Silkmoths and more: Grellada imitans

I've rarely seen a caterpillar this variable. These creatures come in all sorts of colors going from dark grey or brown, over light brown to beige and pure white or combinations of these colors. I bed this gives them an almost perfect camouflage when resting on tree trunks during the day, completely blending in with the lichen growing on the tree. For the size of the moth, the caterpillars remain of a rather modest size, not exceeding twelve centimeter, which is fairly small compared to other African Lappets of similar size. The rearing is pretty straightforward. Keep warm, clean and dry. First instars in well ventilated plastic containers, older ones either in plastic containers as well or in netted cages. It does not seem to matter that much. They are also very tolerant to each other, but still ... do not overcrowd, it's never a good idea to exaggerate. As this is a rarely reared species, it's still a bit trial and error when it comes to food plants. However, it seems to be a fairly polyphage species. They have been reared with success on Paulownia and Quercus. I used Prunus serotina, which works perfectly. Imitans is a fairly fast grower, going from hatchling to ready to pupate in just a little over two months. Combined with a short pupal stage, this gives at least three flights per year (in captivity when kept warm).