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Extension > Garden > Diagnose a problem > What insect is this? > Trees and shrubs > Caterpillars, maggots, grubs, and similar immature insects - 1 to 2 inches long > White-marked tussock moth

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White-marked tussock moth

Orgyia leucostigma

White-marked tussock moth

Jeff Hahn, University of Minnesota Extension


Description: 1 1/3 inch long. Reddish-orange heads with a hairy, yellowish body. It has four squarish, toothbrush-like tufts of hair on top of their body, two long black bundles of hair near the head that point forward and a blackish tuft of long hairs at the tip of the abdomen.

Where/When: Attacks many hardwood trees including apple, basswood/linden, birch, elm, maple, poplar and occasionally even conifers like fir and spruce. Present May to June and again in August to September.

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