Other Common Names
Red-marked Tentmaker (larva)
Identification
Adult: forewing gray with dark reddish/burgandy subapical patch; wings held tight to abdomen when at rest; PM line has white squiggle just below costa; median area crossed by diagonal whitish line from costa to inner margin; hindwing variably off-white to pale yellowish-brown
Larva: body dusky-gray or brown with pale dorsal and subdorsal stripes, and abundant short white hairs; sides of abdomen with two or three pale wavy stripes; head reddish-brown with strong black mottling, often absent over vertex and posterior to eyes
[adapted from description by David Wagner and Valerie Giles]
Range
northeastern and western United States, and across Canada, north to Northwest Territories
Season
adults fly from May to August
larvae in August and September
Food
larvae feed on leaves of birch, poplar, willow
Life Cycle
two generations per year in the south; one in the far north
Remarks
Larvae often form communal nests of silk.
See Also
Striped Chocolate-tip (
Clostera strigosa) forewing subapical patch is yellowish/gold, not dark reddish/burgandy as in
C. apicalis (
compare images of both species at CBIF)
Angle-lined Prominent (
Clostera inclusa) is very similar but forewing PM line is straighter where it meets costa (
compare images of this and other
Clostera species by Jim Vargo at MPG)
Internet References
live adult images plus description, larval foodplants, flight season, biology (Lynn Scott, Ontario)
pinned adult image by John Glaser, plus flight season and larval foodplant (Larry Line, Maryland)
pinned adult image by Paul Opler, plus US distribution map (butterfliesandmoths.org)
pinned adult image plus description, flight season, larval foodplants, similar species (Jeff Miller, Macromoths of Northwest Forests and Woodlands, USGS)
live adult image (Steve Walter, New York)
pinned adult image (A.W. Thomas, Canadian Forest Service)
live larva image plus common name reference [Red-marked Tentmaker - larva], description, seasonality, foodplants (David Wagner and Valerie Giles, Caterpillars of Eastern Forests, USGS)
Contributed by
Robin McLeod on 22 July, 2005 - 3:14pm
Additional contributions by
Ethan KistlerLast updated 4 December, 2007 - 12:20pm
