Colourful rosy maple moth sends hearts aflutter in newfound social media stardom

TORONTO -- With its fuzzy body and unique pink and yellow-coloured wings, a North American moth has social media users atwitter after photos of the species were shared online.

The rosy maple moth, or dryocampa rubicunda, is a small colourful moth residing in temperate deciduous forests, with a particular preference -- as its name implies -- for maple trees.

The photogenic insect is native to North America and has been found in Nova Scotia and west through Quebec to southern Ontario, according to the Butterflies and Moths of North America (BAMONA) project. It’s also been reported as far south as Florida and the Gulf Coast.

The rosy maple moth has also been found, more recently, on Twitter where the species has seen a sudden surge in popularity after users shared photos of it online.

Rebecca Lavoie, the digital director for New Hampshire Public Radio, appears to have started the conversation about rosy maple moths last week when she uploaded a photo of one that she recently spotted.

“This moth exists in nature and it’s ON MY DECK,” she wrote in the tweet.

The response to Lavoie’s photo was swift with commenters taking the opportunity to complement the moth on its colourful appearance and share photos of their own sightings of the insect.