![]() ![]() The pupae are dark and elongated, with small spines. At the end of their 5th instar, they climb down the tree and pupate in shallow underground chambers. During the next two instars, the caterpillars mainly feed alone. During the first three instars (a developmental stage, marked by a moult), the caterpillars feed in groups, massed on the leaves of their host plant. In about two weeks, the eggs hatch, and the caterpillars begin feeding gregariously on their host plant. The fully grown caterpillar can reach the length of 5 cm.Īdult female moths lay clutches of 10-30 eggs on the underside of the leaves of a host plant, normally maple or oak. It has two large black horns on its second segment, and smaller horns on its lateral sides all down its body. The caterpillar, often called the Green-Striped Mapleworm, is, as the name implies, green with pale blue-green stripes. Their heads and bodies are typically furry and yellow their antennae and legs are red-pink and the former are feathery. Moths with very few pink markings are classified as the subspecies alba, and usually occur in Missouri. Their coloration, however, is extremely variable in some the wings may be pink with small slivers of yellow in others the pink markings may be less noticeable, or even gone. Their wings are creamy yellow or white, with rosy pink markings on the margins and bases of the wings. rubicunda have a wing span of 3.4-5.2 cm. They are present across much of eastern North America, extending north into Quebec, south into mid-Florida and the Gulf Coast, and as far west as Texas. Rosy Maple Moths, although relatively common here, are one of the more beautiful moths in this area. ![]()
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