Ceratomia catalpae
| Ceratomia catalpae | ||||||||||||
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Ceratomia catalpae |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Ceratomia catalpae | ||||||||||||
| ( Boisduval , 1875) |
Ceratomia catalpae is a butterfly ( moth ) from the family of moth (Sphingidae). The moths looksimilar to Ceratomia undulosa , but the caterpillars are clearly different from all other species of the genus Ceratomia . Therefore it may be necessary to place the species in its own genus, but this has not yet been proposed. The caterpillars are called "fish worms" in the southeastern United States and because of their frequency they are used as bait for fishing.
features
The moths have a fore wing length of 27 to 45 millimeters. They look similar to Ceratomia undulosa , but differ in the forewing pattern . The pattern of Ceratomia undulosa almost always consists of strongly contrasting gray tones, white and black. There is also a clear white medial line and a white discal spot on the upper side, as well as a white band on the outer edge. In Ceratomia catalpae the pattern is covered by a dull (yellowish) brown color and the white elements are missing. In the middle of the forewings there are two to five dark stripes in most individuals. In some individuals, the pattern is poorly developed, giving them a washed-out appearance. The spot around the cell of the forewings is gray with a black border. The top of the hind wings is yellowish-brown with dark lines. The spindle-shaped body of the moth is gray and 30 to 35 millimeters long.
The caterpillars are very long and slender and have a smooth body surface. Initially, the caterpillars are pale and almost whitish. In the second and third stages, their color gets more and more black parts. They have a thin, needle-shaped anal horn that curves slightly forward. The caterpillars are very different from all other species in the genus, which have a fleshy, backward-curved anal horn. The caterpillars are very variable in their color. They often appear in yellow, pink and green color variants within the same population. The diagonal stripes on the side are black. They are either sharply demarcated or fused to form a wide, dorsal band on the back. But there are also individuals who completely lack these stripes.
The doll is slim and has a smooth, shiny surface. It is yellowish to chestnut brown. Their short, grainy cremaster ends in a blunt, double point in some species.
Occurrence
The species is distributed in much of the eastern United States to the edge of the Great Plains . It occurs from the extreme south of New York and southern Pennsylvania to southern Florida. Ceratomia catalpae can be very common in the Appalachian Mountains , Ohio River , and Mississippi River valleys . The species is also found in southern Michigan and southwestern Wisconsin and is known with a single record from Minnesota. In the center of the United States, it populates eastern Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahomas, and Texas. In Canada, it is common in Essex County, Ontario , the extreme southwest of the Niagara Peninsula and southern Manitoba. Individual records from Maine, Massachusetts and Rhode Island were presumably wanderers. It is also found in Mexico.
Ceratomia catalpae inhabits deciduous forests.
Way of life
So far, all evidence of butterflies has been made using light. The proboscis of the species measures only about five millimeters and the necessary muscles are missing or have receded, which is why the moths cannot eat.
Flight and caterpillar times
The moths fly from April to early October. In the south of Michigan, probably a generation flies with the maximum in midsummer. Otherwise the species seems to develop two generations with maxima in early May and in August.
Food of the caterpillars
The caterpillars feed exclusively on the leaves of trumpet trees ( catalpa ).
development
The females lay their eggs in large clutches on the underside of the leaves of the food plants. The eggs are transparent, whitish, greenish to creamy-yellow, and oval with a size of 0.66 by 0.5 millimeters. It is not uncommon to find over 70 eggs in a single clutch. The caterpillars hatch after five to seven days, and you can recognize them through the shell before they hatch. At first they live gregariously, later mostly, but not always because of high population densities, individually. At first they skeletonize the leaves of the food plants, later they eat them completely and can even defoliate the entire plant. Under favorable conditions, development can be completed after three weeks. The caterpillars are very susceptible to parasitoids . A great many are killed by brackish wasps such as Apanteles congregatus . Pupation takes place in a loose cocoon , which is created from soil and plant parts below the soil surface.
supporting documents
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l James P. Tuttle: The Hawkmoths of North America, A Natural History Study of the Sphingidae of the United States and Canada. The Wedge Entomological Research Foundation, Washington, DC 2007, ISBN 978-0-9796633-0-7 .
- ↑ a b c d e f g Sphingidae of the Americas. Bill Oehlke, accessed December 28, 2011 .
literature
- James P. Tuttle: The Hawkmoths of North America, A Natural History Study of the Sphingidae of the United States and Canada. The Wedge Entomological Research Foundation, Washington, DC 2007, ISBN 978-0-9796633-0-7 .
