Other Common Names
Warty Birch Caterpillar (larva)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Falcaria bilineata (Packard, 1864)
Drepana hudsoni Barnes & Benjamin, 1922
Prionia levis Hudson, 1893
Falcaria rampartensis (Barnes & Benjamin, 1922)
Explanation of Names
Falcaria bilineata (Packard, 1864), rev. comb., was formerly included in the genus
Drepana and includes
rampartensis (Barnes & Benjamin, 1922), formerly a subspecies of
bilineata, as a new synonym of same (Schmidt in Pohl & Nanz (eds.) 2023).
(1) Identification
Adult: forewing light brown to orangish-yellow with scalloped outer margin and hooked tip; AM and PM lines brown, straight, parallel; reniform spot a black dot; first brood moths have many dark wiggly lines crossing wing; in second brood individuals, these lines are few or lacking.
hindwing white or pale yellow with small indistinct discal spot and thin brown terminal line
Larva: body purplish or reddish-brown mottled with yellow and covered with warts or tubercles; tail end tapers to a point
Pupa: purple with diffuse black spots, pointed rear end, and covered with fine white powder as though dipped in flour
Range
coast to coast in northern United States and southern Canada (Newfoundland to New Jersey, west to Oregon, north to British Columbia)
Season
The flight period is April to September (two broods).
(2)Food
larvae feed on leaves of alder, birch, poplar
Life Cycle
two generations per year; pupation occurs within a cocoon hidden by a folded leaf
Larva; larva; adult
See Also
Arched Hooktip lacks two straight parallel lines on forewing
Rose Hooktip is colored differently and also lacks two straight parallel lines on forewing
Print References
Packard, 1864.
Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Philadelphia, 3:
376.
Powell, J.A. & P.A. Opler, 2009.
Moths of Western North America. University of California Press, pl. 27, fig. 2; p. 202.
(3)