Page 604 - The Book of Caterpillars: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred Species From Around the World

MOTH CATERPILLARS

FAMILY Noctuidae
DISTRIBUTION India, Southeast Asia, Japan, Fiji, New Guinea, and Norfolk
Island (Australia)
HABITAT Woodlands, forests, and urban areas
HOST PLANTS China Ramie (Boehmeria nipononivea) and Boehmeria australis
NOTE Aposematic caterpillar that produces a fruit-piercing moth
CONSERVATION STATUS Not evaluated, but locally common

ADULT WINGSPAN
3⅜–3½ in (85–90 mm)
CATERPILLAR LENGTH
2⅜–2 ⁄ in (60–65 mm)
ARCTE COERULEA
RAMIE MOTH
602
GUENÉE, 1852

Ramie Moth caterpillars hatch and then feed primarily on
canopy shoots of the host plant; development on these shoots
is better than on understory shoots. The larvae are able to
withstand the chemical defenses of the host plant and likely store
the poisons they ingest, making them unpalatable to vertebrate
predators. This is advertised by the aposematic coloration of
the caterpillars. They develop through six instars and pupate in
a slight, silken cocoon between leaves drawn together with silk.

Two to three generations of caterpillars of this species
appear during spring to fall, with large outbreaks sometimes
occurring from August to September, causing severe damage

The Ramie Moth caterpillar is primarily creamy to the ramie host plants, which produce a ber crop used for
white with transverse, black banding dorsally. fabric production. The caterpillars are frequently gregarious
A black stripe runs down each side, and spiracles
are outlined in black and highlighted by red and change their coloration according to population density.
blotches. The prolegs and head are black.
Under crowded conditions, the black transverse stripes on the
thorax and abdomen increase in size in later instars. Solitary
caterpillars have black heads, whereas the head is brown under
crowded conditions.

Actual size