Egira crucialis

As can be seen from the pictures, the early instar caterpillars are quite different from the final instar, which is putty-coloured with a red head. I have found the caterpillars on Salmonberry, Salal, Alder and the flower of a garden rose. However, the usual way of finding the caterpillar is to notice a small lump in the middle of the otherwise loose panicle of the flowers of Ocean Spray Holodiscus discolor. The caterpillar pulls the flower stalks together and binds them with silk to form a cocoon about itself, visible only as a lump within the panicle. Winter is spent as a pupa, and emergence is in March or April. Moths of the genus Egira are known as "woodlings". This and the following two species, are of predominantly western distribution.