Tag: Goldenrod (Solidago)

Yellow-collared Scape Moth

August 31, 2026

Yellow-collared Scape Moth (Cisseps fulvicollis), on Goldenrod (Solidago). An attractive moth that is 3/4 inch long, with a wingspan of 1 to 1 1/2 inches. Adults are active from April until autumn begins to get really cold, and are found in Canada, south to the states of Texas and Florida.

Adults are diurnal for the most part, though larvae are nocturnal. Adults drink nectar, often of plants in the aster family, such goldenrods, asters and milkweeds. The larvae eat the leaves of low growing grasses and sedges. They also eat lichens which have toxicity which is transferred to adults, which makes them unpalatable.

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Paper Wasp On Goldenrod

October 2, 2025

Goldenrod (Solidago) produces beautiful, prolific blooms in late summer and early autumn. Its pollen is heavy, sticky, and not airborne like the green flowers of Ragweed (Ambrosia). In order to have an allergic reaction to Goldenrod you would in all probability have physical contact with it, and not simply by breathing in the pollen.

Here a Paper Wasp (Polistinae) is dining on the nectar of Goldenrod. There are over 100 species of Goldenrod that are native to North America, and they play an important role in providing nectar and pollen to pollinators late in the season when there are few flowers blooming.

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