Underwing Moths (Catocala) & Larvae

A companion guide for iNaturalists

Nearctic Species

   

Publications

Taxonomic Notes

Rearing:
Wild larvae
Eggs from females

iNat Wishlist:
ilia vs. umbrosa
Larvae on Rosaceae
mtDNA: praeclara

More About: Maps & images
The authors

Catocala epione
(Drury, 1773)

The larvae of both consors and epione are quite similar and overlap in pattern, but can be separated readily from all other Juglandaceae-feeding Catocala on morphology, except for the occasional lightly marked piatrix (whose foodplants are essentially non-overlapping). Larvae of consors and epione are light to medium gray in ground color, with stippled obscure lines, no A5 saddle patch, no A5/A8 protuberance, no lateral filaments, small white dorsal and dorsolateral pinnacula, tapered smooth body; head capsule with wide and crisply margined black lateral bands extending and connecting across top, reddish gray lobes and frons and side striping; venter ground color off-white, numerous small dark stipples throughout, black spots on segments typically elongated above/below A3-A6. Preserved specimens of mature consors at Yale Peabody Museum have either a thin black central line connecting all ventral spots (n=1), or just A1-A5 (n=1), or no line (n=3); none of the epione (n=44) have lines. Both species are fond of sandy/scrubby habitats, although epione also occurs in wooded areas. Foodplants include various non-pecan (Carya [Eucarya]) hickories; in quantitative sampling epione was found commonly on each of Carya ovata, Carya glabra and Carya tomentosa and overwhelmingly on small trees (Gall, 1991).

All images at this site by L. Gall and/or R. Borth (unless otherwise attributed), please contact us with questions or requests