THE PINK INCHWORM


Below are photos of the beautiful pink inchworm, _Eupithecia miserulata_, 
on a purple coneflower in Indiana.   
I often see them on flowers and believe they eat the pollen.  
They are not always pink; some are white with pink markings, 
green with white markings, greenish brown, or a mix of warm browns 
with reddish-brown or pink or brown markings.  The color of the larva
seems to depend on the color of the flower it's on.  The three in 
these photos seem to all have different opinions of what color a 
coneflower is, but perhaps they have artistic temperaments.
I also find them on single roses (a good pollen source).
The adult is a small gunmetal-grey moth that is very common.

PHOTO OF PINK INCHWORM
PHOTO OF THE WHITE FORM
by Dave Green.


PHOTO OF THE CHARTREUSE AND BROWN FORM 
by Larry Miller.

Another photo can be seen on page 211 of David Wagner's book 
"Caterpillars of Eastern N. America".