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
HOSTSInternet 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)
