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Sneki2's avatar

Can anyone help me identify this insect?

Asked by Sneki2 (2452points) July 11th, 2017

I can’t snap an image of it because my phone is horrible, but there’s this mysterious incect I’ve beem seeing in my house a lot lately.

It’s small, 1–2 centimeters. It looks like a moth or a small butterfly, but it’all white. It has six legs, the first pair is bigger than other two, antennae, and black eyes. The back part of it is reminiscent to a bee, an oval “bag” with thin black stripes. It has one pair of all white wings, with no ornaments. I didn’t touch it much, but it looks fluffy.

I see these in my house every summer. There are around five of them in my room now.

They mostly just chill on the walls and stuff, but they like flying around my cellphone if I use it in the dark.

I don’t mind them, but I wanna know who are these fellas.

Does anyone know? Where can I find out about their name?

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13 Answers

RedDeerGuy1's avatar

Edit. Is it look like it has shoulders and could bite?

Sneki2's avatar

No, this one is all white, like an albino or something.

zenvelo's avatar

Is it a white fly?

Lots of tips online for getting rid of white flies.

Sneki2's avatar

It looks a lot like the gypsy moth, similar to this
but it’s snow white and has no decor anywhere except the back “bag”.

I just read about gypsy moths, they seemp to develop from a caterpillar. There are a lot of caterpillars here, we don’t know what to do with them. Seems a lot like a gypsy moth, except it’s all white.

Sneki2's avatar

And I’ve seen white flies, it’s not that for sure.

Zaku's avatar

What state is it in? (e.g. Arkansas…)

Zaku's avatar

Thanks @Mimishu1995 !

Ok, I got a little obsessed trying to find it. Closest looking one I found was the Virginia Tiger Moth – Spilosoma virginica but that’s a species from North America and when I was searching in Serbian and nearby European languages I was seeing different sorts of things.

There are HUGE numbers of different moth species, several of them white, some with decorated abdomens, none quite like @Sneki2 described, but I’m sure it must be one I just didn’t manage to find.

Sneki2's avatar

@Zaku YES! That’s the one.

I’m so glad I found their name. Thank you.

How did they got here, though? I can’t find info about their whereabouts in Europe, only that they live in the US.

Sneki2's avatar

Oh, I was just googling a bit more.

There’s a very similar species to the tiger moth, Spilosoma urticae

It lives in Serbia. I found it here: http://www.habiprot.org.rs/Moths/Checklist.htm, in the Erebidae family.

Actually, it’s Hyphantria cunea

I don’t even know anymore, they look the same.

Zaku's avatar

Hehe! There are so many different species and variations! Looks like you got pretty close, but it’s hard to know exactly which one, or if it’s one you haven’t found yet. Is there yellow too on the body, or not? Can you take a picture or two of the ones you have, showing the body?

Sneki2's avatar

There’s no yellow on them, nothing except white.
And unfortunately, I can’t post an image of it, my phone’s camera is simply horrible.

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