Genus Gnophaela

Classification · Numbers · Identification · Range · Food · Internet References

moth - Gnophaela latipennis - male - female

Hairy black caterpillars with yellow and blue markings and red head - Gnophaela vermiculata

Tiger moth ... Gnophaela sp. - Gnophaela vermiculata - male

Moth species - Gnophaela latipennis - female

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 Erebidae

Subfamily Arctiinae (Tiger and Lichen Moths)

Tribe Arctiini (Tiger Moths)

Subtribe Pericopina

Genus Gnophaela

Numbers

5 species in North America

Identification

Adult: all black except for large white spots on wings

Larva: yellow with uniformly-distributed patches of black hairs that partly obscure the yellow ground color

We have been staring at the caterpillars of Gnophaela and here's what we think we've discerned:

1) vermiculata has small yellow spots, 'footprints', down the back that are separated into discrete spots.

2) discreta has spots that are slightly larger and are mostly continuous, not discrete - despite the name!

3) latipennis has the largest spots, almost as wide as long, and continuous

vermiculata:

discreta:

latipennis:

Range

western United States, with one species (G. vermiculata) reaching southwestern Canada

Food

Larvae feed on Boraginaceae (latipennis is poliphagous) according to HOSTS

Internet References

pinned adult images by Paul Opler, and US distribution maps of: G. aequinoctialis, clappiana, discreta, latipennis, vermiculata (butterfliesandmoths.org)

live larva image of G. latipennis plus description, food plant, seasonality (Jeffrey Miller, Caterpillars of Pacific Northwest Forests and Woodlands; USGS)

Contributed by Cotinis on 4 November, 2004 - 5:15am
Additional contributions by john and jane balaban, Beatriz Moisset, Robin McLeod, David Ferguson, Chuck Sexton, KenW
Last updated 2 January, 2019 - 7:06pm

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