Page 369 - The Book of Caterpillars: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred Species From Around the World

MOTH CATERPILLARS

FAMILY Saturniidae
DISTRIBUTION From southern Canada (southeast Ontario to Nova Scotia), south
through United States to Florida, and west to Texas and Iowa
HABITAT Deciduous forests and leafy suburbs
HOST PLANTS Oak ( uercus spp.)
NOTE Cryptically colored caterpillar that has two distinctive, black,
thoracic projections
CONSERVATION STATUS Not evaluated, but common, although in sharp decline

ADULT WINGSPAN
1⅝–2⅝ in (42–66 mm)
CATERPILLAR LENGTH
1 ⁄ –2⅜ in (40–60 mm)
ANISOTA VIRGINIENSIS
PINK-STRIPED OAKWORM 367

(DRURY, 1773)

The Pink-striped Oakworm hatches from clutches of round,
yellow eggs laid on oak leaves. The caterpillars are gregarious
in the early instars, skeletonizing leaves of their host. Later
instars are solitary and consume the entire leaf, except for
the middle vein. The larvae descend to the ground to pupate
in shallow burrows, and the pupae overwinter. There is one
brood in the north of the species’ range and two or more in the
south. While Anisota virginiensis does not normally become a
pest, it occasionally defoliates oak trees. During one outbreak The Pink-striped Oakworm caterpillar
in Manitoba in the late 1980s, the larvae stripped 95 percent is cryptically colored, blending in with
the background of leaves and twigs. It
of the trees. has two black thoracic projections, the
head and prolegs are green, and the body
color is greenish with alternating black
The species, once very common, now appears to be in drastic and pink longitudinal stripes. Each
segment also carries short spines that,
decline—possibly because of the rise of Compsilura concinnata, while not dangerous to humans, may
a tachinid fly introduced from Europe to control the Gypsy deter vertebrate predators.
Moth (Lymantria dispar). Three species of tachinid ies and
two species of ichneumon wasps parasitize the larvae, in
addition to predation by birds. Of 13 Anisota species on the
North American continent, six quite similar species also occur
in eastern North America.

Actual size