Southwestern Tent Caterpillar Moth

Malacosoma incurva · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Lasiocampidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Southwestern Tent Caterpillar Moth
Photo: Even Dankowicz, CC BY

The adult moth has a wingspan of about 27 mm. It lives in the southwestern United States, including Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada and Utah. The caterpillars eat the leaves of Fremont cottonwood, willows and various stone-fruit trees.

Source: Wikipedia

Size

Wingspan is roughly 27 mm.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

Found in southwestern North America such as Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada and Utah.

Source: Wikipedia

What it eats

Larvae feed on Fremont cottonwood, willow and stone-fruit species.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 10 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Arizona, Utah, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado, Washington, Montana.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

Status: native in North America; native in United States. Source: iNaturalist

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Southwestern Tent Caterpillar Moth photo 2
Photo: Wendy McCrady, CC BY
Southwestern Tent Caterpillar Moth photo 3
Photo: Alina Martin, CC BY
Southwestern Tent Caterpillar Moth photo 4
Photo: Even Dankowicz, CC BY
Southwestern Tent Caterpillar Moth photo 5
Photo: CK2AZ, CC BY

Same family (Lasiocampidae)

Eastern Tent Caterpillar MothEastern Tent Caterpillar MothMalacosoma americanaDamages trees, gardens or cropsForest Tent Caterpillar MothForest Tent Caterpillar MothMalacosoma disstriaDamages trees, gardens or cropsFox MothFox MothMacrothylacia rubiOak EggarOak EggarLasiocampa quercusDrinker MothDrinker MothEuthrix potatoriaWestern Tent Caterpillar MothWestern Tent Caterpillar MothMalacosoma californicaDamages trees, gardens or crops

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malacosoma_incurva

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-25 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-25.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.