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Species Euclea delphinii - Spiny Oak-Slug Moth - Hodges#4697
Classification Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
No Taxon (Moths)
Superfamily Zygaenoidea
Family Limacodidae (Slug Caterpillar Moths)
Genus Euclea
Species delphinii (Spiny Oak-Slug Moth - Hodges#4697)
Other Common Names Spiny Oak-Slug (larva) Size larvae length to about 20 mm Identification Adult: forewing brown with some orange and purplish shading; green patches in median area bordered with white, varying from large to nearly absent; discal streak brown to black; hindwing brown
[description by Charles Covell (1)]
very similar to Euclea nanina - see See Also section below
Larva: body usually green but may also be yellow, orange, or red; three pairs of large horn-like spines with black-tipped bristles at the front, and two pairs at the rear; clumps of smaller spines occur in rows along the back and sides; four dense clumps of small dark spines at the rear
[adapted from description by L. Hyche] Range eastern North America: Quebec and New Brunswick to Florida, west to Texas, north to Minnesota
although Covell's Guide gives Louisiana as the western limit of the range of delphinii, Dalton State College gives a range extending west to Texas, and Knudson and Bordelon have specimens from east Texas west to at least Houston. Habitat deciduous forests; adults are nocturnal and come to light Season adults fly from May to August (1) but have been photographed as late as October in Ontario, near the northern limit of its range
larvae from August to October Food larvae feed on leaves of apple, basswood, cherry, chestnut, maple, oak, redbud, sycamore, willow, and other broad-leaved woody plants Life Cycle one generation per year in the north; two in the south Remarks Caution, this is a stinging caterpillar. See Auburn University page by L. Hyche for more information.
NOTE: BugGuide photos from the southeastern states previously identified as Spiny Oak-Slug Moth ( Euclea delphinii) have been moved to the genus page because we have no information (as of December 2006) on how to distinguish adults or larvae of delphinii from the virtually identical Euclea nanina. However, identification of adults may be possible in the western portions of the overlap zone; see comments at the genus level. See Also Adults are very similar to Euclea nanina [Hodges Number 4697.1], which, like E. delphinii, has a varying amount of green on the forewing ( 1, 2, 3, 4) and occurs from South Carolina to Florida, west to Texas, according to the range given at Dalton State College and these two lists from Texas ( 1, 2) which include nanina but not delphinii in Texas. The two species may be field identifiable in western portions of their range but less so in the east; see comments at the genus level.
Presumably the larvae of nanina and delphinii are very similar also. Print References Covell, p. 411, plate 55 #10, #14 (1)
Wagner, p. 88--caterpillar (2)
Himmelman, plate C-1, adult (3)
Internet References pinned adult images of male and female and different color forms, plus live adult images by John Himmelman and Randy Emmit (James Adams, Dalton State College, Georgia)
9 pinned adult images plus collection site map showing presence in Quebec and New Brunswick (All-Leps)
live adult images and dates (Lynn Scott, Ontario)
adult images (Larry Line, Maryland)
live adult image (John Himmelman, Connecticut)
pinned adult images (Insects of Cedar Creek, Minnesota)
live larva images of a yellow individual ( 1, 2) by Jerry Payne (USDA Agricultural Research Service, insectimages.org)
live larva image plus description, foodplants, seasonality, life cycle (David Wagner and Valerie Giles, Caterpillars of Eastern Forests, USGS) Works Cited | 2. | Caterpillars of Eastern Forests
By David L. Wagner, Valerie Giles, Richard C. Reardon, Michael L. McManus | |
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