Comstock's Sallow (Feralia comstocki)

Taxonomy

Domain	Eukarya
Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Arthropoda
Subphylum	Hexapoda
Class	Insecta
Subclass	Pterygota
Infraclass	Neoptera
Superorder	Holometabola
Order	Lepidoptera
Superfamily	Noctuoidea
Family	Noctuidae
Subfamily	Amphipyrinae
Tribe	Psaphidini
Subtribe	Feraliina
Genus	Feralia

Scientific Name

Feralia comstocki

Common Name

Comstock's Sallow

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

Dark green body with bluish bloom on dorsum, with prominent, bicolored spiracular stripe, with pale middorsal and subdorsal stripes, and with circular subventral spots. Green head marked with dark brown at sides of frons; mostly reddish brown thoracic legs. Light yellow middorsal stripe; white subdorsal stripe; wide spiracular stripe that is red above and white and yellow below; subdorsal and spiracular stripes interrupted or constricted where segments meet. Body above spiracular stripe dusted with light blue; subventral row of yellowish spots. Up to 35 mm.

Food

Balsam fir, eastern hemlock, spruces, and possibly other conifers.

Life Cycle

One generation. Pupa overwinters in soil or debris. Mature caterpillar present from June to September.

Comments

The handsome greenish adults of this and other Feralia species are very effective mimics of the greenish lichens on the tree trunks of conifers.