This is a common and primarily south-central underwing that ranges northward and whose larvae are typically associated with pecan (Carya [Apocarya] illinoiensis). A head capsule with mostly only pale orange-brownish markings, and lack of or merely a trace of a dark "moustache" at the mandibles and ocelli is a first filter that separates agrippina from other Juglandaceae-feeding Catocala larvae; then add in the combination of long lateral filaments, prominent dorsal tubercles and usually subtly stippled pattern and A5 saddle patch. However, larvae of the related atocala overlap in all these characters. Until more rearings are forthcoming, larvae can not be definitively separated in the, fortunately, limited region where agrippina and atocala co-occur, primarily immediately along the Mississippi river drainage. (Note that the species pairs lacrymosa/palaeogama and nebulosa/subnata also have comparable head capsules, but these differ in other characteristics, and the former feed on Carya [Eucarya] hickories whereas the latter are Bitternut Hickory (Carya [Apocarya] cordiformis) specialists).