Page 340 - The Book of Caterpillars: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred Species From Around the World

MOTH CATERPILLARS

FAMILY Drepanidae
DISTRIBUTION United Kingdom and western Europe, east to the Urals and south
to the Caspian Sea
HABITAT Forests, hedgerows, parklands, and gardens
HOST PLANTS European Beech (Fagus sylvatica)
NOTE Hook-tip caterpillar that is found on beech trees
CONSERVATION STATUS Not evaluated, but probably common throughout most
of its range

ADULT WINGSPAN

⅞–1⅜ in (22–35 mm)
CATERPILLAR LENGTH
¾–⅞ in (19–22 mm)
WATSONALLA CULTRARIA
BARRED HOOK-TIP
338
(FABRICIUS, 1775)

The Barred Hook-tip caterpillar hatches on the leaf of its host
plant from oval eggs that are yellowish green when rst laid but

later turn reddish. Like other hook-tips, it lives openly, being
well disguised as a piece of dead leaf or bird dropping. The
caterpillars are present throughout their range between June
Actual size
and October. The blue-gray pupa, which has a waxy bloom,
is formed in a pale, quite dense cocoon within a folded leaf or
leaves drawn together and overwinters there.

The caterpillar of this species is very similar to that of the Oak
Hook-tip (Watsonalla binaria), but it is slightly slimmer and
more inclined to be reddish in color (although there are several
different color forms), and the double-pointed tubercle on
the back of the peaked, swollen front section is smaller. The
geographical ranges of the two species are also much the same.

However, as their food plants are di erent, the two are unlikely
to be confused in the wild.

The Barred Hook-tip caterpillar is light reddish
brown, light orange brown, or darker brown,
with a double-pointed tubercle on its back on the
peaked, swollen front section. It has a paler, often
whitish, elongated saddle-mark along the back,
which extends as two whitish, diverging lines
toward both the head and hind end, which is
formed into a spike.