northeast-flora-and-fauna

Here's a Hemp Dogbane from last spring. I've talked about Hemp Dogbane before, but it was either to compare it with milkweed or to talk about its ecological benefits . But there's plenty of interesting things about them: Though generally considered toxic to eat, it does have cardiac glycosides that could treat (with some dangers) heart problems. And just because it's poisonous, that hasn't stopped it from being used in tons of folk medicine. The latex sap has been used with clay to make a chewing gum. (I'm not sure I'd personally be a big fan of latex-and-dirt gum, but apparently some folks feel differently.) The Snowberry Clearwing caterpillars, 1 of my favorite moths [1], can use it as a host plant. (They can also use some of the honeysuckles as host plants.) If you've got too much lead in your soil, Hemp Dogbane can help you remove it [2]. Despite some toxicity, livestock will sometimes eat it, which can make them ill. And of course dogs, who'...

Just because I got an iNaturalist ID on this moth today, I'm going to show you a Laurel Sphinx moth from a mothing program 6+ years ago. As moth afficionados have no doubt guessed, the Laurel Sphinx is a type of sphinx moth , a family that includes popular moths like the Virginia Creeper , the Hummingbird Clearwing , and the Snowberry Clearwing .  As immature, adolescent caterpillars, these moths generally eat lilac and ash tree leaves. (I'm not sure whether they eat any other parts of these plants, though I'm skeptical that they can eat both soft leaves and also hard/woody parts of the plants. Perhaps flowers are fair game too?) As you might have guessed from the moth's diet, this does suggest a relationship between ash trees and lilacs ; they're both in the olive family . August 26, 2017 at Duke Farms Photo 10126742, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Here's something I'll usually see a couple times during a summer, a Snowberry Clearwing Moth . I've shown this moth before , but they're always a welcome sight. Like hummingbird, butterflies, and moths like their Hummingbird Clearwing Moth cousins, they're helpful pollinators, colorful, and dynamic fliers.  They're also a good example of Batesian mimicry , where an essentially harmless animal has evolved to look like a more dangerous one. In the case of the Snowberry Clearwing Moth, they want you to think they're bumblebees . If you see one, you might want the scream "Ack! A bee!" and look frightened; the Snowberry Clearwing will experience the joy you get when a plan is working perfectly. September 8, 2022 at Fairview Farm Photo 248397240, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

These are one of my favorite moths, the Hummingbird Clearwing : They're big enough to see without (much) difficulty. They're colorful enough to take a good picture. They can be found in places I go to find butterflies and other pollinators; I don't need to go someplace I wouldn't be anyway. If I mistake something else for the Hummingbird Clearwing, that something else is also pretty cool (usually an actual Ruby-throated Hummingbird or their Snowberry Clearwing moth cousins). Unfortunately this is the only picture I've gotten of them this season. I was scouting around Oak Meadow to see what was around a couple days before the annual Duke Farms Butterfly Count when I saw this one hovering around the Wild Bergamot . It's claimed that these moths are migratory but I haven't found anything on where they spend the winter. Their range goes pretty far into Canada, so it wouldn't surprise me if they overwinter here in NJ. If they do, their strategy is to be rea...

Here's a Virginia Creeper Sphinx moth. These guys are considered small sphinx moths, which includes other moths I've talked about: the Hummingbird Clearwing and Snowberry Clearwing . The Virginia Creeper Sphinx is probably one of the least colorful moths in this subfamily. (Sorry I don't have a gaudier, flashier moth for you today.) You may have guessed from the name that as caterpillars they'll eat Virginia Creepers , but they're not single-mindedly committed to that plant. They'll also feed on other plants in the grape family . As adults they'll drink both nectar and fluids from rotting fruit. August 20, 2021 at Duke Farms Photo 157770863, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Here's one of my favorite moths, the Snowberry Clearwing . They're large, diurnal, and can be found nectaring on flowers with other respectable insects. Lots of moths are small, nocturnal creatures that you won't find without special lighting equipment (or sometimes just luck). These moths though can be found just by hanging out where other pollinators hang out. They're somewhat less common than their Hummingbird Clearwing cousins, who are also largish, diurnal, and can be found in meadows. I don't feel there's much of an aesthetic difference between these two moths, but since the Snowberry Clearwings are a little less common I get a little more excited about seeing them. The Snowberry Clearwing looks a bit more like a big bumblebee while the Hummingbird Clearwing looks a bit more like a female Ruby-throated Hummingbird. As often happens, Snowberry Clearwings are named after their host plants, the Snowberry shrub, but they're not terribly fussy eaters. The...