Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada

Species Heterocampa umbrata - White-blotched Heterocampa - Hodges#7990

Odd caterpillar, orange lines create two large diamonds, red splotches  - Heterocampa umbrata heterocampa - Heterocampa umbrata heterocampa - Heterocampa umbrata Heterocampa umbrata Heterocampa obliqua - Heterocampa umbrata Heterocampa umbrata unknown caterpillar and its moth - Heterocampa umbrata Heterocampa umbrata
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 Noctuoidea (Owlet Moths and kin)
Family Notodontidae (Prominent Moths)
Subfamily Heterocampinae
Genus Heterocampa
Species umbrata (White-blotched Heterocampa - Hodges#7990)
Hodges Number
7990
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Heterocampa umbrata Walker, 1855
Stauropus athereo Doubleday, 1869
Phylogenetic sequence # 930082 (1)
Size
Forewing length = 19 - 26 mm.(2)
Identification
Bright lime overall. Forewing lines tend to be broken and poorly defined.(2)
Range
FL and southeastern GA(2)
Type locality (umbrata): St. John's Bluff, East Florida.
Type locality (athereo): St. John's Bluff, East Florida.
Moth Photographers Group - large map with some collection locations and dates.
Habitat
Forests and barrens with hostplants (oaks).
Season
Continuous broods. (3)
Food
Probably oak.
Life Cycle
The larvae feed on oaks (Quercus). Two generations per year in much of range, multiple generations in Florida.
See Also
Heterocampa pulverea Grote & Robinson, 1867 is absent south of the Florida Panhandle.
Print References
Covell, pp. 333-334, plate 44 (4) (umbrata north of FL in reference = pulverea)
Wagner, p. 302 - photos of larva, adult (3) (umbrata north of FL in reference = pulverea)
Works Cited
1.Annotated check list of the Noctuoidea (Insecta, Lepidoptera) of North America north of Mexico.
Donald J. Lafontaine, B. Christian Schmidt. 2010. ZooKeys 40: 1–239 .
2.Noctuoidea, Notodontidae (Part 2, Conclusion): Heterocampinae, Nystaleinae, Dioptinae, Dicranurinae
Miller, J.S., D.L. Wagner, P.A. Opler & J.D. Lafontaine. 2021. The Moths of America north of Mexico, Fascicle 22.1B: 1-443.
3.Caterpillars of Eastern North America
David L. Wagner. 2005. Princeton University Press.
4.Peterson Field Guides: Eastern Moths
Charles V. Covell. 1984. Houghton Mifflin Company.
5.North American Moth Photographers Group
6.BOLD: The Barcode of Life Data Systems