Caterpillars of Eastern North America: A Guide to Identification and Natural History (Princeton Field Guides) by Wagner David L

Author:Wagner, David L. [Wagner, David L.]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 2010-04-24T16:00:00+00:00

RECOGNITION Much like preceding but paler or waxier in color with pale stripe running below spiracles on A1-A10 and black dots on abdomen lacking contrasting pale rings. Yellow abdominal tubercle over A8 short, less than twice as high as broad. Larva to 6cm. Sweetbay Silkmoth (Callosamia securifera) similar in appearance but a specialist on sweet bay. Its yellow abdominal tubercle over A8 is nearly three times as long as wide and the red knobs over thorax are cylindrical (see page 246).

OCCURRENCE Woodlands and forests from Michigan, southern Ontario, and Massachusetts to northern Florida and Mississippi. One principal generation northward; two broods in South with mature caterpillars from early June onward.

COMMON FOODPLANTS Tulip tree.

REMARKS The larva spins its cocoon within a leaf, but unlike the Promethea Moth the petiole is not secured to the shoot, so the cocoon drops to the ground with leaf fall. The Promethea and Tulip-tree Silkmoths evidently occupy different parts of a forest. The Promethea is a creature of the understory, both as a caterpillar and adult. In contrast, it is not easy to locate Tulip-tree caterpillars because many are high above the ground. The main courtship and mating flight occurs at dusk and lasts for only 15 minutes or so (Dale Schweitzer, pers. comm.). The next time you are in a forest with an abundance of tulip trees, train your eyes upward as the light is fading from the evening sky—if the season is right you will see the males coursing about. To quote Dale Schweitzer, “You could see the males at dusk so easily where I grew up in Pennsylvania, they made the Eastern Tiger Swallowtails (Papilio glaucus) using the same trees seem rare by comparison.”

CECROPIA MOTH

Hyalophora cecropia

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