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Leopard Moth

Zeuzera pyrina[3]

The leopard moth is a European moth whose caterpillars bore into the wood of many hardwood trees and shrubs.[1][2]

Group
Insect
Order
Lepidoptera
Family
Cossidae
US records
12 states
Sources
3 cited
Updated
2026-10-17
Leopard moth, a white moth covered with black spots
Leopard moth, a white moth covered with black spots. Photo: Marino Linić, public domain (CC0), via iNaturalist
On this page
  1. Identification
  2. Look-alikes
  3. Where it lives
  4. Biology
  5. Damage and signs
  6. Health risk
  7. Control
  8. Related profiles
  9. Common questions
  10. Sources

How to identify it

  • Adults are white moths covered with black spots; UMass describes them as up to 1.5 inches long, UNH as about 3/4 inch.[1][2]
  • Caterpillars are pale yellow to cream with black heads and small black dots, up to about 2 inches long when grown.[1][2]
  • Large, coarse pellets of frass pushed out of bark cracks or tunnel openings show where a borer is feeding.[1][2]

Look-alikes

Look-alikeHow to tell them apart
CarpenterwormA native wood-boring caterpillar, also called a carpenterworm, that causes similar damage on overlapping hosts.[1]

Where it lives

Introduced from Europe and North Africa and first reported in New Jersey in 1887, it has since spread west and south; it is uncommon in New England.[1][2]

US map: public records from 12 states since 1990 (GBIF).

Biology and life cycle

Adults fly from about May to September, most commonly early July to mid-August in New Hampshire, and males are drawn to lights.[1][2]

Females lay eggs in clusters in bark crevices, up to 800 in a season; young caterpillars bore in through the bark and can move to a new branch if the first is too small.[1][2]

The life cycle takes two years, sometimes three, and pupation happens inside the tunnel.[1][2]

Damage and signs

  • More than 125 kinds of deciduous trees are hosts, including apple, ash, birch, cherry, elm, maple, oak, pear and willow.[1][2]
  • Small trees and branches suffer most, with dieback; in apples it often shows up in young trees that have had mechanical injury.[1][2]
  • Populations generally stay low, so it has not been an important pest in New England.[1][2]

Health risk

None to people or pets.[1][2]

Control

Prevention

Keep trees vigorous, especially with adequate water, and avoid mechanical injury to trunks.[1][2]

Traps and physical control

Tunnels are fairly straight, so a borer can often be killed by probing the opening with a flexible wire.[2]

Biological control

Woodpeckers and other birds are its main predators.[1][2]

Common questions

What is the white moth with black spots at my porch light?
In the Northeast in summer, possibly a leopard moth; males are attracted to lights.[1][2]
How do I kill a leopard moth borer in my tree?
Find the opening where coarse frass is pushed out and probe the tunnel with a flexible wire.[1][2]

Sources

  1. UMass Extension Landscape, Nursery and Urban Forestry Program (Landscape Insect & Mite Guide), “Zeuzera pyrina (Leopard Moth).” www.umass.edu/agriculture-food-environment/landscape/publications-resources/insect-mite-guide/zeuzera-pyrina (accessed 2026-10-16)
  2. UNH Cooperative Extension, “Borers in New Hampshire Apple Trees (fact sheet).” extension.unh.edu/resource/borers-new-hampshire-apple-trees-fact-sheet-0 (accessed 2026-10-16)
  3. iNaturalist, “Zeuzera pyrina taxon page (order and family).” www.inaturalist.org/taxa/200930 (accessed 2026-10-06)

Updated 2026-10-17. Built from sourced records. Spot an error? Tell us.