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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Flannel, Slug Caterpillar, Leaf Skeletonizer Moths and kin (Zygaenoidea) » Slug Caterpillar Moths (Limacodidae) » Parasa » Stinging Rose Caterpillar Moth - Hodges#4699 (Parasa indetermina)

Species Parasa indetermina - Stinging Rose Caterpillar Moth - Hodges#4699

Classification · Hodges Number · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Size · Identification · Range · Season · Food · Remarks · Internet References · Works Cited

Stinging rose caterpillar - Parasa indetermina

Parasa chloris - Smaller Parasa - Parasa indetermina

Stinging Rose Caterpillar Moth - Parasa indetermina - male

Green moth with brown trim - Parasa indetermina

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 Zygaenoidea (Flannel, Slug Caterpillar, Leaf Skeletonizer Moths and kin)

Family Limacodidae (Slug Caterpillar Moths)

Genus Parasa

Species indetermina (Stinging Rose Caterpillar Moth - Hodges#4699)

Hodges Number

4699

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

Parasa indetermina (Boisduval, 1832)

Size

Wingspan: 23-30 mm (1)

Identification

Adult: Larger than Parasa chloris, and outer edge of green patch is more rounded. Large brown patch in terminal area of FW is characteristic.(2)

Larva: The full-grown caterpillar is 3/4 to 7/8 inch long; basic color is yellow. The body bears pairs of long, horn-like, bristly spines and clumps of smaller spines which are characteristic of several of the slug caterpillars. A useful identifying characteristic is the broad purplish band down the midline of the back. Within the band are narrow whitish longitudinal lines, which may be interrupted by constrictions in the band. Reddish, white, and purple lines occur along the sides. (4)

Range

Found from New York to Florida, west to Missouri and Texas. (1)

Season

Adults are on wing from June to July. (1)

Caterpillars found in late summer.

Food

Hosts of the stinging rose caterpillar include apple, cottonwood, dogwood, hickory, oak, redbud, sycamore and rose bushes. (1)

Dyar recorded on "wild cherry, oak, hickory, and bayberry" (3)

Remarks

Caution, This is a stinging caterpillar. See this site for more information.

Internet References

Moth Photographers Group – images of live and pinned adults (4)

BOLD Systems - images of DNA supported specimens (5)

Wikipedia - brief description (1)

Auburn University Site

Works Cited

1.	Wikipedia

2.	Peterson Field Guides: Eastern Moths Charles V. Covell. 1984. Houghton Mifflin Company.

3.	The Life-Histories of the New York Slug Caterpillars Harrison G. Dyar. 1895. Journal of the New York Entomological Society.

4.	North American Moth Photographers Group

5.	BOLD: The Barcode of Life Data Systems

Contributed by Troy Bartlett on 16 February, 2004 - 12:32pm
Additional contributions by Lynette Elliott, Maury Heiman, Robert Lord Zimlich, Blocky
Last updated 27 January, 2021 - 11:03am

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