Family Erebidae Hodges # 8262
Caterpillar food: monocots – grasses, sedges, iris (Bugguide)
Adults fly during the day, but also come to lights at night.
6/8/2014
6/10/2016
6/13/2018
6/8/2019
6/13/2005 During the day
6/12/2009
The caterpillars come in two color variations: black and yellow, or yellow and white.
10/29/2016 We see the caterpillars wandering on the road in the winter, anytime the temperature gets above about 20F. These winter wandering caterpillars are always black and yellow.
2/26/2016
3/15/2014
This caterpillar was collected in the grass of a mowed path on our farm on 5/18/2009.
I fed it on grass, and pupated on 5/25/2009. Hairs from the body of the caterpillar were used for the outside of the cocoon.
On 6/2/09 the pupa inside became visible.
The adult emerged on 6/16/09.
One spring I was cutting some Honeysuckle bushes on an abandoned field, and found several caterpillars hidden in the dry grass at the base of each bush.
4/30/2010
And I found some more crawling on the road.
I put the black ones in one jar, and the yellow ones in another. They ate grass for about a month.
4/30/2010 This is a yellow caterpillar. Both the yellow and the black ones have red feet.
4/30/2010 Their heads are red and black
4/30/2010
4/30/2010
5/19/2010 The yellow caterpillars stayed yellow, but at the last instar the black caterpillars turned yellow.
5/19/2010
5/19/2010 They made cocoons
6/3/2010 And hatched
