Species Lithophane unimoda - Dowdy Pinion - Hodges#9916

9916

Yellow-striped Fruitworm (larva)

38-44 mm wingspan

Adult: forewing bluish gray with a pale orbicular spot, a small elliptical claviform spot touching inner margin of orbicular spot, and a faint reniform spot outlined with light gray. Dark gray patch between reniform and orbicular spots. AM and ST lines zigzagged, indistinct. HW is pale grayish brown.

Caterpillar is green with a yellow spiracular stripe the length of the body, and black spiracles. The last instar is green with a solid thin white dorsal stripe, spotted subdorsal stripes, and a thin yellow spiracular stripe.

Nova Scotia to South Carolina, west to Missouri and Nebraska, north to Saskatchewan

adults fly from October to December, overwinter, and fly again from February to May; occasionally active in mid-winter on warm days

larvae in spring and early summer

Larvae feed mostly on leaves of black cherry, and some other deciduous trees such as plum, pear, and crabapple. Caterpillars need to eat young leaves; they will starve if only eating older leaves. Late instar larvae may also feed on the fruit of the host plant.

one generation per year; overwinters as an adult; eggs are laid in spring and hatch when host trees are beginning to leaf

The moths can be attracted with sugar bait.

(1)Moths of Eastern North America

(2)Caterpillars of Eastern North America

Moth Photographers Group (MPG)

Barcode of Life (BOLD)

Maryland Moths adult images and common name reference [Dowdy Pinion; adult] (Larry Line, Maryland)

pinned and live adult images by James Adams and Hugh McGuinness respectively (Dalton State College, Georgia)

common name reference [Yellow-striped Fruitworm; larva] and biology (Michigan State U.)

food plants and flight season (Ohio State U.)