Other Common Names
Pink-striped Willow Spanworm (larva)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Cabera variolaria Guenée, [1858]
Deilinia variolaria (Guenee, 1857)
(1) Explanation of Names
VESTAL: n. - a virgin; a woman of spotless chastity
VESTAL: a. - pure; chaste (Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1979)
probably refers to the moth's wings, which can be pure white
Identification
Adult: front of head and forelegs yellowish-brown to orange; wings may be pure white (but not shiny) or white with light gray speckling and very faint traces of yellowish to grayish-brown lines crossing the wings
Larva: has a green form and a brown form
Rindge (1956) description as
Deilinia variolaria (Guenee), is online in PDF.
(1)
Range
All of North America except Yukon and Alaska.
(2),
(3),
(4)Habitat
Mixed and deciduous woods and parklands.
Season
Adults fly from May to September (2 or 3 broods).
Food
Larvae feed on leaves of cherry, poplar, tamarack, willow.
Life Cycle
Two or three generations per year; overwinters as a pupa; eggs are laid singly below but along the edge of host leaves.
See Also
Protitame virginalis has dark gray forelegs, and the wings of
Lomographa vestalia are shiny, translucent, and unspotted white (
compare images of both species).
Eudeilinia herminiata has distinct gray lines across the wings.