Confused Woodgrain (Morrisonia confusa)

Taxonomy

Domain	Eukarya
Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Arthropoda
Subphylum	Hexapoda
Class	Insecta
Subclass	Pterygota
Infraclass	Neoptera
Superorder	Holometabola
Order	Lepidoptera
Superfamily	Noctuoidea
Family	Noctuidae
Subfamily	Noctuinae
Tribe	Hadenini
Genus	Morrisonia

Scientific Name

Morrisonia confusa

Common Name

confused woodgrain moth

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

Speckled, greenish gray body with contrasting dark head and with reddish supraspiracular spots, especially on thorax. Brownish head with dark brown lobes outlined in light brown. Usually intermittent, light gray middorsal, subdorsal, and spiracular stripes, the last the most visible. Up to 30 mm.

Food

Many broad-leaved trees and shrubs; occasionally eastern hemlock, pitch pine, and other conifers.

Life Cycle

One generation. Pupa overwinters in soil or debris. Mature caterpillar present from June to November, perhaps not feeding during the entire period.

Comments

The next to last instar of this caterpillar usually has a bright orange head and conspicuous, reddish purple spots above the spiracles. On broad-leaved trees and shrubs, this solitary caterpillar makes a feeding nest by webbing one or two leaves together. Its feeding habit on conifers is unknown.