Page 365 - The Book of Caterpillars: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred Species From Around the World

MOTH CATERPILLARS

FAMILY Saturniidae
DIS
TRIBUTION
DISTRIBUTION Southern Mexico to Brazil, Bolivia, and eastern Peru
DISTRIBUTION
HABIT
HABITAT
HABITAT T Tropical forests at lower elevations
A
HOST PLANTS
HOST PLANTS
HOS T PLANT S Inga tree (Inga spp.); in captivity has fed on oak (Quercus spp.)
NO
TE
NOTE Stocky silkmoth caterpillar that is the largest of its genus
NOTE
TUS
T
A
TION S
A
CONSERV
CONSERVATION STATUS Not evaluated, but quite common
CONSERVATION STATUS
ADULT WINGSPAN
2½–4¾ in (63–123 mm)
CATERPILLAR LENGTH
2 in (65 mm)
ADELONEIVAIA JASON
ADELONEIVAIA JASON 363
(BOISDUVAL, 1872)
The Adeloneivaia jason silkmoth caterpillars group together

on a leaf after hatching and eating their eggshells. At rst, the

caterpillars are black but later turn green. At the end of the fth
instar they stop feeding, release fluids, and burrow into the
ground, forming a chamber and wrapping themselves with a few
strands of silk. In about ten days the pupa forms and remains in
the ground for six weeks or more until the adult moth emerges,
crawling out of its chamber before expanding its wings.

The Adeloneivaia jason caterpillar belongs to a very large The Adeloneivaia jason caterpillar is bright
subfamily of silkmoths—the Ceratocampinae—found only in green with three large, white markings, shaped
like bird heads with the blue spiracles for eyes.
the Americas. The adults of most members are plump-bodied The “beak” is silver on the outer side and orange
and shaped like jet airplanes, and their caterpillars are stocky on the inner. Numerous thick, green horns angle
backward along the body. The head is green and
with little or no hairs. All species whose habits are known the feet are dark orange and black.
pupate in the soil. Of the more than 15 species of Adeloneivaia,
A. jason is the largest.

Actual size