We are pleased to announce a new article on Featured Creatures!

Take a sneak peek with this excerpt from the article: Epicorsia oedipodalis is known as the fiddlewood leafroller and the seagrape moth. These caterpillars roll up leaves of the host plants and use the rolled leaves as larval retreats and locations for pupal cocoons. This caterpillar can completely defoliate fiddlewood, a Florida native that can form a large shrub or small tree. This leaf-eating pest does no permanent damage to the plant, the shrub simply puts out a new flush of leaves. From an ecological perspective, the larvae themselves may serve as a valuable food source when baby birds need feeding during the spring dry season in Florida.

Figure 1. Epicorsia oedipodalis caterpillar on fiddlewood. Photograph by W.H. Kern, Jr., UF/IFAS/FLREC.

Available at: http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/ORN/fiddlewood_leafroller.htm

Author: William H. Kern, Jr., Entomology and Nematology Department.

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