Page 635 - The Book of Caterpillars: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred Species From Around the World

MOTH CATERPILLARS

FAMILY Noctuidae
DISTRIBUTION From Spain and the British Isles across Europe, including the
Mediterranean and southern half of Scandinavia; Asia Minor,
the Caucasus, southern Siberia, and east to Russian Far East and
Japan; across western and southern central Asia to eastern China
HABITAT Calcareous grasslands, moorlands, open woodlands, low-lying
damp grasslands, coastal sand dunes, and shingle; also urban
habitats, including gardens
HOST PLANTS Many, including rest-harrow (Ononis spp.), sainfoin (Onobrychis
spp.), Henbane (Hyoscyamus niger), and Sea Sandwort
(Honkenya peploides)

NOTE Variably colored caterpillar that feeds on owers and unripe seeds
CONSERVATION STATUS Not evaluated, but widespread

ADULT WINGSPAN
1 ⁄ –1⅝ in (33–41 mm)
CATERPILLAR LENGTH
1 ⁄ –1 ⁄ in (33–37 mm)
PYRRHIA UMBRA
BORDERED SALLOW 633

(HUFNAGEL, 1766)

The Bordered Sallow caterpillar hatches from a ribbed, whitish
egg laid on a leaf or ower. It feeds openly on the owers and

immature seeds of its food plant, thereby picking up di erent

pigments from the wide variety of host plants favored. This
probably explains the great variability of color in this species.
When fully fed, the caterpillar forms a pupa in the ground,
which overwinters. There is usually a single generation in
the late summer and early fall; in warmer conditions, a partial
second generation may occur.

The adult ecloses between May and September and is similar
in appearance to the closely related Pyrrhia exprimens, whose
caterpillar is, however, more boldly marked than the Bordered
Sallow. The range of P. umbra—the most extensive of its
genus—was once thought to include North America. However,
in 1996, the United States lookalike was described as a new
species, P. adela, but is still commonly known as the Bordered
Sallow or American Bordered Sallow. The Bordered Sallow caterpillar can be light
green, dark green, pinkish brown, gray, or
blackish. Four white or yellow stripes occur
along the back, with a darker stripe down the
middle and a broader, white or yellow stripe
on the sides, often dark-edged above. Paler
forms are often peppered with white dots;
darker forms frequently have conspicuous
black warts. The head is plain brown or green.

Actual size