cally be­gins in the be­gin­ning or mid­dle of spring, al­though at higher al­ti­tudes they may be ac­tive into sum­mer. They are most ac­tive dur­ing the warmest parts of the day and in sunny con­di­tions. Fe­males fly in­fre­quently and often only short dis­tances, spend­ing most of their time rest­ing on veg­e­ta­tion or leaf lit­ter. Con­versely, males fly reg­u­larly and er­rat­i­cally in open areas or along for­est edges. Males likely lo­cate fe­males using a com­bi­na­tion of chem­i­cal and vi­sual stim­uli. Fe­males sit on low-ly­ing veg­e­ta­tion and re­lease pheromones that at­tract mates. Cop­u­la­tion lasts be­tween 2 and 5 hours, after which mat­ing pairs sep­a­rate and fe­males seek ovipo­si­tion sites.

Fe­males begin de­posit­ing eggs within a day of mat­ing, lay­ing clus­ters of 10 to 40 eggs on low veg­e­ta­tion, such as the un­der­sides of leaves. Fe­males lay be­tween 200 and 400 eggs in total, often within a week of cop­u­la­tion. Eggs are about 0.75 mm in di­am­e­ter, round, and pearly white. Under lab­o­ra­tory con­di­tions, eggs may hatch in a mat­ter of 4 to 7 days, whereas ob­ser­va­tions under field con­di­tions demon­strate that eggs may take up to 21 days to hatch. Lar­vae are im­me­di­ately in­de­pen­dent at birth and typ­i­cally pu­pate be­gin­ning in Au­gust or Sep­tem­ber. Adults eclose from pupae the fol­low­ing spring. (French, 1889; Mays, 1966)

  • Breeding interval
    California tiger moths breed once yearly.
  • Breeding season
    California tiger moths breed from early March to early May.
  • Range eggs per season
    200 to 400
  • Range gestation period
    1 to 7 days

Cal­i­for­nia tiger moths ex­hibit no parental in­vest­ment be­yond the act of mat­ing. Fe­males se­lect ovipo­si­tion sites on low-ly­ing veg­e­ta­tion, often on the un­der­sides of leaves, which may pro­vide some pro­tec­tion from preda­tors. Lar­vae are in­de­pen­dent upon hatch­ing. Im­me­di­ately after hatch­ing, lar­vae eat some or all of their egg cases, which thus serve as an im­por­tant first meal. (Con­ner, 2008; Mays, 1966)

  • Parental Investment
  • no parental involvement

Lifes­pan/Longevity

There is lim­ited in­for­ma­tion re­gard­ing the max­i­mum lifes­pan of Cal­i­for­nia tiger moths. Lar­vae hatch from eggs in mid-spring and com­plete meta­mor­pho­sis early the fol­low­ing spring. Adult moths are es­ti­mated to live 2 to 3 weeks at most, mean­ing Cal­i­for­nia tiger moths likely com­plete their life cycle in about one year. (Mays, 1966)

Be­hav­ior

Adult Cal­i­for­nia tiger moths are di­ur­nal and motile. They are often found in open areas near wood­lands, ei­ther walk­ing on low-ly­ing veg­e­ta­tion or fly­ing just above it. Adults are mostly ac­tive in spring and early sum­mer, often dur­ing the warmest parts of the day (i.e., early af­ter­noon) and es­pe­cially in sunny weather. Adults be­come ac­tive sooner at lower el­e­va­tions or in warmer cli­mates. In­deed, emer­gence dates have oc­curred ear­lier in re­cent years, likely due to el­e­vated spring tem­per­a­tures as a re­sult of cli­mate change. At higher al­ti­tudes, where con­di­tions are cooler, adult emer­gence oc­curs later and ac­tiv­ity con­tin­ues into July or early Au­gust. Cal­i­for­nia tiger moths are be­com­ing more com­mon at higher al­ti­tudes as the cli­mate con­tin­ues to warm.

Cal­i­for­nia tiger moth lar­vae spend most of their time feed­ing on fo­liage of var­i­ous plant species. Early in­stars ex­hibit both di­ur­nal and noc­tur­nal feed­ing ac­tiv­ity, whereas later in­stars pref­er­en­tially feed noc­tur­nally. Early in­star lar­vae often feed on the un­der­sides of leaves, which likely re­duces the chances of de­tec­tion by preda­tors. When lar­vae are not ac­tively feed­ing, or if they are dis­turbed, they de­scend to ground level and hide in leaf lit­ter.

Cal­i­for­nia tiger moths pu­pate in late sum­mer or early fall, as daily tem­per­a­tures de­crease. Lar­vae seek shel­ter in ground lit­ter and pu­pate in­side of co­coons made of silk and ur­ticat­ing hairs. Cal­i­for­nia tiger moths over­win­ter as pupae in a state of di­a­pause. Adults emerge as tem­per­a­tures warm again in spring. (French, 1889; Mau­rer, et al., 2018; Mays, 1966)

Home Range

There is lim­ited in­for­ma­tion re­gard­ing the home range of Cal­i­for­nia tiger moths. Lar­vae dis­perse seem­ingly ran­domly from where they hatch. How­ever, re­search on Ranch­man's tiger moths (Arc­tia vir­ginialis), an­other day-fly­ing species, sug­gests that lar­vae do not dis­perse far from the areas where they hatch. Ranch­man's tiger moth adults ex­hibit hill­top­ping be­hav­ior, dis­pers­ing to­wards local high points to im­prove their chances of lo­cat­ing mates. After mat­ing, they do not al­ways re­turn to their own natal areas, some­times mov­ing over 500 m be­fore se­lect­ing ovipo­si­tion sites.

It is un­clear whether Cal­i­for­nia tiger moths ex­hibit the same dis­per­sal pat­terns as Ranch­man's tiger moths. How­ever, given the sim­i­lar­i­ties in life his­tory be­tween the two species, it is pos­si­ble that their dis­per­sal pat­terns are also sim­i­lar. Cal­i­for­nia tiger moths do not ap­pear to de­fend ter­ri­to­ries, ei­ther as lar­vae or as adults. (Mays, 1966; Pepi, et al., 2022)

Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and Per­cep­tion

There is lim­ited in­for­ma­tion re­gard­ing com­mu­ni­ca­tion and per­cep­tion in Cal­i­for­nia tiger moths specif­i­cally. Cater­pil­lars likely rely on chem­i­cal stim­uli to lo­cate suit­able food sources, but may also use vi­sual and tac­tile cues to re­spond to pre­da­tion threats. Adults also rely pri­mar­ily on chem­i­cal and vi­sual stim­uli to find mates. Fe­males sit con­spic­u­ously on veg­e­ta­tion in open areas and re­lease pheromones to at­tract males. Tac­tile stim­uli are im­por­tant dur­ing cop­u­la­tion, as mat­ing pairs must align their gen­i­talia to suc­cess­fully fer­til­ize eggs. Adults may also use vi­sual stim­uli to avoid di­ur­nal preda­tors.

Tiger moths (sub­fam­ily Arc­ti­inae) have tym­pana ca­pa­ble of de­tect­ing acoustic stim­uli pro­duced by echolo­cat­ing bats. Many species also have tym­bals, which pro­duce sounds that dis­rupt the ac­cu­racy of bat echolo­ca­tion. In most di­ur­nal species these tym­pana and tym­bals are greatly re­duced in size and func­tion. How­ever, some di­ur­nal species still re­spond to cer­tain acoustic stim­uli with eva­sive be­hav­iors or pro­duce sounds using their tym­bals. It is un­clear whether Cal­i­for­nia tiger moths have re­tained func­tion­al­ity in these or­gans, but it is pos­si­ble that they are still ca­pa­ble of com­mu­ni­cat­ing or per­ceiv­ing their en­vi­ron­ment with acoustic stim­uli. (Con­ner, 2008; Mays, 1966)

Food Habits

Cal­i­for­nia tiger moth lar­vae are con­sid­ered gen­er­al­ist her­bi­vores. Com­mon host plant gen­era likely in­clude brack­en­fern (genus Pterid­ium), mal­lows (genus Malva), bram­bles (genus Rubus), cur­rants (genus Ribes), beard­tongues (genus Pen­ste­mon), plums (genus Prunus), oaks (genus Quer­cus), and wil­lows (genus Salix).

It is un­clear whether Cal­i­for­nia tiger moths feed as adults. There is lit­tle in­for­ma­tion re­gard­ing their mouth­part mor­phol­ogy and there are no known ob­ser­va­tions of Cal­i­for­nia tiger moths vis­it­ing flow­ers for nec­tar. ("Cal­i­for­nia Tiger Moth", 2021; Mays, 1966)

  • Plant Foods
  • leaves
  • flowers

Pre­da­tion

There is lim­ited in­for­ma­tion re­gard­ing spe­cific preda­tors of Cal­i­for­nia tiger moths. Lar­val preda­tors in­clude the lar­vae of green lacewings (fam­ily Chrysop­i­dae) and adult Au­douin's night-stalk­ing tiger bee­tles (Omus au­douini). Cal­i­for­nia tiger moths have also been found in the stom­ach con­tents of Trow­bridge's shrews (Sorex trow­bridgii) and are prob­a­bly eaten by other small mam­mals. Ad­di­tional preda­tors likely in­clude other arthro­pods as well as am­phib­ians, rep­tiles, and in­sec­tiv­o­rous birds.

Cal­i­for­nia tiger moth adults vary widely in color be­tween pop­u­la­tions, but most morphs have bright or­ange, yel­low, or red mark­ings on their wings. The rest of their wings and bod­ies are dark in color and often have dis­rup­tive col­oration. The com­bi­na­tion of cryp­sis and apose­ma­tism pro­tects adult Cal­i­for­nia tiger moths from many preda­tors.

Cal­i­for­nia tiger moth lar­vae are cov­ered in long ur­ticat­ing hairs, which are ir­ri­tat­ing when touched and pro­vide pro­tec­tion from preda­tors. Lar­vae also ex­hibit be­hav­iors that help them avoid pre­da­tion. Early in­star lar­vae fre­quently feed on the un­der­sides of leaves, pos­si­bly to avoid de­tec­tion from above. Fur­ther­more, lar­vae re­duce their day­time ac­tiv­ity as they grow larger and more vis­i­ble to di­ur­nal preda­tors. When dis­turbed, lar­vae curl into balls and drop from veg­e­ta­tion into ground lit­ter below. They often seek shel­ter among leaf lit­ter when threat­ened or not ac­tively for­ag­ing. If lar­vae are threat­ened and can­not es­cape, they raise their pos­te­rior ends, where their ur­ticat­ing hairs are longest, and thrust them to­wards the dis­tur­bance. Lar­vae also ex­crete feces and liq­uid mat­ter when threat­ened, a de­fense mech­a­nism that is com­mon among lar­vae of many but­ter­flies and moths (order Lep­i­doptera).

As lar­vae, some species of tiger moths (sub­fam­ily Arc­ti­inae) are able to process toxic chem­i­cals from host plants and in­cor­po­rate them into their bod­ies, which can make them dis­taste­ful or toxic when con­sumed. These tox­ins can also be main­tained through meta­mor­pho­sis and ex­pressed in adults and their eggs, pro­vid­ing fur­ther de­fense against preda­tors. How­ever, it is un­clear whether Cal­i­for­nia tiger moths ex­press tox­ins ob­tained from their diet. (Con­ner, 2008; Mays, 1966; Yates, 2020)

Ecosys­tem Roles

There is lit­tle in­for­ma­tion re­gard­ing the ecosys­tem roles that Cal­i­for­nia tiger moths serve. As gen­er­al­ist her­bi­vores, they may im­pact the health of var­i­ous herba­ceous plant species. How­ever, both lar­vae and adults may serve as an im­por­tant food source for arthro­pods, small mam­mals, rep­tiles, am­phib­ians, and birds. Under ben­e­fi­cial en­vi­ron­men­tal con­di­tions, some species of tiger moths (sub­fam­ily Arc­ti­inae) can reach high lev­els of local abun­dance. Under such out­break con­di­tions, the ef­fects that tiger moths have on the sur­round­ing ecosys­tem can be in­ten­si­fied.

There are no known ac­counts of mu­tu­alisms in which Cal­i­for­nia tiger moths are in­volved. The only re­ports of par­a­sitism in­volved mi­crosporid­i­ans pre­sent in lab­o­ra­tory con­di­tions. Cal­i­for­nia tiger moths are also hosts for par­a­sitoid ich­neu­mon wasps (fam­ily Ich­neu­monidae). (Con­ner, 2008; Mays, 1966; Yates, 2020)

Com­men­sal/Par­a­sitic Species

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Pos­i­tive

Cal­i­for­nia tiger moths pro­vide no clear eco­nomic ben­e­fits, al­though the roles they play in main­tain­ing func­tion­ing ecosys­tems are not fully un­der­stood. More re­search is needed to de­ter­mine the im­pacts, both di­rect and in­di­rect, that Cal­i­for­nia tiger moths have on human pop­u­la­tions.

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Neg­a­tive

Cal­i­for­nia tiger moths have no known neg­a­tive eco­nomic im­pacts. Be­cause they are gen­er­al­ist her­bi­vores, they may de­fo­li­ate crop plants such as cur­rants (genus Ribes), plums (genus Prunus), and bram­ble berries (genus Rubus). How­ever, their im­pact on the agri­cul­tural in­dus­try has not been eval­u­ated and may be in­signif­i­cant. More re­search is needed to de­ter­mine the im­pacts, both di­rect and in­di­rect, that Cal­i­for­nia tiger moths have on human pop­u­la­tions. ("Cal­i­for­nia Tiger Moth", 2021)

Con­ser­va­tion Sta­tus

Cal­i­for­nia tiger moths have no spe­cial sta­tus on the IUCN Red List, in the CITES ap­pen­dices, or on other na­tional or in­ter­na­tional con­ser­va­tion lists. They are con­sid­ered to have sta­ble pop­u­la­tions through­out their ge­o­graphic range.

Other Com­ments

Much of the in­for­ma­tion pre­sented in this ac­count is based on a few land­mark stud­ies on Cal­i­for­nia tiger moths at field sites in Ore­gon or in lab con­di­tions. While the de­scrip­tions of mor­pho­log­i­cal vari­ants may rep­re­sent the species as a whole, it is pos­si­ble that pop­u­la­tions in dif­fer­ent ge­o­graphic re­gions ex­hibit phys­i­o­log­i­cal or be­hav­ioral traits not de­scribed by the stud­ies cited.

Con­trib­u­tors

Claire Walther (au­thor), Spe­cial Pro­jects, Galen Bur­rell (au­thor), Spe­cial Pro­jects.

Glossary

Nearctic

living in the Nearctic biogeographic province, the northern part of the New World. This includes Greenland, the Canadian Arctic islands, and all of the North American as far south as the highlands of central Mexico.

World Map

aposematic

having coloration that serves a protective function for the animal, usually used to refer to animals with colors that warn predators of their toxicity. For example: animals with bright red or yellow coloration are often toxic or distasteful.

bilateral symmetry

having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.

chemical

uses smells or other chemicals to communicate

cryptic

having markings, coloration, shapes, or other features that cause an animal to be camouflaged in its natural environment; being difficult to see or otherwise detect.

diapause

a period of time when growth or development is suspended in insects and other invertebrates, it can usually only be ended the appropriate environmental stimulus.

diurnal
  1. active during the day, 2. lasting for one day.
ectothermic

animals which must use heat acquired from the environment and behavioral adaptations to regulate body temperature

fertilization

union of egg and spermatozoan

folivore

an animal that mainly eats leaves.

forest

forest biomes are dominated by trees, otherwise forest biomes can vary widely in amount of precipitation and seasonality.

herbivore

An animal that eats mainly plants or parts of plants.

hibernation

the state that some animals enter during winter in which normal physiological processes are significantly reduced, thus lowering the animal's energy requirements. The act or condition of passing winter in a torpid or resting state, typically involving the abandonment of homoiothermy in mammals.

internal fertilization

fertilization takes place within the female's body

metamorphosis

A large change in the shape or structure of an animal that happens as the animal grows. In insects, "incomplete metamorphosis" is when young animals are similar to adults and change gradually into the adult form, and "complete metamorphosis" is when there is a profound change between larval and adult forms. Butterflies have complete metamorphosis, grasshoppers have incomplete metamorphosis.

motile

having the capacity to move from one place to another.

mountains

This terrestrial biome includes summits of high mountains, either without vegetation or covered by low, tundra-like vegetation.

native range

the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.

oviparous

reproduction in which eggs are released by the female; development of offspring occurs outside the mother's body.

pheromones

chemicals released into air or water that are detected by and responded to by other animals of the same species

polymorphic

"many forms." A species is polymorphic if its individuals can be divided into two or more easily recognized groups, based on structure, color, or other similar characteristics. The term only applies when the distinct groups can be found in the same area; graded or clinal variation throughout the range of a species (e.g. a north-to-south decrease in size) is not polymorphism. Polymorphic characteristics may be inherited because the differences have a genetic basis, or they may be the result of environmental influences. We do not consider sexual differences (i.e. sexual dimorphism), seasonal changes (e.g. change in fur color), or age-related changes to be polymorphic. Polymorphism in a local population can be an adaptation to prevent density-dependent predation, where predators preferentially prey on the most common morph.

seasonal breeding

breeding is confined to a particular season

semelparous

offspring are all produced in a single group (litter, clutch, etc.), after which the parent usually dies. Semelparous organisms often only live through a single season/year (or other periodic change in conditions) but may live for many seasons. In both cases reproduction occurs as a single investment of energy in offspring, with no future chance for investment in reproduction.

sexual

reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female

tactile

uses touch to communicate

temperate

that region of the Earth between 23.5 degrees North and 60 degrees North (between the Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic Circle) and between 23.5 degrees South and 60 degrees South (between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic Circle).

tropical savanna and grassland

A terrestrial biome. Savannas are grasslands with scattered individual trees that do not form a closed canopy. Extensive savannas are found in parts of subtropical and tropical Africa and South America, and in Australia.

savanna

A grassland with scattered trees or scattered clumps of trees, a type of community intermediate between grassland and forest. See also Tropical savanna and grassland biome.

temperate grassland

A terrestrial biome found in temperate latitudes (>23.5° N or S latitude). Vegetation is made up mostly of grasses, the height and species diversity of which depend largely on the amount of moisture available. Fire and grazing are important in the long-term maintenance of grasslands.

visual

uses sight to communicate

Ref­er­ences

Calscape. 2021. "Cal­i­for­nia Tiger Moth" (On-line). Cal­i­for­nia Na­tive Plant So­ci­ety. Ac­cessed No­vem­ber 15, 2021 at https://​calscape.​org/​lep/​Leptarctia-californiae-(Cal­i­for­nia-Tiger-Moth)?srchcr=sc5ee8ba08481da.

Iowa State Uni­ver­sity De­part­ment of En­to­mol­ogy. 2021. "Species Lep­tarc­tia cal­i­for­niae - Hodges#8126" (On-line). Bug­Guide. Ac­cessed No­vem­ber 15, 2021 at https://​bugguide.​net/​node/​view/​48977.

Con­ner, W. 2008. Tiger Moths and Woolly Bears: Be­hav­ior, Ecol­ogy, and Evo­lu­tion of the Arc­ti­idae. Ox­ford, UK: Ox­ford Uni­ver­sity Press.

Crabo, L., P. Ham­mond. 2021. "Lep­tarc­tia cal­i­for­niae (Walker, 1855)" (On-line). Pa­cific North­west Moths. Ac­cessed No­vem­ber 09, 2021 at http://​pnwmoths.​biol.​wwu.​edu/​browse/​family-erebidae/​subfamily-arctiinae/​tribe-arctiini/​leptarctia/​leptarctia-californiae/​.

French, G. 1889. Prepara­tory stages of Lep­tarc­tia cal­i­for­niae Walker, with notes on the genus. The Cana­dian En­to­mol­o­gist, 21 (12): 221-226. Ac­cessed May 16, 2023 at https://​doi.​org/​10.​4039/​Ent21221-12.

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