Cherry Scallop Shell Moth (Rheumaptera prunivorata) looking like someone all set to go to the office donned in their favorite warm woolen herringbone business suit. Or perhaps it looks like my tiger-striped kitty that I had when I was little. Tinker. But these wavy stripes are quite distinctive even for a moth. This moth is found in eastern North America from Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario south through the US to Georgia. Its caterpillars eat the leaves of cherry trees though its very favorite leaf is the Black Cherry. The larvae of the Cherry Scallop Shell Moth are gregarious and feed together, seeking shelter in little tents they make by tying leaves together with silk.
A moth today, in honor of National Moth Week which is July 17th to the 25th. This one, another night flyer who will come to your porch if you leave the light on, Scarlet-winged Lichen Moth (Hypoprepia miniata). Its length is .6 inch to .8 inch. And as the name implies, it’s a mighty pretty moth too. What a great color!
They can be found from British Columbia south through the western side of the Rockies to Arizona, New Mexico and Texas into many portions of eastern North America.
The larvae of this Lichen Moth eats lichens and blue-green algae found on tree trunks and rocks. Larvae overwinter in a thin silky cocoon in leaf litter. Remember to leave that leaf litter be!Don’t disturb the cocoons! Their caterpillars are brown speckled, covered in black spikes. I’ve never seen one of their caterpillars – maybe one day soon.
Another nod to moths in celebrating National Moth Week (July 17-25, 2021). This moth photo was in my immense file of moth images, unidentified. Many of you might know, I love a mystery and last night I looked upon this critter as one of those mysteries. Luck was with me and I was able to figure out that this is a Curve-toothed Geometer (Eutrapela clemataria). A master of camouflage in both adult and larval form. Here, as a moth the camouflage isn’t that effective against the cedar siding, but imagine this moth in a bunch of leaves and you can appreciate how clever the coloring and shading is. The caterpillar is just as ingenious, an inch-worm disguised as a stick. A stick that loves to eat the leaves of many trees. Just a few of those trees: ash, basswood, birch, elm, fir, maple, poplar, and willow.
Yesterday a dear friend let me know that we’re in the middle of National Moth Week (July 17-25, 2021). I had no idea such a thing existed! But now, with that in mind, I present the Lesser Maple Spanworm Moth (Speranza pustularia). Like many moths, this one is nocturnal and is attracted to porch lights. Their favorite host plant is Red Maple but will settle for other Maple trees, and many others trees like Birch, Poplar, Fir, and Hemlock. After mating females lay their eggs on host tree branches in the fall. Surprisingly those eggs survive through the winter, hatching in late spring or early summer. The caterpillar pupates, or creates a cocoon and takes about ten days to emerge as a moth, at the end of summer. And then the whole process begins again.
Unlike other Fritillaries, that exclusively use native Violets as their host plant, the Variegated Fritillary depends on many plants as its host plant including those Violets and also Passion Vine, Pansy, Purslane, Mayapple, Flax, and others.
The Variegated Fritillary has a “long” life as an adult compared to some other butterflies, living between two and ten weeks. Some portion of those weeks as a butterfly are spent nectaring at flowers such as Asters, Common Milkweed, Dogbane, Thistles, Coneflowers, Tithonia, and Ironweed.
Variegated Fritillaries are found in South and North America, in moist meadows and woodland edges.
Creamy white, reddish-orange, metallic blue with shiny black hairy spines. Here with the typical Fritillary host plant, a native Violet leaf. So many caterpillars are amazing. This is one of them!
Oregon Grape Holly (Mahonia aquifolium). Zion National Park, Utah. Native to western North America. Mildly scented cheery yellow blooms. Next come dark blue berries which are edible and tart.
Several days ago I wrote about the adult Spicebush Swallowtail (Papilio troilus). The caterpillar of that beautiful butterfly has an impressive set of eyespots giving the caterpillar the look of a small snake which protects it from predators. The actual eyes are quite small, about the size of a pinpoint, located down the head, close to the mouth.
The Spicebush Swallowtail goes through five instars, or caterpillar stages, taking three to four weeks. In the first four of those instars the caterpillar looks much like bird poop with small false eyespots that get larger as each instar emerges. Like those eyespots, the bird poop camouflage works well as a protection against predators.
An element on the eyespot really impresses me. There is a white spot on the black pupil, a faux reflection! As the fifth instar ages, it goes from bright green to rich sunshine yellow leaning toward orange. Once the Spicebush Swallowtail reaches the adult and butterfly stage, it lives for just six to fourteen days nectaring on many flowers including jewelweed, milkweed, and thistle.
Nothing to worry about, though it reminds me of a Horsefly. Actually something to cheer about. This is a Tiger Bee Fly (Xenox tigrinus). It doesn’t show any aggression toward humans. No stinging. No biting.
Measuring in at one-half to three-quarter inch long, the Tiger Bee Fly is an insect of the family Bombyliidae (bee flies), which is native to the eastern United States and southern Ontario. It’s a wonderful pollinator in our gardens with an extra SUPER benefit that is brought to our homes and yards. The female Tiger Bee Fly lays her eggs near the entrance to Carpenter Bee nests. As her larvae hatch they enter the Carpenter Bee nests and eat those larvae. A parasite of Carpenter Bees! I must put out a sign saying, “Welcome Tiger Bee Flies!”
A native mint that has intrigued me for years living trailside here on the mountain. I’ve found it available at a native plant nursery and now I have some in my gardens. Silverleaf Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum incanum). Native to eastern North America.
The nectar of this Mountain Mint is popular with bees and butterflies. The flowers are white, sometimes tinged with lavender, sometimes dotted with purple speckles. I like those speckles!
The leaves of Silverleaf Mountain Mint are indeed silvery. Very dense but short, incredibly soft white hairs cover the leaves and the stems giving them that beautiful color. Stems that, like other mints, are square.
Silverleaf Mountain Mint spreads easily into dense clumps. Some say it is an aggressive grower. I’m looking forward to that. Bring it on!
A dear friend this morning at yoga asked me if I had anything good to say about Japanese Beetles (Popillia japonica). After giving it some thought, I can say, yes indeed. They sure are pretty!
The Japanese Beetle is a species of scarab beetle, native to Japan where they are pretty well behaved or at least kept under control by natural predators. Here in North America it is a different story, as you probably know. I was quite surprised when I moved to the mountains of central Virginia to find that these beetles eat what seems like, most anything. Not just fancy garden plants such as roses. Their larvae feed on the roots of many types of grasses. But the adults delight in eating plants in the garden such as beans, strawberries, tomatoes, goldenrod, milkweed, peppers, corn, pea and okra. Trees are another popular item, eating a broad range – sassafras, black walnut, cherry, plum, pear, peach, red oak, magnolia, pine, holly and red maple. And some three hundred other species of plants.
When the pretty little iridescent critters go after plants, this is what they leave behind. Just the veins. First discovered in the United States in 1916. Now most states east of the Mississippi are troubled by these beetles, and there is a USDA quarantine to protect the western states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington.
