The Bride (Catocola neogama), Fishers Island NY, September 2018. Photo courtesy of naturalist J. Kibbe.
The name of this moth (very) roughly translates as “the newly-wed with beautiful hindwings”. A member of the underwings, the Bride sports colorful yellow and black banded hindwings. While the mottled bark-colored forewings allow the moth to blend almost perfectly against the branches of trees, it’s believed that the contrasting hindwings below are flashed at potential predators to surprise them, allow the moth to make its escape. In contrast, the caterpillar bears the same coloration and markings as a piece of bark, allowing it to blend it with its surroundings if laying flat against the branch of a tree. Caterpillars themselves feed on the leaves of hickory and walnut trees.
At least one generation in New England, with caterpillars by early summer. Adults are active until the fall, where they deposit eggs on the bark of their host plants. The eggs overwinter.
