Redlined conifer caterpillar
- French common name: Féralie joyeuse
- Scientific name: Feralia jocosa (Gn.)
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Arthropoda
- Class: Insecta
- Order: Lepidoptera
- Family: Noctuidae
Distribution
- Canada
Damage, symptoms and biology
The redlined conifer caterpillar is a common innocuous solitary defoliator.Mature larva to 30 mm long. Body, green with bright white middorsal and subdorsal stripes; spiracular stripe broken into discrete white, yellow and red oval segments; oval yellow subspiracular markings above abdominal prolegs.
This species overwinters in the pupal stage. Adults emerge May to June; larvae are present June to August and pupation occurs in August.
Other information
Feralia comstocki is similar but differs in that the white, yellow and red spiracular stripe is continuous and not broken into discrete segments.Canadian Forest Service Publications
Diet and feeding behaviour
-
Phyllophagous:
Feeds on the leaves of plants.
- Free-living defoliator: Feeds on and moves about freely on foliage.
Information on host(s)
Main host(s)
- Amabilis fir
- Balsam fir
- Black spruce
- Engelmann spruce
- Grand fir
- Mountain hemlock
- Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir
- Sitka spruce
- Subalpine fir
- Tamarack
- Western hemlock
- Western larch
- White spruce
Photos
Lateral view of mature larva, on Douglas-fir