Scientific name: Arthropoda: Insecta: Lepidoptera: Limacodidae: Sibene stimulea
Common Name: Saddleback Caterpillar Moth
Country: USA
State/District: MD
County: Montgomery
Date: 2001
Photographer: E. M. Barrows
Identifier: E. M. Barrows
Collector: not applicable
Location: Garden-1
Keywords: Garden-1 Saddleback Caterpillar Moth tree Additional Information:
Figures 1–2.
Two larva on Fish-tail Palm, 1 September 2001.
Figures 3-4.
Larvae on a Hibiscus
Figures 1–2.
Two larva on Fish-tail Palm, 1 September 2001.
Figures 3-4.
Larvae on a Hibiscus leaf, 1 September 2001.
Figure 5.
The side of my hand which was slightly in pain due to a sting from a larva, 1 September 2001.
The sting did change the appearance of my skin.
Sabine stimulea (Clements) is native to Masachusetts through Florida west through eastern Missouri and Texas (Covell 1984, 412).
It is one of the more common members of its family in eastern U.S.
Adults occur from June through July, and come to ultraviolet light.
Larvae occur from July through October.
They consume leaves of apples, asters, azaleas, blueberries, Canna indica, citrus, Corn, Crepe Myrtle, Dahlia sp., dogwoods, elms, Gladiolus sp., grapes, hollies, lilies, linden (basswood), magnolias, maples, Malvaviscus sp., oaks, palms, Prunus spp., roses, Rudbeckia fulgens, sunflowers, viburnums, and other plants (Covell 1984, Westcott 1973, personal observation).
This moth belongs to the Limicodidae (Slug Caterpillars).
The larvae have small thoracic legs and no prolegs on their abdomens.
They move in a slug-like fashion.
I find Saddleback Caterpillars on my garden plants every few years.
If I don’t see them first, I discover them when they sting my hands and arms.
On 1 September 2001, I found four medium-sized larvae on leaves of my Fish-tail Palm.
They previously ate about 50% of a smaller leaf and they had moved to a larger one where they started to eat.
At 12:26 p.m., one larva stung the side of my hand, and at 12:51 p.m., a caterpillar stung me on a finger tip.
At 1:08, the stinging was almost gone from both places.
At 1:53, my finger tip hurt when I pressed on it, and at 9:30 p.m., it hurt slightly when I typed at my keyboard.
Five large larvae were on an oak sapling.
Many light brown cocoons of braconid wasps were on the dorsal sides of three of the larvae.
These larvae rested on oak leaves.
I cut the leaves off the sapling and laid them on a table top in direct sun for to photograph them.
In about 2 minutes the Sun heated them, some braconids emerged from their cocoons, and the larvae started to crawl.
Reference
Covell, C. V., Jr. 1984. A Field Guide to the Moths of Eastern North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, MA. 496 pp.
Westcott, Cynthia. 1973. The Gardener's Bug Book. Fourth Edition. Doubleday and Company, Garden City, NY. 689 pp.
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