Rosy maple moth

The moths mate the day they emerge, and the females lay from 150 to 200 pale yellow eggs in clusters of 10 to 30, on the underside of leaves of host trees. The eggs hatch after about two weeks. At first, the gregarious caterpillars feed in groups, but they become solitary in the last larval stage. The mature caterpillars burrow into the soil to pupate. Depending on the latitude and time of year, the adult may then appear or the insect may overwinter as a pupa and then emerge as an adult the following spring.

This species produces two or three generations per year in the southern part of its range, and only one farther north.