Brown-spotted Zale (Zale helata)

Taxonomy

Domain	Eukarya
Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Arthropoda
Subphylum	Hexapoda
Class	Insecta
Subclass	Pterygota
Infraclass	Neoptera
Superorder	Holometabola
Order	Lepidoptera
Superfamily	Noctuoidea
Family	Erebidae
Subfamily	Erebinae
Tribe	Omopterini
Genus	Zale

Scientific Name

Zale helata

Common Name

brown-spotted Zale

Maier, C.T.; Lemmon, C.R.; Fengler, J.M.; Schweitzer, D.F.; Reardon, R.C.; Caterpillars on the Foliage of Conifers in the Northeastern United States. Morgantown, WV. USDA Forest Service. Forest Health Technology Enterprise Team Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station. FHTET-2004-01. March 2004. 151 p.

Description

Mostly green body with broad, dark spiracular stripe and pale middorsal and subdorsal stripes; variable body color. Greenish brown head with brownish reticulation, with white chevron on each lobe, and with curved, white line behind stemmata; greenish thoracic legs. White middorsal, subdorsal (broadest of three), and subspiracular stripes; brownish green spiracular stripe; most segments with slight spiracular swelling having tiny white spots. Very low, transverse dorsal ridge on A8 with paired tubercles; ridge on A9 with smaller tubercles. Prolegs on A3 and A4 reduced in size, and those on A10 directed backward and marked with faint, brown line laterally. Up to 35 mm.

Food

Eastern white, pitch, red, and other pines.

Life Cycle

One generation. Pupa overwinters in soil. Mature caterpillar present mainly in June and July.

Comments

This species also has a striped, mostly brown form and a reddish brown form (see below). The mostly green form pictured above and the northeastern pine zale, Zale curema, are concealed among the needles of pines. The striped, greenish species of Zale often rest on needles with their brownish heads near the branch, which further enhances their resemblance to the food plant. The brown-spotted zale prefers to eat young needles.