Page 421 - The Book of Caterpillars: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred Species From Around the World

MOTH CATERPILLARS

FAMILY Saturniidae
DISTRIBUTION Parts of Italy and Austria, across the Balkans to the Caucasus,
Turkey, Israel, and Lebanon
HABITAT Dry, open deciduous woodlands
HOST PLANTS Mostly oak (Quercus spp.), but occasionally poplar (Populus spp.)
and other deciduous trees
NOTE Hairy caterpillar that changes from black to green
CONSERVATION STATUS Not evaluated

ADULT WINGSPAN
2 ⁄ –3 ⁄ in (62–88 mm)
CATERPILLAR LENGTH
2⅜ in (60 mm)
PERISOMENA CAECIGENA
AUTUMN EMPEROR 419

(KUPIDO, 1825)

The female Autumn Emperor moth lays creamy-brown eggs on
twigs in rows of up to six, with as many as 100 laid in total. The
eggs overwinter, and the caterpillars hatch the following spring
when the weather grows warmer. The larvae are gregarious at

rst, lying together on the upper surface of leaves and feeding
on young leaves and the male catkins, but then move apart when
they are older to become solitary. They pupate on the ground,
where they spin a dark brown, double-walled cocoon among the
leaf litter, spending the hot, dry summer as a pupa and emerging
in fall as the weather cools.

The large, night- ying Autumn Emperors are, as their name

suggests, on the wing in fall, from September to November.
The males become active at dusk, while the females y later

in the evening. The moths are short-lived, surviving just a few
days. Most mate on the first night, with the females rapidly
laying all their eggs soon after.

Actual size

The Autumn Emperor caterpillar is large,
green, and covered in short, white hairs.
It has a yellow lateral stripe and six small,
yellow tubercles on each segment. Each
tubercle bears a tuft of long, white hairs.