Uraba lugens

U. lugens can be detected by searching leaves. Eggs are laid in batches on the leaf surface, and young larvae feed gregariously adjacent to the egg batch after emergence. Oviposition tends to occur mainly in the lower crow of the tree (Morgan and Cobbinah, 1977). Young larvae skeletonise the leaves, making leaf damage easy to detect. Skeletonised leaves often have characteristic patches of cast skins where larvae have moulted before moving on. After the fifth instar larvae disperse and can be found singly, often in the vicinity of abandoned skeletonised leaves. When close to pupation, larvae wander in search of a suitable site. Camouflaged cocoons are formed in the bark or leaf litter and are very difficult to find. A synthetic pheromone has been developed, and can be used for detection and delimiting surveys (Suckling et al., 2005).