Aren't inchworms just the cutest thing? I always thought so, until I found one gnawing on my outdoor Cannabis leaves.
They are commonly called inchworms because of their size. Very small and thin. They are actually a caterpillar, larvae from the Common Pug Moth.
They have a variety of color and markings depending on what Moth or Butterfly they are Larvae from. Cabbage worms act very similar to this, and are mainly green. The butterfly from cabbage worms is small and whitish color.
Here is the caterpillar doing much damage to the leaves of my plant:
This was on one of my wildflowers, it is a common green color caterpillar that people see frequently:
The brown inchworm above is from a Common Pug Moth similar to the below picture. These moths are in abundance here and the Dragonfly's feed on them in the early evening. The Moths are only about an inch or so in body size.
An update since posting this blog entry. I went out to spray the plants with some SNS 209 for bug control and found a Moth apparently laying her eggs on one of the leaves:
And on the indoor plants I discovered a leaf with some familiar black dots all over it in addition to damage and a small silk web: (look closely and you will see the culprit on the leaf)
Yep, a very young inchworm, (or possibly a cabbage worm) less than a half inch big did that much damage:
Here's some information on the species from Wikipedia and other sources:
COMMON PUG MOTH CATERPILLAR
Eupithecia miserulata
GEOMETRID MOTH FAMILY (Geometridae)
Description
This caterpillar is highly variable in coloration, but it usually has chevrons pointing forwards down its back. These caterpillars are about 5/8ths of an inch long.
From Wikipedia:
The common pug (Eupithecia vulgata) is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is a common species across the Palearctic region, the Near East and North Africa. It ranges from the Atlantic coast of Ireland and Portugal across Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia to the Russian Far East (Priamurje) and Korea.[2]
The wingspan is 18–21 mm. The ground colour of the forewings variously is very variable - brown to fuscous, with a reddish tinge, ochreous, or whitish. The darker fuscous striae are angulated and the postmedian line is biangulate. The posterior edge of the median band is marked with black, the subterminal line is interrupted into whitish dots and a small white tornal mark.The forewings have either a minute dark discal mark or are without a discal mark. Forewings with a crescentic pale tornal stain.The hindwings are similarly to the forewings but less conspicuously patterned.[3]
Two broods are produced each year with adults on the wing in May and June and again in August. The species flies at night and is attracted to light.
The larvae feed on a variety of plants. The species overwinters as a pupa.
They are commonly called inchworms because of their size. Very small and thin. They are actually a caterpillar, larvae from the Common Pug Moth.
They have a variety of color and markings depending on what Moth or Butterfly they are Larvae from. Cabbage worms act very similar to this, and are mainly green. The butterfly from cabbage worms is small and whitish color.
Here is the caterpillar doing much damage to the leaves of my plant:
This was on one of my wildflowers, it is a common green color caterpillar that people see frequently:
The brown inchworm above is from a Common Pug Moth similar to the below picture. These moths are in abundance here and the Dragonfly's feed on them in the early evening. The Moths are only about an inch or so in body size.
An update since posting this blog entry. I went out to spray the plants with some SNS 209 for bug control and found a Moth apparently laying her eggs on one of the leaves:
And on the indoor plants I discovered a leaf with some familiar black dots all over it in addition to damage and a small silk web: (look closely and you will see the culprit on the leaf)
Yep, a very young inchworm, (or possibly a cabbage worm) less than a half inch big did that much damage:
Here's some information on the species from Wikipedia and other sources:
COMMON PUG MOTH CATERPILLAR
Eupithecia miserulata
GEOMETRID MOTH FAMILY (Geometridae)
Description
This caterpillar is highly variable in coloration, but it usually has chevrons pointing forwards down its back. These caterpillars are about 5/8ths of an inch long.
From Wikipedia:
The common pug (Eupithecia vulgata) is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is a common species across the Palearctic region, the Near East and North Africa. It ranges from the Atlantic coast of Ireland and Portugal across Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia to the Russian Far East (Priamurje) and Korea.[2]
The wingspan is 18–21 mm. The ground colour of the forewings variously is very variable - brown to fuscous, with a reddish tinge, ochreous, or whitish. The darker fuscous striae are angulated and the postmedian line is biangulate. The posterior edge of the median band is marked with black, the subterminal line is interrupted into whitish dots and a small white tornal mark.The forewings have either a minute dark discal mark or are without a discal mark. Forewings with a crescentic pale tornal stain.The hindwings are similarly to the forewings but less conspicuously patterned.[3]
Two broods are produced each year with adults on the wing in May and June and again in August. The species flies at night and is attracted to light.
The larvae feed on a variety of plants. The species overwinters as a pupa.
