Other Common Names
Purplish-brown Looper (larva)
Numbers
the only species in this genus in North America listed at
All-LepsSize
Wingspan 38-56 mm; female larger than male
(1)Identification
Adult: wings brownish-gray or mottled brown against yellowish-tan ground color; forewing PM line, fine, mostly straight, turning sharply back toward costa, the short upper section curving inward; hindwing outer margin gently scalloped or wavy [adapted from description by Charles Covell
(1)]
(compare similar species in See Also section below)
Larva: early instar - body very dark brown, almost black; later instars - body greenish or tan to dark purplish-brown with conspicuously swollen second thoracic segment, marked with orange or red; blackish dorsal protuberances on fourth and eighth abdominal segments; setal bases often light orange; spiracles small, tan to orange, rimmed with black [adapted from description by Pedro Barbosa and David Wagner & Valerie Giles]
Range
eastern North America: Nova Scotia to Florida, west to Texas, north to Saskatchewan
Habitat
deciduous and mixed woodlands; adults are nocturnal and come to light
Season
adults fly from April to August
Food
larvae feed on leaves of ash, basswood, birch, elm, fir, maple, poplar, willow, and other trees
See Also
Large Maple Spanworm (
Prochoerodes lineola) outer margins of wings angular with shallow point near middle, not scalloped or wavy; short upper section of forewing PM line (near costa) curves outward, not inward (
compare images of both species at CBIF)
Juniper Geometer (
Patalene olyzonaria),
Confused Eusarca (
Eusarca confusaria), and species of
Oxydia have a smoothly rounded hindwing outer margin, not scalloped or wavy
species of Synaxis and Tetracis have a completely straight PM line on forewing, not bent near costa
Print References
Covell, p. 372, plate 55 #1
(1)
Wagner,
Caterpillars of Eastern North America, p. 191
(2)Internet References
live adult images and dates (Larry Line, Maryland)
live adult images and dates (Lynn Scott, Ontario)
live adult image (John Himmelman, Connecticut)
35 pinned adult images plus collection site map (All-Leps)
live larva image close-up (Grant Gentry, Tulane U., Louisiana)
live larva image of early instar, plus description (Pedro Barbosa, U. of Maryland)
live larva image plus description, foodplants, seasonality, common name reference [Purplish-brown Looper; larva] (David Wagner and Valerie Giles, Caterpillars of Eastern Forests, USGS)
presence in Texas; list (James Gillaspy, U. of Texas)
presence in Florida; list (John Heppner, Florida State Collection of Arthropods)
distribution in Canada list of provinces (CBIF)
