Larvae of North American Lithophane species

The species of the genus Lithophane Hübner, 1821 were arranged into three groupings by Forbes (1954). The first grouping contains the signosa (Walker, 1857), thaxteri Grote, 1874, pexata Grote, 1874, and fagina Morrison, 1874 species groups. It is characterized by having a differentiated cucullus with an apical corona, and a well-developed digitus in the male genitalia; the larvae are mainly associated with broad-leaved trees and shrubs (although one species (L. thaxteri) feeds on tamarack east of the Rocky Mountains and on alder in British Columbia). The second grouping includes only the tepida Grote, 1874 species group which is characterized by the loss of the cucullus and corona and by the digitus, which is modified into a strong terminal spine on the valve; the larvae feed on broad-leaved trees and shrubs. The third grouping includes the antennata (Walker, 1858), gausapata Grote, 1883 and lepida Grote, 1878 species groups, characterized by the loss of the cucullus and corona and the digitus is vestigial.

Within this third grouping, the antennata group has a strongly bearded uncus, the digitus forms a semi-circular toothed plate along the ventral margin of the valve, and the transverse lines on the forewing are well separated from each other and are finely toothed along the wing veins; the larvae feed on broad-leaved trees and shrubs. The gausapata and lepida groups are similar in genital characters; the uncus is sparsely setose, the digitus is reduced to a slight pollex-like process near the ventral apex of the valve, and the transverse lines are deeply zigzagged with the two lines usually connected by a black line or bar through the fold in the lower portion of the forewing; the larvae feed on evergreen conifers.

The gausapata group includes nine species: L. contra (Barnes and Benjamin, 1924), L. gausapata Grote, 1883, L. itata (Smith, 1899), L. lemmeri (Barnes and Benjamin, 1929), L. longior (Smith, 1899), L. subtilis Franclemont, 1969, L. tarda (Barnes and Benjamin, 1925), L. tephrina Franclemont, 1969 and L. thujae Webster and Thomas, [2000]. In this group the lower portion of the reniform spot is prominently extended back towards the wing base and has a black patch in it, and the hindwing is gray brown. The larvae feed on cypress, cedar, and juniper in the family Cupressaceae; they are green with numerous large white spots that form irregular bands along the body. Three species in the group have been illustrated, L. thujae (Webster and Thomas, [2000]: 56) and L. longior (Smith, 1899) (Miller, 1995: 44) and L. itata (Troubridge and Lafontaine, 2003: Fig. 20). The larvae of other Lithophane species are either green with even longitudinal lines along the body, or are gray with oblique dorsal markings that form a cryptic pattern.

The lepida Grote, 1878 species group includes six species: Lithophane atara (Smith, 1909), L. jeffreyi (Troubridge and Lafontaine, 2003), L. lepid Grote, 1878, L. nasar (Smith, 1909), L. ponderosa (Troubridge and Lafontaine, 2003), and L. vanduzeei (Barnes, 1928). In the lepida group the reniform spot is kidney-shaped or hourglass shaped and is essentially unicolorous or somewhat mottled; the hindwing has a pinkish hue; the larvae feed on various two- and three-needled pines (family Pinaceae). The only species for which larvae have been preserved and photographed is L. lepida (Troubridge and Lafontaine, 2003: Fig. 19). This larva is bright green with five prominent longitudinal white lines: a middorsal line, a subdorsal line on each side and a lateral line on each side; the head is paler green.

Here we illustrate larvae of 25 species of the genus Lithophane.

Lithophane amanda	Lithophane baileyi	Lithophane contenta
Lithophane dilatocula	Lithophane disposita	Lithophane fagina
Lithophane georgii	Lithophane grotei	Lithophane hemina
Lithophane innominata	Lithophane itata	Lithophane laticinerea
Lithophane lemmeri	Lithophane lepida	Lithophane longior
Lithophane oriunda	Lithophane pertorrida	Lithophane petulca
Lithophane ponderosa	Lithophane querquera	Lithophane signosa
Lithophane tepida	Lithophane thaxteri	Lithophane unimoda
Lithophane viridipallens

Forbes WTM. 1954. Lepidoptera of New York and neighboring states. Part 3 Noctuidae. Memoirs of the Cornell Univ. Agric. Experiment Station 329: 1-433.

Miller JC. 1995. Caterpillars of Pacific Northwest forests and woodlands. Morgantown, West Virginia: US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, National Center of Forest Health Management, FHM-NC-06-95.

Troubridge JT and Lafontaine JD. 2003. A review of the pine-feeding Lithophane lepida (Grote) species group(Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) with descriptions of two new species. The Canadian Entomologist 135: 53 - 62.

Webster RP and AW Thomas. [2000]. A new species of Lithophane (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: Cuculliinae) from northeastern North America. Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 53: 55-59.