Bug FAQYellow-necked Caterpillar Moth
Datana ministra · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Notodontidae
Also called: Yellownecked Caterpillar
Source: Wikipedia
Datana ministra, called the yellow-necked caterpillar, is a moth in the Notodontidae family. Its wingspan is about 42 mm.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Datana ministra is the scientific name of the yellow-necked caterpillar moth.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
The adult moth has a wingspan of roughly 42 mm.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
The caterpillars feed on species of apple, oak, birch and willow.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
There is one generation of this moth each year.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 41 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Michigan, Vermont, Pennsylvania, Maine, Massachusetts, Ohio, Virginia, Georgia.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in United States; native in Canada. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
What plants do yellow-necked caterpillars eat?
The larvae feed on apple, oak, birch and willow species.
Source: Wikipedia
How many generations does this moth have per year?
It produces one generation annually.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Notodontidae)
White-dotted ProminentNadata gibbosaDamages trees, gardens or crops
Buff-tipPhalera bucephalaDamages trees, gardens or crops
Common Gluphisia MothGluphisia septentrionis
Pine Processionary-mothThaumetopoea pityocampaDamages trees, gardens or crops
Walnut Caterpillar MothDatana integerrimaDamages trees, gardens or crops
Unicorn ProminentCoelodasys unicornisDamages trees, gardens or cropsSources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datana_ministra
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-23.