Morrison's Pero(Pero morrisonaria)

From Bugwoodwiki

Morrison's pero Photo by Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station Archive, Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, Bugwood.org Taxonomy Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Hexapoda (including Insecta) Order: Lepidoptera Family: Geometridae Genus: Pero Species: morrisonaria Scientific Name Pero morrisonaria (Henry Edwards)

Contents 1 Description 2 Food 3 Life Cycle 4 Comments 5 References

Description

Yellowish and brownish body with angular head, dark middorsal stripe, and scattered dark warts; variable body color. Dark brown head with transverse, light brown streak across front and with lighter brown lobes swollen and almost pointed. Dark brown middorsal stripe; inconspicuous pair of narrow, meandering dark brown subdorsal stripes. Dark brown spiracles; prominent spiracular swelling on A3 with large, dark tubercle below. Up to 35 mm.

Food

Balsam fir, eastern hemlock, eastern larch, pines, and spruces; records of broad-leaves trees and shrubs probably erroneous.

Life Cycle

One generation. Pupa overwinters in soil or debris. Mature caterpillar present mainly in July and August.

Comments

This caterpillar is an excellent twig mimic. Other color forms are pictured by Ives and Wong (1988) and Wagner et al. (2001).

References

Maier, C.T., C.R. Lemmon, J.M. Fengler, D.F. Schweitzer, and R.C. Reardon. 2004. Caterpillars on the Foliage of Conifers in the Northeastern United States. FHTET-2004-1. Morgantown, WV: USDA Forest Service, Forest Health Technology Enterprise Team; 151 p.