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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Flannel, Slug Caterpillar, Leaf Skeletonizer Moths and kin (Zygaenoidea) » Slug Caterpillar Moths (Limacodidae) » Prolimacodes » Skiff Moth - Hodges#4671 (Prolimacodes badia)

Species Prolimacodes badia - Skiff Moth - Hodges#4671

Classification · Hodges Number · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Season · Food · Life Cycle · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited
Skiff Moth - Prolimacodes badia Prolimacodes badia (Hübner) - Prolimacodes badia Skiff Moth - Hodges#4671 - Prolimacodes badia Moth [Prolimacodes badia?] ID Request - Prolimacodes badia Prolimacodes badia Prolimacodes badia Moth - Prolimacodes badia possibly Lepidoptera? - Prolimacodes badia
Show images of: caterpillars · adults · both
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
Superfamily Zygaenoidea (Flannel, Slug Caterpillar, Leaf Skeletonizer Moths and kin)
Family Limacodidae (Slug Caterpillar Moths)
Genus Prolimacodes
Species badia (Skiff Moth - Hodges#4671)
Hodges Number
4671
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Prolimacodes badia (Hübner, 1822). Synyonyms, etc.:
publication year sometimes listed as 1835
Explanation of Names
badia - from the Latin "badius" (reddish-brown or bay-colored); probably refers to the color of the patches on the forewing
Skiff - perhaps from the resemblance of the caterpillar to one of those small boats
Numbers
Common; sometimes abundant in Florida (1)
Size
wingspan 24-35 mm (1)
larva length 12-15 mm
Identification
Adult: forewing pale brown tinted with white at base; dark brown strip along costa near base widens to form semicircular patch covering most of forewing, narrowing to costa at apex; patch has blackish reniform dot, and lower edge bordered with white; hindwing brown (1)

Larva: body smooth, strongly humped dorsally, highest at fourth abdominal segment; dorsum highly variable from brown to green; posterior drawn out to point; sides green, occasionally marked with white spots that resemble damaged or necrotic leaf tissue
[adapted from description at Caterpillars of Eastern Forests]
Range
New Hampshire to Florida, west to southern Ontario, Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi (1)
Habitat
woodlands; adults are nocturnal and attracted to light
Season
Larvae from July to October
Adults from May to September (1)
Food
larvae feed on leaves of wide variety of trees and shrubs, including birch, blueberry, cherry, chestnut, Hophornbeam (Ostrya virginiana), oak, poplar, Sweetgale (Myrica gale), willow, and others

Dyar recorded on "oak, chestnut, wild cherry, hickory, sweet gum, bayberry, linden, witch hazel, and hop hornbeam" (2)
Life Cycle
one generation per year in the north; overwinters as a pupa
Print References
Arnett, page 700, figure 27.78 (3)
Baker, Eastern Forest Insects, page 348 (4)
Covell, page 410, plate 56 (#5) (1)
Internet References
Photos of various life stages by various photographers (forestryimages.org)
Works Cited
1.Peterson Field Guides: Eastern Moths
Charles V. Covell. 1984. Houghton Mifflin Company.
2.The Life-Histories of the New York Slug Caterpillars
Harrison G. Dyar. 1895. Journal of the New York Entomological Society.
3.American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico
Ross H. Arnett. 2000. CRC Press.
4.Eastern Forest Insects
Whiteford L. Baker. 1972. U.S. Department of Agriculture · Forest Service.
Contributed by Troy Bartlett on 16 February, 2004 - 12:32pm
Additional contributions by cotinis, Robin McLeod, Blocky
Last updated 27 January, 2021 - 10:57am

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