Diet

• The caterpillars of Geometridae feed on the leaves of a wide variety of plants, including trees, shrubs, vines and herbaceous plants.

• Many species are associated with particular host plants or plant families, while others are more generalist feeders.

• Some species feed on flowers, buds or developing fruits, although foliage is the principal food source for most species.

• The caterpillars are commonly known as inchworms or loopers because of their distinctive method of locomotion.

Habitat

• Geometrid caterpillars occur in almost every terrestrial habitat where their host plants grow, including forests, tropical woodland, scrub, grassland, meadows and agricultural areas.

• Many species are particularly common along forest edges, in clearings and in secondary vegetation where a diversity of host plants is available.

• In the Zihua region, they can occur in tropical dry forest, thorn scrub, coastal vegetation, gardens and disturbed areas supporting suitable trees, shrubs and vines.

Description

• Geometrid caterpillars are generally slender and relatively smooth-bodied, with only a small number of abdominal prolegs compared with most other moth caterpillars.

• They typically have three pairs of true legs near the head and two or three pairs of abdominal prolegs toward the rear of the body.

• This unusual leg arrangement produces the characteristic looping or measuring movement from which the common name “inchworm” is derived.

• Caterpillars may be green, brown, grey, yellow or strongly patterned, and many species closely resemble twigs, stems or leaves.

• Some species have the ability to remain rigid and extend away from the plant, further enhancing their resemblance to a small twig.