Page 554 - The Book of Caterpillars: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred Species From Around the World

MOTH CATERPILLARS

FAMILY Erebidae
DISTRIBUTION
DISTRIBUTION Eastern Ecuador
TRIBUTION
DIS
HABIT A T Cloud forest edges, second growth, and regenerating landslides
HABITAT
HABITAT
HOS T PLANT S Chusquea scandens and Baccharis latifolia
HOST PLANTS
HOST PLANTS
NO
NOTE Rarely seen caterpillar that is vulnerable to parasitization
TE
NOTE
CONSERVATION STATUS
CONSERVATION STATUS
CONSERV A TION S T A TUS Not evaluated, but not considered threatened
ADULT WINGSPAN
1¼–1½ in (32–38 mm)
CATERPILLAR LENGTH

1⅜–1 ⁄ in (35–40 mm)

DESMOTRICHA IMITATA
DESMOTRICHA IMITATA
552
(DRUCE, 1883)

Desmotricha imitata caterpillars are solitary in nature, and that,
together with their tendency to rest on the lower side of leaves,
make them di cult to detect on the dense foliage of their host

plants. Beating methods are used most frequently to knock and
collect the larvae from the plant. It is not known if the caterpillars
are palatable to predators, but they are known to be parasitized
by several species of wasps from the families Braconidae and

Ichneumonidae. Parasitoid ies in the family Tachinidae also
attack the larvae.

The red, black, and blue coloration of adults makes Desmotricha
imitata an adept wasp mimic as it flies about during the day.
Nevertheless, adults are known to be seized from the air by
at least one forest bird species, the Smoke-colored Pewees
(Contopus fumigatus). Given that the geographic range of its host
plants is fairly substantial, D. imitata may also have a range that
extends beyond eastern Ecuador.

The Desmotricha imitata caterpillar is stout
and roughly square in cross section. It has a
uniformly bright orange head and a tricolored
body that is bright white dorsally, strongly
Actual size marked with black, and dull yellow white
ventrally. The larva is sparsely covered with
long to very long, soft, slightly plumose setae,
the shorter ones entirely white and the longest
ones gray apically.