The pupa of the unidentified erebid larvae has eclosed. It appears to be Zale, in which case most likely lunata. After a prompt two weeks, the pupa of the unidentified erebid has eclosed into female as we thought. Coming from a decently sized pupa, the moth is also pretty decent. It is very flat and when disturbed, flies out rapidly. It's almost impossible to catch the thing once it gets active. By the time we got it to sit down, most of the thoracic scales had been rubbed off as seen in the photograph. We had speculated the Zale genus based on larval appearance, but identification in the Eribidae can get quite tricky as the life histories of many species are not well known. Now that the moth has eclosed, it does indeed appear to be Zale, and if it is, it would most likely be lunata, the lunate zale, based on appearance and location. ![]() Authors Brian Liang
Comments
Rearing notes for an unidentified erebid (Zale?) larva. It was collected on collected on willow (Salix sp.) in Albany, California, June 2017. Rearing Notes 6/23/17-6/30/17: 6/30:
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![]() Authors Alan Liang Rearing notes for an unidentified Erebid (Zale?) larva. It was collected on collected on willow (Salix sp.) in Albany, California, June 2017. Rearing Notes 6/17/17-6/22/17: 6/22:
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6/17: ![]() Authors Alan Liang We found an unidentified larva on willow (Salix sp.). When we returned from picking willow for our ophthalmicas, we were surprised to discover we had brought along an interesting looking brown larva we could not identify. The larva is quite interesting and cryptic on woody branches, being reddish brown with small black spots. The body is very slender an the first set of prolegs are gone, and the larva crawls in an inchworm fashion. It is quite active and eats sporadically on either edge or the center of the leaf. We don't know the larva's instar, but it probably has at least another one or two based on it small size. Our best guess for identification is most likely Erebidae based on the missing set of prolegs and general appearance, though it is impossible to say exact species at this point, perhaps not until it reaches adult. ![]() Authors Alan Liang Rearing notes for an unidentified Noctuid larva. It was collected locally on willow (Salix sp.) here in northern California. Rearing Notes 4/12/17-4/26/17: 4/26:
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4/12: ![]() Authors Alan Liang Rearing notes for the larvae of a Noctuid species we cannot identify. They were collected on willow (Salix sp.) at Cerrito Creek (El Cerrito, California). Rearing Notes 4/21/17-4/25/17: 4/25:
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![]() Authors Alan Liang Rearing notes for an unidentified Noctuid larva. It was collected locally on willow (Salix sp.) here in northern California. Rearing Notes 4/14/17-4/20/17: 4/20:
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![]() Authors Alan Liang We have found a Noctuid caterpillar on willow (Salix) that we are unable to identify. And again with the random caterpillars on willow! We went down to Cerrito Creek again this afternoon to pick up some red alder and ceanothus for our euryalus, and along the way we found another larva we had never seen before on willow. This one looks quite similar to the Orthosia hibisci we found two days ago but resembles more of a cutworm, being light brown with dark brown dashes down the body. If it weren't for all the similar looking larva in the Noctuidae, we would probably just go ahead and call this a large yellow underwing larva (Noctua pronuba), but we can't be sure. The host plant is somewhat confusing as although many Noctuids are polyphagous, most cutworms seem to prefer small herbaceous plants rather than woody plants such as willow. ![]() Authors Alan Liang |
Timeline 2012–2017
Albany, California This timeline is a series of daily posts recording our observations on and experiences with various insects in Albany California and surrounding areas, from 2012-2017. Since we did not publish this site until 2016, posts before that were constructed retroactively. Starting in August 2017, we moved to Ithaca, New York; posts from there on can be viewed at Timeline 2017-present: Ithaca, New York. Archives (1,011)
August 2017 (49) July 2017 (121) June 2017 (79) May 2017 (77) April 2017 (91) March 2017 (35) February 2017 (12) January 2017 (10) December 2016 (12) November 2016 (26) October 2016 (49) September 2016 (84) August 2016 (94) July 2016 (99) June 2016 (53) May 2016 (21) April 2016 (4) January 2016 (1) August 2015 (3) July 2015 (3) June 2015 (2) June 2014 (3) May 2014 (1) April 2014 (3) March 2014 (3) December 2013 (2) November 2013 (2) October 2013 (5) September 2013 (11) August 2013 (15) July 2013 (9) June 2013 (5) May 2013 (4) April 2013 (3) March 2013 (2) February 2013 (3) January 2013 (2) December 2012 (2) November 2012 (1) October 2012 (2) September 2012 (2) August 2012 (5) July 2012 (1) June 2012 (1) Authors
![]() ![]() Full Species List (Alphabetical by scientific name) Note: - Not every species we encounter is necessarily presented on this site, rather a selection of those that were of particular interest to us and that we felt were worth documenting. - We can't guarantee that all species have been identified accurately, particularly taxa we are not as familiar with. Lepidoptera Actias luna Adelpha californica Agraulis vanillae Allancastria cerisyi Antheraea mylitta Antheraea polyphemus Anthocharis sara Argema mimosae Attacus atlas Battus philenor hirsuta Bombyx mori Caligo atreus Callosamia promethea Coenonympha tullia california Citheronia regalis Cricula trifenestrata Danaus plexippus Eacles imperialis Erynnis tristis Estigmene acrea Eumorpha achemon Eupackardia calleta Furcula cinereoides Heliconius erato Heliconius hecale Heliconius sapho Heliconius sara Hyalophora cecropia Hyalophora columbia Hyalophora euryalus Hylephila phyleus Hyles lineata Junonia coenia Langia zenzeroides formosana Lophocampa maculata Manduca sexta Morpho peleides Nymphalis antiopa Orgyia vetusta Orthosia hibisci quenquefasciata Pachysphinx modesta Papilio cresphontes Papilio eurymedon Papilio glaucus Papilio machaon oregonius Papilio multicaudata Papilio polyxenes asterius Papilio rumiko Papilio rutulus Papilio zelicaon Phyciodes mylitta Phyciodes pulchella Pieris rapae Plejebus acmon Poanes melane Polites sabuleti Polygonia satyrus Pyrgus communis Rothschildia jacobaeae Samia cynthia advena Samia ricini Smerinthus cerisyi Smerinthus ophthalmica Strymon melinus Trichoplusia ni Uresephita reversalis Vanessa annabella Vanessa atalanta Vanessa cardui Unidentified Lepidoptera Hybrids Papilio glaucus × Papilio rutulus Papilio polyxenes asterius × Papilio zelicaon Orthoptera Melanoplus devastator Phaneroptera nana Pristoceuthophilus pacificus Scudderia mexicana Trimerotropis pallidipennis Phasmatodea Carausius morosus Phyllium giganteum Mantodea Mantis religiosa Phyllocrania paradoxa Hymenoptera Apis mellifera Bombus vosnesenskii Brachymeria ovata Linepithema humile Pediobius sp. Polistes dominula Xylocopa varipuncta Unidentified Diptera Lucilia sericata Unidentified Hemiptera Brochymena sp. Leptoglossus sp. Nezara viridula Odonata Argia vivida Libellula croceipennis Coleoptera Coccinella septempunctata Cycloneda polita Diabrotica undecimpunctata Hippodamia convergens Araneae (Class: Arachnida) Araneus diadematus Phidippus johnsoni |