Page 117 - The Book of Caterpillars: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred Species From Around the World

BUTTERFLY CATERPILLARS

FAMILY Hesperiidae
DISTRIBUTION From eastern United States south to southern and
central Argentina
HABITAT Forest edges, meadows, and urban areas, where hosts often
grow as weeds

HOST PLANTS Pea family (Fabaceae), including Beaked Butterfly Pea
(Centrosema virginianum), Kudzu (Pueraria montana), and
beggar’s ticks (Desmodium spp.); also vine legumes such as
beans (Phaseolus spp.) and hog peanuts (Amphicarpa bracteata)
NOTE Caterpillar that rests and pupates within its leaf shelter
CONSERVATION STATUS Not evaluated, but common

ADULT WINGSPAN
1¾–2⅜ in (45–60 mm)
CATERPILLAR LENGTH
1⁄–2 in (40–50 mm)
URBANUS PROTEUS
LONG-TAILED SKIPPER 115

(LINNAEUS, 1758)

The small caterpillar of the Long-tailed Skipper is a common
pest of crops such as beans and ornamentals, including Wisteria.
It can eat a substantial amount of foliage—more than 21 sq ft
(2 m)—mostly (at least 90 percent) during its last two instars.
The larvae also roll leaves into shelters, in which they rest; when
fully grown they line the shelter with silk and pupate in it. Such
shelters protect them from visually hunting predators but do
not fool parasitoids, such as Bassus braconid wasps, Palmisticus
eulophid wasps, and shiny green Chrysotachina tachinid fl ies,
which hunt mostly by smell, locating caterpillar droppings.

The Long-tailed Skipper frequently co-occurs with other
Urbanus species. In the southeastern United States it flies
together with U. dorantes, and their caterpillars feed on the
same plants; in Costa Rica or northern Argentina, more than
ten Urbanus species may be found in a small area. Adults can The Long-tailed Skipper caterpillar is yellow

be difficult to tell apart, but the caterpillars have distinguishing green, with black speckling, a dark, middorsal

line on its back, and paired, dorsal, yellow-orange
traits, such as spots on their heads or stripes on their bodies. lateral bands. Heads can be black, or black with
red patches, but are mostly dark red with a large,
central, black patch on the front and around
the eyes (stemmata). The prolegs are orange red,
while ventrally the caterpillar is translucent green.

Actual size