Fringed Looper (Campaea perlata)

Taxonomy

Domain	Eukarya
Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Arthropoda
Subphylum	Hexapoda
Class	Insecta
Subclass	Pterygota
Infraclass	Neoptera
Superorder	Holometabola
Order	Lepidoptera
Superfamily	Geometroidea
Family	Geometridae
Subfamily	Ennominae
Tribe	Campaeini
Genus	Campaea

Scientific Name

Campaea perlata

Common Name

pale beauty

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

Grayish body with many faint, longitudinal lines and with grayish fringe of slender, fleshy subventral tubercles; variable body color, sometimes dominated by pinkish red bands or annulations. Greenish gray head with lobes mottled with purplish brown, usually in herringbone pattern, and with dark purplish brown streak from top to stemmata. Multicolored annulations on segments; tiny, pale raised spots circle segments. Prolegs on A5, A6, and A10, with the first pair reduced in size. Up to 30 mm.

Food

Many deciduous trees and shrubs; less commonly balsam fir, eastern hemlock, eastern larch, and pines.

Life Cycle

Two generations. Partly grown caterpillar overwinters. Mature caterpillar present from April to September; at any one place the generations are well separated, with the gap between them increasing southward.

Comments

This species is very unusual in having a pair of small prolegs on A5, in addition to the usual pairs on A6 and A10. The common name of this caterpillar describes it well. Its fringe of slender tubercles drape onto the substrate, enhancing its resemblance to a twig by covering up the shadow beneath its body.