Callopistria floridensis

Callopistria floridensis, the Florida fern moth or Florida fern caterpillar, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in North America (including Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Louisiana, New Brunswick, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas),^[1] south through the Caribbean (including Cuba),^[2] Mexico and Central America (including Costa Rica) to Ecuador.^[3]

Damage

Larvae

Callopistria floridensis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Superfamily:	Noctuoidea
Family:	Noctuidae
Genus:	Callopistria
Species:	C. floridensis
Binomial name
Callopistria floridensis (Guenée, 1852)
Synonyms
Eriopus elegantulus Herrich-Schäffer, 1868 Callopistria elegantula Callopistria strena Grote, 1895

The wingspan is about 29 mm (1.1 in). Adults are on wing year round in Florida and the tropics.

The larvae feed on various ferns, including Nephrolepis exaltata and Pteris vittata. It is an occasional pest in greenhouses. The larvae were recently discovered to have high levels of arsenic when feeding on P. vittata,^[4] and are the only known terrestrial animal to accumulate arsenic.^[5]