Explanation of Names
gemma, =a is Latin for a bud
=talus is Latin for the ankle, heel
(1)
The specific name may allude to the tuft of scales on the foreleg visible on this image:
Numbers
Monotypic genus in the U.S.
Identification
Color *highly* variable. Wings heavily mottled or mostly unmarked with weak stripe and prominent spots. See references.
The larvae are extremely variable in coloration and markings throughout the instars. - see Featured Creature link
Range
Much of North America, but primarily southeastern U.S.
Season
September-November
The caterpillar overwinters in the southern tip of Florida and moves north during the summer months. A. gemmatalis is an annual problem in the months of June through September in Florida, Georgia and Alabama. Infestations of velvetbean caterpillar are less severe in the western United States. - see Featured Creature link
Food
Soybean (Glycine max) is the primary host of the velvetbean caterpillar but it will feed on many other species including peanut, kudzu, velvetbean, horse beans, cotton, cowpea, coffeeweed, black locust, hairy indigo, lespedeza, sesbania, and white sweetclover (Waters and Barfield 1989). Legumes are the preferred host plant of the velvetbean caterpillar. - see Featured Creature link
Life Cycle
Larvae feed on pea family plants (Fabaceae), including alfalfa, soybeans, velvetbeans.
Remarks
The velvetbean caterpillar, Anticarsia gemmatalis (Hübner), is the most damaging foliage feeding pest of soybean in Florida and the southeastern states. Infestations of the caterpillar occur in the late summer months and can cause great damage to soybean and other legume crops if not managed. The caterpillar is able to strip fields of soybean foliage in five to seven days (Wilkerson et al. 1986). - see Featured Creature link
This migratory species regularly "invades" northward each fall, often in great numbers
(2)Print References
Covell, p. 163, plate 39 #4
(3)
Waters, D.J., C.S. Barfield. 1989. Larval development and consumption by Anticarsia gemmatalis (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) fed various legume species. Environmental Entomology 18: 1006-1010.
Wilkerson, G.G., J.W. Mishoe, J.L. Stimac. 1986. Modeling velvetbean caterpillar (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) populations in soybean. Environmental Entomology 15: 809-816.
Internet References
Georgia Leps includes dark and green form larval images
