Tufted White Pine Caterpillar (Panthea furcilla)

'"`UNIQ--btaxobox-00000000-QINU`"' 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

Reddish brown body with four pairs of compact dorsal tufts of long hairs and with pale spots near spiracles; also black form. Grayish head mottled with dark brown. Prominent, compact dorsal tufts of mostly black hairs on T1, T2, A1, and A8, some hairs broadened toward tip; less compact tufts of shorter hairs of variable color on low tubercles in other areas. Broken, blackish subdorsal stripe speckled with white; spiracles in dark gray to black patch over white oblique mark. Up to 35 mm.

Food

Eastern larch, pines, and spruces.

Life Cycle

Apparently two generations. Pupa overwinters in soil or debris. Mature caterpillar present from July to September.

Comments

The black form of this species (see below) can be distinguished from the tufted spruce caterpillar, Panthea acronyctoides, by its long hair tufts on T2. Dark forms of both species have pale hairs.

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