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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Owlet Moths and kin (Noctuoidea) » Erebidae » Tiger and Lichen Moths (Arctiinae) » Tiger Moths (Arctiini) » Pericopina » Gnophaela » Police Car Moth - Hodges#8037 (Gnophaela vermiculata)
Photo#535739
Hairy black caterpillars with yellow and blue markings and red head - Gnophaela vermiculata
Copyright © 2011 Jerry Friedman

Hairy black caterpillars with yellow and blue markings and red head - Gnophaela vermiculata
San Cristobal Canyon, Columbine-Hondo Wilderness Study Area, Taos County, New Mexico, USA
June 25, 2011
Size: 2-2.5 cm body length?
This is the one on the left in the other picture.

Mixed conifers, 8000–9000 feet. Sorry, I don't know what the plant is.

Images of this individual: tag all
Hairy black caterpillars with yellow and blue markings and red head - Gnophaela vermiculata Hairy black caterpillars with yellow and blue markings and red head - Gnophaela vermiculata Hairy black caterpillars with yellow and blue markings and red head
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Contributed by Jerry Friedman on 26 June, 2011 - 11:48pm
Last updated 2 January, 2019 - 6:42pm

Moved
Moved from Gnophaela. The pattern and location seem to fit vermiculata best so we'll move it there.
… john and jane balaban, 2 January, 2019 - 6:42pm login or register to post comments

Moved
Moved from Tiger Moths.
… john and jane balaban, 14 January, 2012 - 7:21pm login or register to post comments

 
Thanks.
I thought your initial idea would turn out to be right.
… Jerry Friedman, 15 January, 2012 - 5:21pm login or register to post comments

 
Now we have to find a source to read
to see if we can capture a species ID for you.
… john and jane balaban, 15 January, 2012 - 5:44pm login or register to post comments

Moved
Moved from Butterflies and Moths.
… john and jane balaban, 1 July, 2011 - 3:21pm login or register to post comments

Moved
Moved from ID Request.
… v belov, 1 July, 2011 - 6:23am login or register to post comments

Makes us think of the genus Gnophaela

Don't know which one. We're guessing the plant is one of the Borages, such as Houndstongue. Do you have a wide angle view of the plant?
… john and jane balaban, 27 June, 2011 - 7:47am login or register to post comments

 
I'm convinced.
Since you asked, I uploaded a picture with more of the plant. With your hint of the borage family, it looks to me like Mertensia franciscana, which was common throughout the canyon in moist areas. I don't know about this spot, which I hadn't been to before, but Gnophaela vermiculata is abundant some 60 miles south in the same mountain range.

I really should pay more attention to the plants.
… Jerry Friedman, 27 June, 2011 - 9:34am login or register to post comments

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