Ceratomia catalpae
Ceratomia catalpae
Ceratomia catalpae is a butterfly (moth ) from the family of moth ( Sphingidae ). See the butterfly Ceratomia undulosa similar, but the caterpillars are significantly different from all other species of the genus Ceratomia. Therefore, it may be necessary to set the type in its own genus, such an agreement has not yet been proposed. The caterpillars are called in the southeastern United States "fish worms" and used on the basis of their frequency as bait for fishing.
- 5.1 Notes and references
- 5.2 Literature
Features
The moths have a forewing length from 27 to 45 millimeters. You see Ceratomia undulosa similar, but differ in the forewing pattern. The pattern consists in Ceratomia undulosa almost always strongly contrasting shades of gray, white and black. Also, a clear white medial line and a white Diskalfleck and a white band at the outer edge hem is formed on the top. In Ceratomia catalpae the pattern is covered by a blunt ( yellowish ) brown color and lacks the white elements. Located centrally on the front wings are in most individuals two to five dark stripes. In some individuals the pattern is only weakly developed, giving them a washed out appearance. The stain to the cell of the forewing is gray with a black border. The upper side of the hind wings is yellowish - brown with dark lines. The spindle-shaped body of the moth is gray and 30 to 35 millimeters long.
The caterpillars are very long and slender and have a smooth body surface. Initially, the caterpillars are pale and almost whitish. In the second and third stage gets its color more and more Black shares. They have a thin, needle-like Analhorn, which is slightly curved towards the front. The caterpillars are very different from all other species of the genus, which have a fleshy curved backwards Analhorn. The caterpillars are highly variable in their coloration. They occur even within the same population are likely to meet in a yellow, pink and green color variant. The lateral oblique stripes are black. They are either sharply demarcated or united at the back to a broad, dorsal fascia. But there are also individuals which these strips are entirely absent.
The doll is slim and has a smooth, glossy surface. It is yellowish to maroon. Your short, grainy cremaster ends in a blunt, double in some species tip.
Occurrence
The species is widespread in much of the eastern United States to the edge of the Great Plains. It comes from the extreme south of New York and the South Pennsylvania prior to South Florida. In the Appalachians, the Ohio River and the Mississippi River Valley can Ceratomia catalpae be very common. The species occurs also in southern Michigan and southwestern Wisconsin and is known with a single record from Minnesota. In the center of the United States, they settled the Eastern Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. In Canada, it is widespread in Essex County ( Ontario), the extreme south-west of the Niagara Peninsula and in the south of Manitoba. Individual records from Maine, Massachusetts and Rhode Iceland were probably vagrants. It also occurs in Mexico.
Ceratomia catalpae colonized deciduous forests.
Way of life
All records of butterflies made so far on the light. The proboscis of the type measures only about five millimeters and the necessary muscles are absent or regressed, so the moths can not feed.
Flight times and caterpillars
The moths fly from April to early October. In the south, Michigan probably flies a generation with the maximum in midsummer. Otherwise, the species seems two generations with maxima in early May and train in August.
Food of the caterpillars
The caterpillars feed exclusively on the leaves of trumpet trees (Catalpa ).
Development
The females lay their eggs in large Located on the underside of leaves of the food plants. The eggs are translucent whitish, greenish to creamy yellow, and oval with 0.66 times 0.5 millimeters in size. You can not find rarely more than 70 eggs in a single nest. The caterpillars hatch after five to seven days, which one can recognize them before hatching through the shell. They live initially sociable, later mostly, but due to high population densities do not always individually. They initially skeletonize the leaves of the food plants, and later eat them completely and can even defoliate the entire plant. The development can be completed in favorable conditions after three weeks. The caterpillars are very susceptible to parasitoids. Many are killed by Brackwespen as Apanteles congregatus. Pupation carried in a loose cocoon that is applied from soil and plant parts below the ground surface.