Erannis golda is a winter-flying from northeast Asia: the adults appear from late fall into winter, and the females have no wings at all. You won't find it in the United States, where its relatives include the linden looper (Erannis tiliaria).
Appearance
- Appearance
- Males have normal wings, spanning about 1½ in (4 cm), usually brown but quite variable. Females are wingless, with a stout body and long legs, and climb tree trunks on foot.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- Broadleaf forests
- City parks
- Range
- Found in Japan, Korea, northeastern China, and the Russian Far East (Sakhalin, Amur, and Primorye). It does not occur in North America.
Behavior
- Diet
- Caterpillars feed on the buds and young leaves of many broadleaf trees. In Japan these include willows, birches, and oaks; in Korea, cherries, apple, willow, rose, elm, sawtooth oak, and azaleas.
- Overwintering
- Overwinters as eggs laid on tree trunks; caterpillars hatch in early spring.
Life cycle
- Larva
- An inchworm up to about 1½ in (4 cm) long, brown on the back with a broad yellow band along each side in Japanese descriptions.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed
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