Western Panthea Moth

Panthea virginarius · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Noctuidae

Also called: Cascades Panthea Moth

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Western Panthea Moth
Photo: iNaturalist user, CC0

The western panthea moth shows a lot of variation in both size and colour. The caterpillars feed on Douglas fir and other conifer trees.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

Colour patterns are highly variable, once leading to separate species names.

Source: Wikipedia

Size

Individuals differ widely in overall size.

Source: Wikipedia

What it eats

Larvae feed on Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) and other conifer species.

Source: Wikipedia

Lookalikes

Because of its variable colour, it was once split into separate forms such as angelica and portlandia.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 12 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Oregon, Washington, California, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, New Mexico, South Dakota.

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

Source: GBIF

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

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Western Panthea Moth photo 3
Photo: Brodie Cass Talbott, CC BY
Western Panthea Moth photo 4
Photo: Trevor Van Loon, CC BY
Western Panthea Moth photo 5
Photo: iNaturalist user, CC0
Western Panthea Moth photo 6
Photo: iNaturalist user, CC0

Questions people ask

What do the larvae of the western panthea moth eat?

The caterpillars feed on Douglas fir and other conifer trees.

Source: Wikipedia

Why does this moth look so different from one individual to another?

The species is highly variable in size and colour, which once led to separate species names for different forms.

Source: Wikipedia

Same family (Noctuidae)

Ipsilon Dart MothIpsilon Dart MothAgrotis ipsilonDamages trees, gardens or cropsFall Armyworm MothFall Armyworm MothSpodoptera frugiperdaDamages trees, gardens or cropsArmy Cutworm MothArmy Cutworm MothEuxoa auxiliarisDamages trees, gardens or cropsLarge Yellow UnderwingLarge Yellow UnderwingNoctua pronubaDamages trees, gardens or cropsSilver ΥSilver ΥAutographa gammaAmerican DaggerAmerican DaggerAcronicta americanaCan irritate skin

Sources

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

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

Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-24.

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.