Page 221 - The Book of Caterpillars: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred Species From Around the World

BUTTERFLY CATERPILLARS

FAMILY Nymphalidae
DISTRIBUTION Guatemala, south to Bolivia, Paraguay, and southern Brazil
HABITAT Humid lowland and foothill forest borders and mature
second growth
HOST PLANTS Various species of Ulmaceae, especially Trema spp.
NOTE Caterpillar that, when young, is protected by its frass chain
CONSERVATION STATUS Not evaluated, but not considered threatened

ADULT WINGSPAN
1½–1¾ in (38–45 mm)
CATERPILLAR LENGTH
DIAETHRIA CLYMENA 1⅜–1¾ in (35–45 mm)

WIDESPREAD
EIGHTY-EIGHT 219
(CRAMER, 1775)

Caterpillars of the Widespread Eighty-eight hatch from pale
green eggs shaped like truncated cones and laid singly on
the very margin of host plant leaves. Immediately, the tiny
larvae begin building a frass chain close to the oviposition site,
resting in safety at its tip while not feeding. By the third instar,
they abandon this perch and rest on the dorsal surface of the
leaf with their now-sizeable head scoli pressed at to the leaf

surface. When disturbed, older caterpillars rear backward and
lift their hind prolegs, clashing together the terminal scoli with
those on the head.

The caterpillars move away from the host plant to pupate,
forming a green chrysalis, attached to a leaf or stem. The
adults are rapid fliers and frequently visit mud puddles and
rotting fruit or dung. The species is so-named because of the
undeniable similarity its underwing markings bear to the number
88 (sometimes more like 89).

The Widespread Eighty-eight caterpillar is
slender and nearly uniformly lime green, closely
matching the color of its host leaves. The body
bears several rows of short, sti scoli, with those
on the terminal abdominal segment the most
formidable. The head, however, bears two very
long scoli with several whorls of shorter spines
Actual size
emanating from its length. These are banded
brown and pale yellow.