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Species Schizura ipomaeae - Morning-glory Prominent - Hodges#8005

Checkered-fringe Prominent - Schizura ipomaeae Schizura ipomoeae - Schizura ipomaeae 8005 – Schizura ipomoeae – Morning-glory Prominent - Schizura ipomaeae Morning-Glory Prominent - Schizura ipomaeae Pennsylvania Caterpillar - Schizura ipomaeae Pennsylvania Caterpillar - Schizura ipomaeae 2022-08-20 Lepidoptera - Schizura ipomaeae Schizura ipomaeae
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 Schizura
Species ipomaeae (Morning-glory Prominent - Hodges#8005)
Hodges Number
8005
Other Common Names
False Unicorn Caterpillar (larva); Checkered-fringe Prominent
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Schizura ipomaeae Doubleday, 1841
Phylogenetic sequence # 930098
Explanation of Names
IPOMAEAE: from the genus name (Ipomoea) of morning-glory, allegedly one of the larval foodplants, and the origin of the common name Morning-glory Prominent
Numbers
Lafontaine & Schmidt (2010) listed eight species of the genus Schizura in America north of Mexico. (1)
Size
wingspan 36-47 mm
Identification
Adult: forewing highly variable - usually grayish-brown with inconspicuous pattern of black streaks and spots; lines broken, obscure; reniform spot blackish, ringed with ground color; black-shaded form "cinereofrons" predominant in some localities; form "telifer" has long black streaks in basal and subterminal areas; hindwing dirty white in male, dark gray in female
[adapted from description by Charles Covell]

Larva: fifth abdominal segment distinctly humped; 5-banded stripe on head; body light brown with contrasting green second and third thoracic segments
Range
all of United States and across southern Canada. (2)
Habitat
deciduous forests; adults are nocturnal and come to light
Season
adults fly from April to September in the south; June to August in the north
larvae from May to October
Food
larvae feed on leaves of beech, birch, elm, maple, oak, rose, and other woody plants; probably not morning-glory (3)
Life Cycle
one generation per year in the north
See Also
Schizura unicornis has a very similar caterpillar. The head stripes and humped A5 (fifth abdominal segment) of this species are listed as distinctive in Wagner (3) p. 314. S. unicornis also has a white V-shape over A6 and A7 which S. ipomoeae lacks.
Print References
Powell, J.A., and P.A. Opler, 2009. Moths of Western North America. University of California. pl. 42, fig. 20; p. 251.(4)
Wagner (3)
Internet References
live larva image plus description, foodplants, seasonality, life cycle (David Wagner and Valerie Giles, Caterpillars of Eastern Forests, USGS)
distribution in Canada list of provinces (U. of Alberta, using CBIF data)