A highly localized species occuring mostly immediately along the Mississippi river drainage. Only two larvae are known (from one ex ovis rearing attempt) and these are not distinguishable from larvae of agrippina, a common and more widely geographically distributed species. The wild larval fooplant of atocala remains unknown. Gall et al. (2002) speculated the foodplant might be Nutmeg Hickory (Carya [Apocarya] myristicaeformis) on the basis of geography, but subsequent field work indicates that not to be the case, with a more plausible scenario being atocala follows major watercourses within the native (non-cultivated/naturalized) range of pecan (Apocarya [Apocarya] illinoiensis).