Page 353 - The Book of Caterpillars: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred Species From Around the World

MOTH CATERPILLARS

FAMILY Apatelodidae
DISTRIBUTION North America, from southern Canada to Texas and Florida
HABITAT Deciduous forests
HOST PLANTS Trees, such as maple (Acer spp.), ash (Fraxinus spp.),
cherry (Prunus spp.), and oak (Quercus spp.)

NOTE Conspicuous caterpillar that is covered in long, u y hairs
CONSERVATION STATUS Not evaluated

ADULT WINGSPAN
1¼–1⅝ in (32–42 mm)
CATERPILLAR LENGTH
2–2⅜ in (50–60 mm)
APATELODES TORREFACTA
SPOTTED APATELODES 351

(SMITH, 1797)

The distinctive Spotted Apatelodes caterpillar is conspicuous
for its shaggy covering of long, fluffy hairs. In some species
variants the hairs are pure white, while in others they are
gray-white or yellow. These hairs, unlike those of many other
hairy caterpillars, are not irritants. Instead, research suggests
that they are a result of mimicry, allowing the caterpillar to
resemble more harmful larvae that do use irritant hairs as a
defense. This is known as Batesian mimicry, reflecting the
butter y studies carried out in the nineteenth century by the

English naturalist and explorer Henry Walter Bates (1825–92)
in the rain forests of Brazil.

The caterpillars leave the food plant and pupate in the ground in
a silken cocoon, where they overwinter. The adult moths are on
the wing from May to August. There are usually two generations
in the south of its range, but only one in the north. Members
of the Apatelodidae family are sometimes known as American
silkworm moths and are found only in the Americas—mostly
in Neotropical regions.

The Spotted Apatelodes caterpillar is covered
with either white, gray-white, or yellow hairs.
Under the hairs, the body is creamy white with
large, dorsal, black spots and smaller lateral
black spots. There is a row of black, middorsal
tufts, and two long, black pencils of hair arise
from the second and third thoracic segments
and the eighth abdominal segment.
Actual size