Page 254 - The Book of Caterpillars: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred Species From Around the World

BUTTERFLY CATERPILLARS

FAMILY Nymphalidae
DISTRIBUTION Eastern Colombia to southeast Ecuador, but possibly
farther south
HABITAT Intact tracts of subtropical cloud forests, forest edges, and
light gaps, at 5,600–7,200 ft (1,700–2,200 m) elevation
HOST PLANTS Nectandra spp. and Ocotea spp.
NOTE Caterpillar that hides inside a rolled-up leaf when mature
CONSERVATION STATUS Not evaluated, but not considered threatened

ADULT WINGSPAN
2 ⁄ –3 in (68–75 mm)
CATERPILLAR LENGTH
2⅛–2 ⁄ in (55–65 mm)
MEMPHIS LORNA
LORNA LEAFWING
252
(DRUCE, 1877)

From observations in northeastern Ecuador, the rare, brownish,
tubular-shaped, green-speckled Lorna Leafwing caterpillar
looks remarkably like a moldy, mossy twig. As first to third
instars, the larvae rest on chains of frass projecting from the
edge of host plant leaves, then create a tube-shaped shelter out
of a rolled host plant leaf during the fourth and fth instars. The

spiky nature of the caterpillar’s head, in conjunction with its
unusual thickness, create a protective “plug” to ll the entrance

to the shelter, preventing predator access to the larva’s more
vulnerable parts.

Memphis lorna is confined to a narrow elevational range in
eastern Colombia and Ecuador, but may also occur east of the
The Lorna Leafwing caterpillar has a bulbous, Andes in Peru and Bolivia. Adults are rarely seen, but males can
black head patterned with creamy vertical be locally common in some areas, usually observed while feeding
stripes and washed across the front with deep
crimson. Across the top, it bears several short, at rotting flesh, ripe fruit, or dung, their extremely realistic,
conical protrusions. The body is dark brown,
blackish posteriorly, nely ecked with bright leaf-patterned, ventral wings making them almost invisible
green on the abdomen, and striped with green on the forest oor. A formal description of the species has not

on the thorax. It is sparsely covered in thin,
crooked setae. yet been published.

Actual size