Page 310 - The Book of Caterpillars: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred Species From Around the World

MOTH CATERPILLARS

FAMILY Limacodidae
DISTRIBUTION Eastern North America, from southeastern Canada to Florida,
west to Texas
HABITAT Forests
HOST PLANTS Deciduous trees and shrubs, including apple (Malus spp.),
ash (Fraxinus spp.), cherry (Prunus spp.), dogwood (Cornus spp.),
oak (Quercus spp.), and willow (Salix spp.)
NOTE Unusually shaped caterpillar with projections that bear
stinging hairs
CONSERVATION STATUS Not evaluated, but common

ADULT WINGSPAN
1 ⁄ in (30 mm)
CATERPILLAR LENGTH
1 in (25 mm)
PHOBETRON PITHECIUM
MONKEY SLUG
308
(J. E. SMITH & ABBOT, 1797)

The Monkey Slug, or Hag Moth, caterpillar feeds solitarily on
the underside of leaves. With its curly, hairy projections it can
easily be mistaken for a spider’s shed skin or a leaf deformation,
such as a gall or lichen growth. Like other limacodid larvae,
the caterpillars move very slowly in a sluglike manner, using
The Monkey Slug caterpillar is initially black, suction-like structures instead of prolegs. When fully developed,
becoming brown in later instars. It is highly the caterpillar pupates in a hard, dark, round cocoon, hidden
unusual in shape, with nine pairs of eshy lobes
of variable length that project laterally, making beneath a second cocoon made of softer silk threads that matches
it look at and similar to lichen growth. Every

second lobe is longer. Ventrally, the caterpillar the dead leaf background and is shaped like a ipped-over cup.
is translucent yellow, including its legs, which The species produces a single generation annually in the north
are barely noticeable but for slightly more
sclerotized claws at the tips. of its range but two or more in the south.

The Phobetron pithecium caterpillar is clearly defended by at
least two means: it is cryptic and also memorable to predators
if attacked, as its shape is unique and the sting is potent.

For humans, the stings are immediately painful, but the e ects
are not long lasting and anaphylaxis is rare. Akin to a lizard’s

tail, the projections carrying harmful setae can fall o without
harming the caterpillar.

Actual size