Apantesis phalerata, the harnessed tiger moth, is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Thaddeus William Harris in 1841.Cirrus Digital: "Harnessed Tiger Moth Apantesis phalerata". It is found in North America from Ontario, Quebec and Maine to Florida, west to Texas, north to South Dakota. The wingspan is 30 -. The moths fly from April to September depending on the location. The larvae feed on Trifolium, Spartina, Taraxacum, and Plantago species, as well as other low-growing plants. On top of all of this, its caterpillar hosts include clover, corn, dandelion, plantain, and other plants. As a group, tiger moth caterpillars feed on a wide range of grasses, garden crops, shrubs, and trees. Like all butterflies and moths, harnessed tiger moths undergo a complete metamorphosis, with four life cycle stages: egg, larva (caterpillar), pupa, and adult. The cocoon is constructed mostly from larval hairs, making for a rather fuzzy pupal case. Many tiger moths wear bright colors, which may serve to warn predators that they'd be an unpalatable meal. However, the nocturnal tiger moths are also hunted by bats, which find their prey using echolocation rather than sight.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Apantesis phalerata has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
DNA specimens86
BINs6
Marker genes1
eDNA detections87
Countries4
The DNA barcodethe species' typical barcode, built from every sequenced specimen
COI-5P658 bp consensus82 specimens
ACGT
▸ drag or hover over the strip to read any position — letter and how much it varies
Violet ticks below the strip = positions where individuals differ; flat = the species' unchanging signature. 97% of positions are identical in every specimen.
Where individuals differ — all 22 variable positions, in barcode order
Each circle is a barcode variant; bigger = more specimens, colour = region. Lines join the most similar variants and the tick marks count the mutations between them — a tight cluster is one “dialect”, a long line a more divergent lineage. Click a circle to list its actual specimens.
Diversity (π)1.4%
Haplotypes26
BINs6
Most divergent pair4.9%
N.America
Closest relatives by DNA barcode
The species whose COI barcode is most similar to this one — a quick “who is this most like”. The percentage is how much the barcode differs; it approximates, but is not, the full evolutionary tree.
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
★COI-5P
animal barcode
08Occurrence & distribution
Record type4 337 records
Wild obs. + sensor3 310
Museum / vouchered1 027
Range
Area of Occupancy AOO8 728 km²
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Coordinate accuracy83% within 1 km
≤100 m 1 935≤1 km 408≤10 km 168>10 km 307
2 818 georeferenced · 492 without coordinates
Open the mapobservation + sensor3 310
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Coordinate accuracy45% within 1 km
≤100 m 47≤1 km 193≤10 km 229>10 km 70
539 georeferenced · 488 without coordinates
Open the institutions mapphysical evidence1 027
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
10Collections & institutions
Holding institutions18 of 39 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
Institution
Specimens
New Haven, US
142
Cleveland Museum of Natural History, OH (CLEV)location not on record
139
Mississippi State, US
114
East Lansing, US
90
Georgia Museum of Natural Historylocation not on record
74
OSUClocation not on record
55
Provo, US
54
Colorado State Universitylocation not on record
47
North Carolina State University Insect Museumlocation not on record
47
Toronto, CA
30
UNHClocation not on record
27
Philadelphia, US
22
University of Alabamalocation not on record
17
King Saud Universitylocation not on record
13
St. Paul, US
13
Cornell University Insect Collectionlocation not on record
13
Cambridge, US
10
CUlocation not on record
9
University of Guelph, Centre for Biodiversity Genomicslocation not on record
5
Natural History Museum of Utahlocation not on record
5
University of Central Floridalocation not on record
4
Natural History Museum Rotterdamlocation not on record
4
UDlocation not on record
4
Brussels, BE
3
San Francisco, US
3
Chicago, US
2
University Park, US
2
Decorah, US
2
Biodiversity Institute of Ontariolocation not on record
2
Albuquerque, US
2
Florida Museum of Natural History, McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversitylocation not on record
1
Chicago, US
1
Universidad Católica de Manizaleslocation not on record
1
Denver, US
1
Zürich, CH
1
SOVTlocation not on record
1
RBINS-Scientific Heritagelocation not on record
1
Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural Historylocation not on record
1
Champaign, US
1
39 institutions · 963 of 1 027 vouchered records shown · 64 without an institution code
09Environmental DNA87 detections
Where the DNA of Apantesis phalerata was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Detections DNA found87
Studies independent surveys1
Countries4
Signal confidence: weakweighed across independent studies, places & mapped detections
DNA read depthRead counts were not reported for this species — the map shows presence only, not how strong each trace was.
Modelled climatemodelled
−15°Ctemperature across detection sites+40°C
Temperature median21.2 °C 15.2–26.1
Seasonal swing summer↔winter21.6 °C
Max temp (day)26.2 °C 21.6–31.4
Min temp (night)17.4 °C 10.6–23.0
Precipitation102 mm/mo 81.3–155
Air humidity58.0 % 55.2–62.3
Moisture balance-34.0 mm/mo -75.5–47.8
Vapour deficit1,036 Pa 794–1,389
Wind speed3.70 m/s 2.10–5.50
Cloud cover38.3 % 28.2–41.8
CHELSA 1981–2010, ~9 km grid, at location & month of 71 detection points · median with p10–p90 · reflects where sampling happened, not only the true niche
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation4 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility4 337 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI87 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics86 specimens↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗