Antaeotricha schlaegeri - Schlaeger's Fruitworm Moth

Antaeotricha schlaegeri - Schlaeger's Fruitworm Moth

This small moth looks quite a lot like a bird dropping. Caterpillars feed on members of the White Oak group and perhaps birches, not fruit trees. A better common name for it would be Schlaeger's Bird-dropping Moth. Compare with the similar Antaeotricha leucillana - Pale Gray Bird-dropping Moth, another bird-dropping mimic.

Umstead State Park, Wake Co., NC 7/24/13

All photographs and text ©2013 by Will Cook unless otherwise noted.