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Species Datana integerrima - Walnut Caterpillar Moth - Hodges#7907

moth - Datana integerrima maybe Datana contracta - Datana integerrima Datana sp. - Datana integerrima Unknown caterpillar - Datana integerrima Angus's Datana Moth - Datana integerrima Datana - Datana integerrima - male Raining Caterpillars in Florida - Datana integerrima Datana - Datana integerrima
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 Phalerinae
Genus Datana
Species integerrima (Walnut Caterpillar Moth - Hodges#7907)
Hodges Number
7907
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Datana integerrima Grote(1) & Robinson, 1866
Phylogenetic sequence # 930038 (2)
Numbers
Lafontaine & Schmidt (2010) listed 13 species of the genus Datana in America north of Mexico. (2)
Size
Wingspan 3.5-5.5 cm
Identification
Distinguished from other eastern Datana by its bold dark-and-light banding pattern. The PM line and the two median lines are shaded along their outer edges with pale scales, producing this banded look.

Specimen identified by DNA analysis (BOLD). (3)
Range
Heppner (2003) reported the range to include Quebec to Florida(4), Minnesota to Texas. (5)
Records from Arizona refer to D. cochise, which used to be conspecific with D. integerrima.
Habitat
Deciduous forests
Season
The main flight period is April to October. (6)
Heppner (2003) reported April, July to September, November in Florida. (5)
Food
Larvae feed on hickories, pecan, and walnut.
Life Cycle
One generation in northern part of range, up to three in southern.
Egg laying begins in early June. They are laid in masses on the undersides of leaves. The larvae feed in colonies, congregating on the trunk and larger limbs to molt. Full-grown larvae drop to the ground and wander about searching for pupation sites in the soil.(7)
See Also
In southern Arizona, Datana cochise, which is extremely similar to D. integerrima, replaces this species.

In the East, the only species that could be confused with D. integerrima is D. contracta. D. contracta tends to have some golden-orange shading along the costa, a heavy peppering of black scales over the entire forewings, and the pale shading along the median lines only present at the inner margin, not reaching the costa.
Print References
Covell, p. 329, plate 43 #10 (adult) (8)
Wagner, Caterpillars of Eastern Forests, p. 56--larva (9)
Wagner, Caterpillars of Eastern North America, p. 295--photo of adult (specimen) and caterpillar (10)
Holland, p. 294, plate XL #13 (11)
Powell, J.A. & P.A. Opler, Moths of Western North America, pl. 33, fig. 52; p. 249. (12)
Works Cited
1.Augustus Radcliffe Grote, Lepidopterist (1841-1903)
2.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 .
3.BOLD: The Barcode of Life Data Systems
4.Checklist of the Lepidoptera of Florida
5.Arthropods of Florida and Neighboring Land Areas: Lepidoptera of Florida
J.B. Heppner. 2003. Florida Department of Agriculture 17(1): 1-670.
6.North American Moth Photographers Group
7.Eastern Forest Insects
Whiteford L. Baker. 1972. U.S. Department of Agriculture · Forest Service.
8.Peterson Field Guides: Eastern Moths
Charles V. Covell. 1984. Houghton Mifflin Company.
9.Caterpillars of Eastern Forests
David L. Wagner, Valerie Giles, Richard C. Reardon, Michael L. McManus. 1998. U.S. Dept of Agriculture, Forest Health Technology Enterprise Team.
10.Caterpillars of Eastern North America
David L. Wagner. 2005. Princeton University Press.
11.The Moth Book
W.J. Holland. 1968. Dover.
12.Moths of Western North America
Powell and Opler. 2009. UC Press.