Page 519 - The Book of Caterpillars: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred Species From Around the World

MOTH CATERPILLARS

FAMILY Notodontidae
DISTRIBUTION From western Europe and North Africa to the Urals, Asia Minor,
and the Caucasus
HABITAT Forests, wooded hedgerows, parklands, and gardens
HOST PLANTS Oak (Quercus spp.)
NOTE One of the less conspicuous caterpillars of its family
CONSERVATION STATUS Not evaluated

ADULT WINGSPAN
1 ⁄ –1 ⁄ in (36–46 mm)
CATERPILLAR LENGTH

1⅜–1 ⁄ (35–40 mm)
DRYMONIA RUFICORNIS
LUNAR MARBLED BROWN 517
(HUFNAGEL, 1766)

Lunar Marbled Brown caterpillars hatch from rounded, light
blue eggs laid in small groups on twigs or leaves from late March
to early June. The larva is solitary and feeds until July, living
openly without making a shelter, resting on the underside of a
leaf, often high in the tree. When fully fed, it descends the tree
and builds a cocoon on the ground close by, in which the stout,
smooth, and shiny black pupa is formed and then overwinters.

The Drymonia ruficornis caterpillar is well camouflaged
on the underside of a leaf. Several related species, also on oak,
have quite similar caterpillars but with a slightly different
combination of features, usually with red in the stripe along the
sides and more broken lines. The Marbled Brown (D. dodonaea),
for instance, has a pair of broken lines close together along the
middle of the back.

The Lunar Marbled Brown caterpillar is green
when small and has raised black spots with
short, black hairs. When larger, it develops two
well-separated, bright yellow stripes on the back
and sides. In the nal instar, the stripes become
ner with a white component and the body is
blue green with a smooth, white bloom,
Actual size especially on the back.