Bug FAQAzalea Caterpillar and Drexel's Datana Moths
Datana major · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Notodontidae
Also called: Azalea Caterpillar, Azalea Caterpillar Moth, Major Datana, Major Datana Moth
Source: Wikipedia
Datana major, known as the azalea caterpillar, is a moth in the Notodontidae family with a wingspan of about 40 to 50 mm. Its larvae eat Rhododendron and Andromeda plants, which can harm garden shrubs. Adults are seen from June to August, and the species usually has one generation per year, sometimes a partial second in the southern part of its range.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Datana major belongs to the Notodontidae family of moths.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
The adult’s wingspan measures roughly 40 to 50 mm.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
It lives from Maryland down to Florida and westward to Kansas and Arkansas.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
The caterpillars mainly feed on Rhododendron and Andromeda polifolia.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Adult moths are on the wing from June through August.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 28 of 51 states and DC. Most records: North Carolina, Virginia, Alabama, New Jersey, South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Louisiana.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
What plants do azalea caterpillars eat?
The larvae feed mainly on Rhododendron and Andromeda polifolia.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Notodontidae)
White-dotted ProminentNadata gibbosaDamages trees, gardens or crops
Buff-tipPhalera bucephalaDamages trees, gardens or crops
Common Gluphisia MothGluphisia septentrionis
Pine Processionary-mothThaumetopoea pityocampaDamages trees, gardens or crops
Walnut Caterpillar MothDatana integerrimaDamages trees, gardens or crops
Unicorn ProminentCoelodasys unicornisDamages trees, gardens or cropsSources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datana_major
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-23.