Page 392 - The Book of Caterpillars: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred Species From Around the World

MOTH CATERPILLARS

FAMILY Saturniidae
DISTRIBUTION Southern Mexico, south to central eastern Peru, northeast Bolivia,
and southern Brazil
HABITAT Tropical forests
HOST PLANTS Trees of the Sapotaceae family
NOTE Reclusive caterpillar that feeds on “chewing gum” trees
CONSERVATION STATUS Not evaluated

ADULT WINGSPAN
3½–4½ in (89–114 mm)
CATERPILLAR LENGTH
3⅛ in (80 mm)
COPIOPTERYX SEMIRAMIS
COPIOPTERYX SEMIRAMIS
390
(CRAMER, 1775)

The Copiopteryx semiramis silkmoth caterpillar hatches among

several transparent eggs. At rst it is yellow with black dorsal
bands and black, stiff tubercles, but in subsequent stages it
becomes green and mostly smooth. Reared caterpillars are not
social and develop through six instars, feeding on Manilkara
chicle, the sap from which the original chewing gum was made.
The mature caterpillar burrows into the ground to pupate,
and the adult may emerge in about six weeks or many months,
depending on the day length when the caterpillar pupated.

There are five species of Copiopteryx in the Arsenurinae
subfamily, all with long-tailed adults and similar caterpillars,
The Copiopteryx semiramis caterpillar is dark ranging from southern Mexico to Bolivia. Adults emerge one
green blending to bluish white on the dorsum. to three hours after dark, and females call for males by releasing
A single, broad, white, diagonal streak on each
side is the most obvious mark, and the oval pheromones. It is thought that the long tails help the moth
spiracles are red and orange. The feet are dark
brown, and the head is green. The caterpillar to avoid bat attacks by enlarging its profile. Semiramis, the
has twin peaks behind the head. namesake for this species, was queen regent for her son Adad
Nirari III in ninth-century
Assyria, and was also the holy
spirit of the pagan Babylonian trinity.

Actual size