>>58703402The male flies in a zigzag pattern—often high up in search of females—and is active during the day or at night. Males occasionally come to light.[5] In New Brunswick, adult males are attracted to pheromone traps set in commercial forests for white-marked tussock moth (O. leucostigma).[3]
The female is flightless, spending her brief life attached to her cocoon. The female attracts other males via release of a pheromone, the males find the female via the concentration gradient of the released pheromone. The female mates and lays her grey-yellow eggs in large numbers on her fine-meshed cocoon.
The adult moths do not feed, so they only live for a short time. The two (sometimes three) generations fly from May till October; in North America, only one generation occurs in a year.[9] In the UK, one protracted generation, from July to October in the south, and from September to October in the north, is believed to happen.[6][5]
The males are diurnal, flying during the day, but are occasionally attracted to light.[
