''Citheronia sepulcralis'', the pine-devil moth, is a
Nearctic member of the family
Saturniidae and of the subfamily
Ceratocampinae. The species are blackish brown. The species was first described by
Augustus Radcliffe Grote and
Coleman Townsend Robinson
Coleman Townsend Robinson (12 January 1838 – 1 May 1872) was an American entomologist who specialised in Lepidoptera.
He wrote Grote, A.R., & Robinson, C.T. 1867–1868. Descriptions of American Lepidoptera – Nos 1–3.
''Transactions of th ...
in 1865.
Range
The adults fly in
broods and can be found in various parts of the United States over the year. The moths are present in the states of
Georgia,
Kentucky,
Massachusetts,
North Carolina,
South Carolina,
Pennsylvania,
Louisiana,
Florida and
Maine. They are most common in Florida and Louisiana.
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Broods in the northern US will fly during June and July. In the southern states, the moths will fly from April through June. Several broods in Florida City, Florida can fly from March through October.
Life cycle
Egg
The eggs hatch after 7 to 10 days, and the caterpillars start feeding almost immediately.
Larva
The larvae of the species are black or brown with black marking.
Pupa
As with most of this subfamily
In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...
, when the caterpillar
Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths).
As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sym ...
s are ready to pupate, they burrow underground.
Adult
As with all of Saturniidae, the adults do not feed. Their mouthparts have been reduced. The adults are brown.
Food plants
*''Pinus'' ( pine)
Ecology
Adults emerge in the morning and mate on the same night. Females lay egg
An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the a ...
in groups of 1 to 3 on pine needles the next night.
References
Ceratocampinae
Moths described in 1865
{{Saturniidae-stub