Page 547 - The Book of Caterpillars: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred Species From Around the World

MOTH CATERPILLARS

FAMILY Erebidae
DISTRIBUTION From eastern Spain east through southern and central Europe,
southern Russia, and the Causasus to China, Korea, and Japan
HABITAT Damp woodlands and scrub in river valleys
HOST PLANTS Willow (Salix spp.) and, less often, poplar (Populus spp.)
NOTE Smooth caterpillar that lives mainly on smooth-barked trees
CONSERVATION STATUS Not evaluated

ADULT WINGSPAN
2 ⁄ –3⅛ in (65–80 mm)
CATERPILLAR LENGTH
2⅛–3⅛ in (55–65 mm)
CATOCALA ELECTA
ROSY UNDERWING 545

(VIEWEG, 1790)

The Rosy Underwing caterpillar hatches from an egg that is
grayish with purple blotches and laid in a bark crevice on a trunk
or branch. The egg overwinters, and the caterpillar hatches
in April or May and is fully grown in June or July. Its habits
are similar to those of closely related species such as the Red
Underwing (Catocala nupta). The larva feeds at night, resting by
day on a twig, branch, or trunk. The pupa is formed on the food
plant, in a cocoon, either between spun leaves or in a crevice.

Like many Catocala caterpillars feeding on willow and poplar,

the Rosy Underwing is rather smooth, giving good camou age
on the bark of many of those trees. It is distinguished from the
Red Underwing by the large, yellow (rather than brown or gray)
wart on the sixth segment and the brighter, more orange-brown,
paired warts along its back. The adults, which have pink and

black hindwings, y from July to September in one generation.

The Rosy Underwing caterpillar is gray brown Actual size
and covered in tiny, irregularly shaped, dark
spots, sometimes forming irregular stripes. It has
a fringe of short hairs low down along each side
and pairs of small, orange-brown warts along the
back. Its eighth segment has a raised, yellowish
wart, and there is a yellow-brown or dark gray
band and two large, brownish or yellowish warts
on the eleventh segment.