Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Owlet Moth Caterpillar?

While examining a female Say's Trig on an overturned hanging fern, I also discovered a beautiful rust-red caterpillar taking a nap on the underside of the pot's lip. I haven't been able to identify it with certainty, but I believe it to be the larvae of a species of Owlet Moth, a kind of moth which I have photographed before. I'm thinking subfamily Noctuinae is most likely, maybe tribe Noctuini? If anybody has a suggestion about the ID, please feel free to offer it.

In terms of description, this caterpillar has a rust-red color, at times appearing orange or brown or red. He has tiny circles all over his body, a red stripe (spiracular band) down each side of his body above the legs, and three white spots along this line, one for each of the thoracic legs (on the right side the spots seem connected, almost in a line). His head is about the same color as his body, maybe a little redder, with some black mottling. He's approximately 1 inch long.


I brought him up on my ruler to get a better look. He seemed quite curious about his new environment. (If you're wondering why the ruler is so warped, my dog Katie stole it and chewed on it, as she does to every other tool I use). 


After getting enough photos I put him back on his little ledge so he could finish his nap, and turned the fern back over.

References:
http://bugguide.net/node/view/9531

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