A Field Guide to the Butterfly Caterpillars of North America by Thomas J
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CATERPILLARS IN THE FIELD AND GARDEN Field Guide Series edited by Jeffrey Glassberg Butterflies through Binoculars: The Boston- New York-Washington Region by Jeffrey Glassber g Butterflies through Binoculars: The East by Jeffrey Glassber g Butterflies through Binoculars: Florida by Jeffrey Glassberg , Marc C. Minno, and John V Calhoun Dragonflies through Binoculars: A Field Guide to Dragonflies of North America, north of Mexico by Sidney W. Dunkle Butterflies through Binoculars: The West by Jeffrey Glassber g Caterpillars in the Field and Garden: A Field Guide to the Butterfly Caterpillars of North America by Thomas J. Allen, Ji m P . Brock, and Jeffre y Glassber g CATERPILLARS IN THE FIELD AND GARDEN A FIELD GUIDE TO THE BUTTERFLY CATERPILLARS OF NORTH AMERICA Thomas J. Allen, Jim R Brock, and Jeffrey Glassberg OXTORD UNIVERSITY PRES S 2005 OXPORD UNIVERSITY PRESS Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes work s that further Oxford University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship , and education . Oxford Ne w York Auckland Cap e Town Da r es Salaam Hon g Kong Karach i Kuala Lumpur Madri d Melbourn e Mexic o City Nairob i New Delhi Shangha i Taipe i Toront o With offices i n Argentina Austri a Brazi l Chil e Czec h Republic Franc e Greec e Guatemala Hungar y Ital y Japa n Polan d Portuga l Singapor e South Korea Switzerlan d Thailan d Turke y Ukrain e Vietna m Copyright © 200 5 by Glassberg Publications Published by Oxford University Press, Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 1001 6 www.oup.com Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. N o part of this publication ma y be reproduced , stored in a retrieval system , or transmitted, i n any form or by any means , electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording , o r otherwise, without th e prior permission o f Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Allen, Thomas, J., 1940 - Caterpillars in the field and garden : a field guide to butterfly caterpillars o f North America / by Thomas J. Allen, Jim P . Brock, and Jeffre y Glassberg. p. cm. — (Butterflies [and others ] throug h binoculars fiel d guide series) Includes bibliographical reference s and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-19-518371-9 (cl ) ISBN-10: 0-19-518371-1 (cl) ISBN-13: 978-0-19-514987-6 (pbk) ISBN-10: 0-19-514987-4 (pbk) 1. Caterpillars—North America—Identification. 2. Caterpillars—North America—Pictorial works. I. Brock, James P . II . Glassberg, Jeffrey. III . Title. I V Butterflies through binoculars series . QL548.A442004 595.78'139'097—dc2 2 200305795 8 98765432 Printed in China on acid-free paper Contents Acknowledgments vii INTRODUCTION 7 DISTINGUISHING BUTTERFLY CATERPILLARS FROM 2 MOTH CATERPILLARS HOW TO FIND BUTTERFLY CATERPILLARS 3 IDENTIFYING CATERPILLAR S 6 BUTTERFLY BIOLOG Y 12 BUTTERFLY GARDENING 17 RAISING BUTTERFLY CATERPILLARS 21 CONSERVATION 21 ABOUT THE SPECIES ACCOUNTS 23 PARTS OF A CATERPILLAR 26 RANGE MAP COLORS AND INFORMATIO N 2 7 SPECIES ACCOUNTS AND PHOTOGRAPHS SWALLOWTAILS 28 WHITES AND YELLOWS 36 Whites 36 Yellows 40 GOSSAMER-WINGS 48 Harvester 48 Coppers 48 Hairstreaks 5 2 Blues 66 METALMARKS 74 BRUSHFOOTS 78 Snout and Heliconians 78 Fritillaries 80 Patches, Checkerspots, and Crescents 84 w • CONTENTS True Brushfoots 94 Admirals and Relatives 100 Leafwings and Emperors 104 Satyrs 106 Monarchs 77 2 SKIPPERS 77 4 Firetips and Spread-wing Skipper s 77 4 Skipperlings an d Grass-Skippers 128 Giant-Skippers 75 0 MOTHS 75 2 Supplementary Text 155 Photo Locations and Credits 177 Organizations Concerned with Butterflies 193 Glossary 194 Selected Bibliography 196 Food plant Scientific Name Index 197 Caterpillar Index 220 Acknowledgments THIS GUIDE is not just the work of its authors. Many people played a ma- jor role in its development, an d without thei r efforts thi s book would not be as comprehensive. Som e helped with the loan of their personal images of various species to complete the major genera. Others provided live mate- rial in the form of eggs, caterpillars, or adults to be reared or photographed. Still others reviewed sections of the manuscript, addin g valuable comment s and information t o help make the guid e more complete and accurate. We are indebted t o all these folk s an d than k each one individually for their contribution. We are grateful to the following people for the loan of caterpillar images: Greg Ballmer , Susa n S . Borkin, Ric k and Nor a Bowers , Thomas Emmel , John Emmel , Jeffery Fengler , Eve and Ro b Gill, Jack Harry, Richard Heitz- man, Gabriel a Jimenez, Mar c Minno, Dian e Pierce, Steve n Prchal, John Rawlins, Jan e Ruffin, Jorg e Soberon , Stev e Spomer , Jennifer Szymanski , Dave Wagner, Keith Wolfe, Jacque Wolfe, and Dav e Wright. Many people contributed thei r tim e an d homes t o assist us in finding caterpillars in the field, while others provided various species in the form of eggs, caterpillars, an d o n occasion adults for us to photograph. With- out their assistance, w e could not have obtained al l the species included in this guide . Warm thanks g o to: Andre w Brand , Tom Carr, Chri s Conlin, Michael Delasantro , Pet e Haggard , Ken Hansen, Jac k Harry , Paulett e Haywood, Steve Kohler, Merv Larson, Douglas Mullins, Mike Nelson, Troy Pabst, Shawn and Joe Patterson, Steven Prchal, Mike Quinn, James Reiser, Kilian Roever, Andres and Pila r Sada, Dale Schweitzer, Jeffery Slotten , th e late Mike Smith , Noel Snyder, Steve Sommerfeld, Todd Stout, Mike Tho- mas, Monty Volouski, Dave Wagner, Reginald Webster, Keith Wolfe, Jacque Wolfe, an d Dav e Wright. A special thanks to Richard Boscoe , who helpe d viii • ACKNOWLEDGMENT S locate many eastern specie s for photography, while Ken Hansen led us t| ) many western an d arctic species . We owe a special debt to those who reviewed sections of the guide, mak- ing valuabl e addition s an d corrections , especiall y t o Keit h Wolfe fo r his review of the Swallowtails , Whites and Sulphurs and th e Brushfoots . Lastly, we wish to thank our wives for their patience and understanding while we chased after caterpillar s and filled ou r houses with rearin g con- tainers over a period of a few years. A complete credi t listing o f species , locality, and contributors , can b e found in the appendix . Introduction WHEN ALICE VISITED WONDERLAND, she spoke with the hookah-smoking Caterpillar. "When yo u have to turn int o a chrysalis—you will some day, you know—and then after that into a butterfly, I should think you'll feel it a little queer." "Not a bit" said the Caterpillar, who then told Alice how she could adjust to the new experiences of Wonderland by controlling her size. Alice used the Caterpillar's advice to navigate the incredible world of Won- derland. Now, you too can enter a magical world that takes place at a differ- ent scal e and that follows rules different fro m those of the everyday world in which you live—the world of caterpillars! Most people love adult butterflies. Butterflies have been admired, praised, and revered for centuries. Moreover, their popularity continues t o rise as ever greate r numbers o f people turn to butterfly watchin g an d butterfl y gardening as ways of interacting with the natural world and relieving some of the stresse s of modern life. But many people's attitude toward caterpillars—the early stages of but- terflies (and moths)—is ambivalent, at best. "Aren't caterpillars those worm- like creatures that are eating all the plants in my garden?" they might say. Well, the answers are yes and yes. Yes, although not related at all, caterpil- lars are shape d somewha t lik e worms, but mos t of them ar e not s o long and slender, and many are quite beautiful. And yes, they are eating all the plants in your garden. But here we need to make a subtle distinction. Over - whelmingly, th e caterpillar s that ar e eating your everyday garden plant s and making pest s of themselves ar e caterpillars tha t become adult moths. In contrast, butterfly caterpillars will turn up their noses at your roses, your rosemary, an d you r rhododendrons. If you have caterpillars tasting your tomatoes or your corn, they are moth caterpillars, not butterflies. Few but- terfly caterpillars eat standard garden plants and eve n fewer becom e gar- den pests. Unlike moths, most butterfly caterpillars do not strip foodplants 2 • INTRODUCTION so bare that it harms them (well, occasionally they do become over-exuber- ant). Most of the readers of this book—people who are, or want to be, but- terfly gardeners—will welcome the sight of caterpillars in their garden. They are as varied, as fascinating, and ofte n a s colorful a s the adul t butterflies they become. Think about this. For every adult butterfly in North America there is a caterpillar. For every caterpillar there is often more than one color form. For nearly all species, the younger stages differ from the older stages. So many possibilities for enjoyment! Beyond your own garden, the world of caterpillars offers wonderful op- portunities for both pure recreation and for adding to existing knowledge. Because knowledge o f caterpillars i s stil l quit e limited—thi s boo k is th e first guide to the butterfly caterpillars of North America—time spent in the field searching for and observing caterpillars is almost certain to yield new and important information.