Red-marked Caterpillar (Feralia jocosa)

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 jocosa

Common Name

Jocose 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

Green body with conspicuous, bicolored spiracular stripe, with pale middorsal and subdorsal stripes, with elongate subventral spots, and with dimpled cuticle. Light bluish green head; reddish brown thoracic legs. White middorsal and subdorsal stripes; broad spiracular stripe that is red above and white and yellow below; subdorsal and spiracular stripes interrupted or constricted where segments meet. Light yellow subventral stripe broken into oblong 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 May to July.

Comments

This species is distinguished from Comstock's sallow, Feralia comstocki, by the elongate shape of the subventral spots, by the dimpled texture of the cuticle, and by the absence of dark marks on the head. The major sallow, F. major, occurs mainly on pine in the Northeast.