''Apantesis virguncula'', the little virgin tiger moth, is a

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

of the family

Erebidae The Erebidae are a family of moths in the superfamily Noctuoidea. The family is among the largest families of moths by species count and contains a wide variety of well-known macromoth groups. The family includes the underwings ('' Catocala'') ...

. It was described by W. Kirby in 1837. It is found across most of southern Canada and the United States, from the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

eastward. In the north, the range extends to northern

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

and

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

. In the south, it occurs along the Rocky Mountain to Apache County in

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

and

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

in the east. It occurs in a variety of open wooded habitats, ranging from marshes, fens and bogs to transition parkland and prairie. The length of the forewings is 13.9–20.5 mm. The forewings are black dorsally with yellowish buff to pale whitish buff lines and bands. The hindwings are yellow with black markings. Adults are generally on wing from mid June to late July, although there are records from late May to late August. The larvae feed on various herbaceous plants, particularly species of the family

Asteraceae The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae w ...

. Records include dandelion, knotweed and plantain.Bug Guide
/ref> This species was formerly a member of the genus ''Grammia'', but was moved to ''Apantesis'' along with the other species of the genera ''Grammia'', ''Holarctia'', and ''Notarctia''.

References

External links

Natural History Museum Lepidoptera generic names catalog
Arctiina Moths described in 1837 {{Arctiina-stub