''Schizura ipomoeae'', the morning-glory prominent moth or false unicorn caterpillar, is a

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

of the family

Notodontidae Notodontidae is a family of moths with approximately 3,800 known species. The family was described by James Francis Stephens in 1829. Moths of this family are found in all parts of the world, but they are most concentrated in tropical areas, espe ...

. The species was first described by Edward Doubleday in 1841. It is found in the United States and southern

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...

is 36–47 mm. The forewings are highly variable in colour but usually greyish brown with a pattern of black streaks and spots. The hindwings are dirty white in males and dark grey in females. Adults are on wing from April to September in the south and from June to August in the north. There is one generation per year in the north. The larvae feed on the leaves of various woody plants, including '' Fagus'', '' Betula'', ''

Ulmus Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the flowering plant genus ''Ulmus'' in the plant family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical-montane regions of Nor ...

'', '' Acer'', '' Ipomoea'', ''

Quercus An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably '' ...

'', ''

Hamamelis Witch-hazels or witch hazels (''Hamamelis'') are a genus of flowering plants in the family Hamamelidaceae, with three species in North America ('' H. ovalis'', '' H. virginiana'', and '' H. vernalis''), and one each in Japan ('' H.&nb ...

'', and ''

Rosa Rosa or De Rosa may refer to: People *Rosa (given name) * Rosa (surname) *Santa Rosa (female given name from Latin-a latinized variant of Rose) Places *223 Rosa, an asteroid *Rosa, Alabama, a town, United States * Rosa, Germany, in Thuringia, G ...

'' species. Larvae can be found from May to October. The species overwinters in the pupal stage.

Taxonomy

There are a number of described forms.

Gallery

Image:Schizura_ipomoeae_larva.jpg, Larva Image:Schizura_ipomoeae_larva1.jpg, Larva Image:Schizura ipomoeae damage.jpg, Damage

References

Moths described in 1841 Notodontidae Moths of North America {{Notodontidae-stub