Page 550 - The Book of Caterpillars: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred Species From Around the World

MOTH CATERPILLARS

FAMILY Erebidae
DISTRIBUTION Western Europe to Asia Minor, across Asia to northern China,
Russian Far East, and Japan
HABITAT Woodlands, wetland margins, hedgerows, and gardens
HOST PLANTS Willow (Salix spp.) and poplar (Populus spp.)
NOTE Typical Catocala caterpillar, feeding by day and hiding by night
CONSERVATION STATUS Not evaluated, but common within most of its range

ADULT WINGSPAN
2¾–3½ in (70–90 mm)
CATERPILLAR LENGTH
2⅜–2¾ in (60–70 mm)
CATOCALA NUPTA
RED UNDERWING
548
(LINNAEUS, 1767)

The Red Underwing caterpillar hatches in April or May from
a gray-brown, ribbed egg that overwinters where it was laid
in a crevice on the trunk of the host plant. In captivity, the larva
is initially very restless. In the wild, it ascends the tree to feed at
night, hiding in a crevice on the trunk or branch by day. It is fully
fed in July. The pupa is formed on the food plant, in a cocoon
either between spun together leaves or in a crevice.

Catocala nupta is not dissimilar to the Clifden Nonpareil
(C. fraxini), although that species lacks the pairs of brown warts
and the dark hairs of this caterpillar. The caterpillars of a number
of other Catocala species feed on willows and poplars and are
similar in appearance and life history to the Red Underwing,

only di ering from one another in the detail of warts, humps,

pattern, and coloring. Adult Red Underwings y from August
to October in a single generation.

Actual size
The Red Underwing caterpillar is gray brown
or gray, with a subdued pattern of ne, irregular
lines and spots. It has two rows of small, brown,
or reddish warts along the back and a fringe of
short hairs low down along each side. It also has
a sparse covering of sti , dark hairs and raised
humps on the darker eighth segment (with
larger warts) and on the eleventh.