Kingdom Animalia Class Insecta Family Noctuidae Rank Species | Phylum Arthropoda Order Lepidoptera Genus Callopistria | |
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Similar Callopistria, Elaphria nucicolora, Elaphria versicolor, Elaphria, Athetis tarda | ||
The Florida Fern Moth or Florida Fern Caterpillar (Callopistria floridensis) is a moth of the Noctuidae family. It is found from North America (including Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Louisiana, New Brunswick, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas)., south through the Caribbean (including Cuba), Mexico and Central America (including Costa Rica) to Ecuador.
The wingspan is about 29 mm. Adults are on wing year round in Florida and the tropics.
The larvae feed on various ferns, including Nephrolepis exaltata. They are highly variable in coloration, ranging from green to brown, black or reddish. It is an occasional pest in greenhouses.
References
Callopistria floridensis Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA