Campaea perlata (Guenée, 1857.) [6796]

Campaea perlata, adult male. Specimen collected Garrett Co., MD, June 2005.

Campaea perlata larva, reared ex ova on Acer saccharum. Parent female collected Salisbury, Addison Co., VT, August 2006.

A broadly polyphagous species of the subfamily Ennominae, tribe Campaeini. The genus Campaea was named by Lamarck in 1816. Sometimes referred to by common names "Pale Beauty" or fringed looper for reasons evident in the above two photographs, this species is an abundant adult at light collection sheets in the northeast to mid-Atlantic forest, especially in the later part of the summer. In his outstanding field guide Caterpillars of Eastern North America, Dave Wagner suggests that larvae of Campaea perlata may overwinter in a fashion similar to that of their European counterpart, Campaea margaritaria.

This newly emerged second instar larva is just crawling away from the exuvia of its recent molt. In my rearings, the young larvae were struck with a particularly strong case of wanderlust; they rapidly raced off the leaves and out of any open container when given the chance, covering an impressive amount of ground in a brief span of time.