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Citheronia regalis, the regal moth or royal walnut moth, is a North American moth in the family Saturniidae. The caterpillars are called hickory horned devils. The adult has a wingspan of 3.75–6.1 in (9.5–15.5 cm). The species was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1793.
Typically, C. regalis is a midsummer moth, on wing from late June through August with larvae peaking August through October. There is a distinct bell curve to the emergence, with peak weeks coinciding with the first spell of the humid summer weather which may synchronize emergences.
The larva at the onset is small with a yellow body. In the initial stages of their life, they are solitary feeders, eating primarily at night. During the day, they mostly remain curled up like a j-pattern, closely resembling a bird’s dropping.
The ferocious-looking but harmless hickory horned devil caterpillar (larva of the royal walnut moth, Citheronia regalis) has a black-spined, green body and black-tipped red spines behind its head. It eats principally walnut, hickory, and persimmon leaves.
Larva: The hickory horned devil is among the largest of our native saturniid caterpillars. It is 12.5 to 14 cm in length - about the size of a large hot dog. The caterpillars vary slightly in color, but are commonly blue-green.
26 paź 2024 · Although it has a ferocious appearance, the hickory horned devil is harmless. This worm starts as a tiny caterpillar after hatching from one of hundreds of eggs laid by a regal moth. Over a matter of weeks, it grows and molts until it reaches its amazing mature size (almost 6 inches!).
Just before pupation, the larva expels its gut and changes color from green to turquoise, the skin of the fully fed creature stretched shiny and tight. They then crawl down the host plant, where they burrow into the dirt and pupate in a well formed chamber at a depth of five to six inches.
