Tuesday, November 02, 2004
Monday, November 01, 2004
If you like Eagles, this
5th Instar Eacles Imperialis
Keeping along the macro theme...
Imperial moth (Eacles imperialis)
Wing span: 3 1/8 - 6 7/8 inches (8 - 17.4 cm).
Identification: Females are larger than males. Upperside is yellow with pinkish brown to purple-brown patches, bands, and cell spots, and tiny brown spots scattered overall. Males have larger patches on the forewings than females, except for some subspecies pini males which have reduced purple and are mostly yellow.
Life history: Adults emerge before sunrise and mate after midnight the next day. Females lay eggs at dusk singly or in groups of 2-5 on both surfaces of host plant leaves. The eggs hatch in about 2 weeks, and the caterpillars are solitary feeders. Pupation takes place in underground burrows.
Flight: One brood; in the north from June-August, in the south from April-October.
Caterpillar hosts: Conifers and deciduous trees and shrubs including pine (Pinus), oak (Quercus), box elder (Acer negundo), maples (Acer), sweet gum (Liquidambar styraciflua), and sassafras (Sassafras albidum). Subspecies pini feeds only on conifers.
Adult food: Adults do not feed.
Habitat: Deciduous and evergreen forests.
Range: Maine west to eastern Nebraska, south to the Florida Keys and central Texas. Subspecies pini occurs across the northern Great Lakes basin and the northern third of Michigan's Lower Peninsula.
Larva: The first instar larvae are yellow-orange, marked with thin black rings and dots. They have large black thoracic and caudal spines. These spines, while not quite as large as C. regalis spines, become proportionately smaller as the larvae reach fifth instar. When the larvae molt into their third instar, their bodies become a deep red-brown, and the spines go from black to tan. As the larvae molt into fourth and fifth instar, they become more prominently covered in long tan hairs. Brown larvae develop light brown or tan round patches on each segment that run the length of their bodies. Some imperialis larvae are green, and some are brown. The photo (above) illustrates the two color morphs of the fifth instar larva. Like C. regalis, imperialis larvae do not spin cocoons. They burrow and form chambers where they pupate, and remain hidden during winter.
Wing span: 3 1/8 - 6 7/8 inches (8 - 17.4 cm).
Identification: Females are larger than males. Upperside is yellow with pinkish brown to purple-brown patches, bands, and cell spots, and tiny brown spots scattered overall. Males have larger patches on the forewings than females, except for some subspecies pini males which have reduced purple and are mostly yellow.
Life history: Adults emerge before sunrise and mate after midnight the next day. Females lay eggs at dusk singly or in groups of 2-5 on both surfaces of host plant leaves. The eggs hatch in about 2 weeks, and the caterpillars are solitary feeders. Pupation takes place in underground burrows.
Flight: One brood; in the north from June-August, in the south from April-October.
Caterpillar hosts: Conifers and deciduous trees and shrubs including pine (Pinus), oak (Quercus), box elder (Acer negundo), maples (Acer), sweet gum (Liquidambar styraciflua), and sassafras (Sassafras albidum). Subspecies pini feeds only on conifers.
Adult food: Adults do not feed.
Habitat: Deciduous and evergreen forests.
Range: Maine west to eastern Nebraska, south to the Florida Keys and central Texas. Subspecies pini occurs across the northern Great Lakes basin and the northern third of Michigan's Lower Peninsula.
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Larva: The first instar larvae are yellow-orange, marked with thin black rings and dots. They have large black thoracic and caudal spines. These spines, while not quite as large as C. regalis spines, become proportionately smaller as the larvae reach fifth instar. When the larvae molt into their third instar, their bodies become a deep red-brown, and the spines go from black to tan. As the larvae molt into fourth and fifth instar, they become more prominently covered in long tan hairs. Brown larvae develop light brown or tan round patches on each segment that run the length of their bodies. Some imperialis larvae are green, and some are brown. The photo (above) illustrates the two color morphs of the fifth instar larva. Like C. regalis, imperialis larvae do not spin cocoons. They burrow and form chambers where they pupate, and remain hidden during winter.