When to Spin

• Spotted apatelodes (Apatelodes torrefacta) or dragon moths are a type of silkworm moth that lives in North American forests where ash, cherry, oak or maple are found. The caterpillars feed on the leaves from these four types of trees. Like all moths, they begin their lives as eggs. Out of the eggs hatch fuzzy, yellow caterpillars with black antennae and black spots along the spine. Some grey or white hairs may be mixed in with the yellow. The weather partially determines how long the spotted apatelodes caterpillar stays in its cocoon. The drop in temperature around September causes them to spin their cocoons and begin hibernation. But if the warm temperatures stretch into October, as long as they have enough to eat, they will delay spinning a cocoon.
  
  

Hibernation

• Spotted apatelodes hibernate throughout the winter in their cocoons. During this time, the caterpillars transform into pupae, an intermediate stage in between caterpillar and winged adult. According to Georgetown University biologist Martha Weiss, all species of moth caterpillars shed their exoskeleton and then disintegrate into lumpy liquid, then reform into first a pupae and then an adult. The duration of complete transformation from caterpillar to adult moth depends on the temperature of where the cocoon is located. According to the website BugGuide.net, which got information about spotted apatelodes from Caterpillars of Eastern Forests (David L. Wagner, et al; 1998), two generations can be hatched and emerge from a cocoon in just one Southern summer, without needing to hibernate all winter. Spotted apatelodes in Northern American forests could only go through one generation.
  
  

Emerging

• The usual time a spotted apatelodes stays in the cocoon is from September until May. But that's in Northern forests where winter plays a major factor. When the weather still remains warm in the south, the spotted apatelodes only stays in the cocoon for about five to six weeks. That gives enough time for the emerging adults to mate, lay eggs, hatch into caterpillars and have the whole process happen again.