Adult females lay their yellow ovular eggs in groups of 10 to 40 on the underside of maple leaves.

[2] The rosy maple moth lives across the eastern and northern United States and adjacent regions of Canada.

[5] The rosy maple moth can be found in temperate deciduous forests and nearby suburban areas and urban landscapes.

The larvae primarily eat the underside of leaves, therefore preferentially staying in that location of their home tree.

Besides this, rosy maple moths exhibit little parental care, as the female leaves after depositing her eggs.

[2][9] Egg laying typically occurs in the warmer months, with a peak in July, although precise timing depends on the region.

[11] Rosy maple moth larvae are known as greenstriped mapleworms, and they undergo five instars prior to adulthood, during which their coloration and eating behavior changes.

In early instars, the larvae have relatively large black heads and pale yellow-green bodies with faint green stripes.

They have two large dark-green to black tubercles on the second thoracic segment and three rows of smaller spines, or setae, on each side of their body.

[2] In the next instars, the black head becomes smaller relative to the diameter of the body and the longitudinal stripes darken and become reddish.

[3] The two prominent horns on the second thoracic segment are accompanied by two rows of short spines found along both sides of the body.

After about a month, full-grown caterpillars crawl to the bottom of the host tree and pupate in shallow underground chambers.

[2] When the imago (adult) ecloses, it has small wings which it has to pump full of fluid in order to expand them and allow for flight.

[2] The predators of the rosy maple moth and larvae mostly consist of birds including blue jays, black-capped chickadees, and tufted titmice.

The bright coloration of the wings may serve as a defense mechanism to trick predators into thinking they are poisonous and not edible.

[2] The colouration of this moth rather surprisingly acts as a form of camouflage, blending it in with maple seed cases.

Their small size, preventing more effective body temperature control, may also contribute to their preference for warm weather.