Abstract
The biology of Darna pallivitta (Moore 1877), an Asian species of nettle caterpillar recently introduced to the island of Hawaii, is described from this island population. The species is highly polyphagous and has stinging caterpillars commonly associated with Limacodidae. Information on mating, oviposition, potential fecundity, duration and number of instars, cocooning, pupation, and total development time are included. The female at eclosion was found to have 573.5 ± 184.1 eggs, of which 201.5 ± 53.5 were mature. Similar to other spiny species of Limacodidae, D. pallivitta was found to not feed until second instar. The duration of immature stages were as follows: egg (7.0 d), larval (53.0 ± 6.9 d), and cocoon (19.1 ± 1.0 d). First and second instars are described for the first time for a Darna species. In a family known for heteromorphic larvae, this is the first known example of a limacodid species with elongate first instar tubercles, which later develop into spiny, urticating scoli rather than becomi...
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