Green garden looper (Chrysodeixis eriosoma)

Latin Name	Observation Date	Location
Chrysodeixis eriosoma	Jun 06, 2026	Purulia, Natore, Bangladesh

In the nature around us, especially in vegetable or crop fields, various types of caterpillars or larvae can be seen. Among them, one of the most interesting and excellent subjects for macro photography is this caterpillar, which is called 'Green garden looper' in English. In some countries like New Zealand, it is also known as 'Silver Y'. Interestingly, it bends the middle of its back like a bow while walking, creating a 'loop' or noose, and it has been named so from this strange way of walking.

​Scientific name:
In the scientific classification of biology, the name of this moth or insect is Chrysodeixis eriosoma. The scientist Doubleday was the first to give this name and description in 1843. It also has an old or synonymous name in the scientific world, which is Plusia eriosoma.

Family and Genus:
This moth is mainly included in the order Lepidoptera under the vast phylum Arthropoda and class Insecta. Going deeper into the classification, it can be seen that they are members of the family Noctuidae and their genus or genus name is Chrysodeixis.

​Size and Physical Structure:
When the Green Garden Looper is a full-fledged moth, its wingspan is about 42 millimeters. The wings of the full-fledged moth have a reddish tint and a beautiful spot like the letter 'Y' in bright golden color on the front wing. However, their larvae or caterpillars look completely different. A larva can be up to about 4 centimeters long. Their body color is bright green and there are faint white lines running vertically along the sides of the body. Sometimes small black dots can also be seen on their bodies. They do not have two pairs of legs (prolegs) at the front of their bodies, which is why they do not walk upright like other common caterpillars, but rather hop and bend their backs.

​Habitat and habitat:
The Green Garden Looper is widespread over a large part of the world. They are mainly found in the nature of the Asian continent, from Japan, China, India, Sri Lanka to the Malay Peninsula, Australia and New Zealand. Their presence has even been recorded in the Hawaiian Islands, Russia and some parts of North America. They can usually survive easily from agricultural lands, vegetable gardens and open spaces on the plains to mountainous areas at an altitude of 2600 meters.

​Food:
These larvae are polyphagous in terms of diet, meaning they are omnivorous and eat leaves of various types of plants. According to researchers, they consume leaves of at least sixty species of plants as food. However, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and other cruciferae vegetables are their favorite food. They also eat a lot of Solanaceae plants like tomatoes or potatoes and the leaves of various leguminous plants.

​Reproduction:
The duration of their life cycle mainly depends on the weather and temperature. When they enter the pupa or pupal stage after hatching from eggs, it lasts only a few days in summer. But in winter, this pupa stage can be as long as about a month. After a beautiful full-fledged moth emerges from the pupa, it usually lives for only ten to twelve days in nature.

​Benefits:
Like other insects in nature, they play a specific role in the food chain of the ecosystem. Various types of birds, spiders and predatory insects survive by eating their larvae, which helps maintain the natural balance of the environment. In addition, their full-fledged moths play an indirect role in pollination during their short life cycle.

Harmfulness:
This insect is considered a well-known and serious pest to farmers. Their larvae are so voracious that when they attack crop fields in groups, they quickly eat the leaves of vegetables and trees and make them look dull. Especially when they attack cabbage and bean crops, there is a possibility of huge economic losses to the farmer. Therefore, if their outbreak occurs in agriculture, biological or chemical control measures must be taken quickly.

I hope you like the information.

I learned about them from various sites including iNaturalist, Wikipedia and Google.

(All posts are written in Bengali and translated into English using Google Translate.)
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Camera Used	Samsung SM-G973F
F-Stop	F2.4
ISO speed	ISO
Focal length	26mm
Flash	No
Editing app	default
Photography	(Chrysodeixis eriosoma)
Photographer	@mshbd
Location	Purulia, Natore, Bangladesh

Link to original community
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/369748138

Latitude	Longitude	Map Link
24.3366	89.1120	https://www.openstreetmap.org/?#map=12/24.3366/89.1120