"What a thousand acres of Silphiums looked like when they tickled the bellies of the buffalo is a question never again to be answered, and perhaps not even asked." -Aldo Leopold
Gray Furcula
Furcula cinerea fam. Notodontidae (Hodges#7937)
Host plant: Found on black willow (Salix nigra)
Date found: 09, Aug, 2025
Location found: BK Leach Conservation Area, Lincoln County, MO
Notes: Dark eyespots on first thoracic segment give this caterpillar the look of a potential snake.
Today’s caterpillar is one of two species of Notodontid in the genus Symmerista. This is one of those frustrating cases of two species being so similar that confirming an identification is near impossible. Most of the literature suggests that the caterpillars of S. canicosta (red-humped oakworm) and S. albifrons (white-headed prominent) are indistinguishable as larvae and are so similar as adults that the only way to distinguish the two is by dissecting the genitalia. Both species are found in Missouri and both feed on the same host plants – beech, chestnut and oaks (any members of the Fagaceae). These are common and attractive cats that are gregarious in early instars but go solo when they get to this stage.
Found at Young Conservation area on 30, June, 2024.
A Thousand Acres of Silphiums 