Green Striped Larvae

[Stanley A. Gorodenski]

Almost two weeks ago in southern Arizona I observed two colonies of 
larvae on two different Ceanothus plants. One was about 2nd instar. The 
other about 3rd instar. They appeared to be Nymphalid larvae, and were 
not inside a tent like web structure-they were in the open and 
gregarious, like C. lacinia larvae. They were black with a mid-dorsal 
green strip. It was not a bright green, more like a dull green or 
gray-green. I did not think of bringing my camera on the trip and so I 
do not have any images. One fellow lepidopterist who also saw them 
thought they might be Nymphalis californica larvae. Another very 
experienced lepidopterist who was not there thought so also based on my 
description of the larvae. The description in Tilden and Smith does not 
match exactly what I saw but I can imagine there is some variability in 
the color of the mid-dorsal strip. Does anyone know if this might be 
something else other than N. californica?
Stan


 
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