Soybean Looper

Posted on December 6, 2024 by tspuckler

While visiting a nature center in Missouri, I noticed a few of these moths resting on the outside of the building. This species is attracted to light at night and often sticks around until the following morning.

This insect is small, with a wingspan ranging 1 to 1-1/2 inches and is mottled brown to black in color. It is robust in body shape. This moth’s forewings possess silvery white spots, which can be used to distinguish it from similar-looking moths.

Soybean Looper caterpillars form loops, or rings, with their bodies as they crawl across stems and branches. The wide rear end is brought up right behind the head, bending the body into a complete circle, just before the head stretches forward again. They feed voraciously on the leaves, stems, and even the pods of their food plants, which include soybeans, goldenrod, lettuce, sweet potato and peanut. Other host plants include cotton, tomato, and tobacco.

This insect’s main habitat is fields and cultivated land. Adults are avid pollinators, drawn to flowers by their vibrant colors and distinct shapes. While feasting on pollen, they inadvertently transfer it, aiding in the reproductive process of plants. Their interaction with flowers is crucial for the ecosystem, and Soybean Loopers (as well as other moths) serve as unsung heroes of plant pollination.

The Soybean Looper is known as “Falso Medidor” in north-eastern Mexico. It is found from southern Quebec and southern Ontario through the eastern and southern part of the United States to South America.

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Large Maple Spanworm Moth

Posted on August 2, 2024 by tspuckler

I’ve come across this cool creature only a few times – most recently one was attracted to our deck light one evening. This insect is of a decent size, with about a two-inch wingspan.

While the adult is a Fall-flying, nocturnal leaf mimic, its caterpillar is cleverly disguised as a twig. The caterpillar does not limit its diet to maple; it’s also found on woody plants like birch, willow, tamarack, aspen, blueberry, cherry, and dogwood, and on herbaceous plants like soybeans, sweet-fern, and members of the geranium family.

Most often seen in September, Large Maple Spanworms Moths are a sign that the days of Summer are numbered. They’re found around woodlots and swamps across southern Canada and the northern half of the United States. Adults are nocturnal, and may rest on the sides of buildings during the day.

Belonging to a group known as Geometrid Moths, geometrid means “earth measurer,” and the caterpillars are fondly nicknamed “inchworms,” “loopers,” and “spanworms” because of their gait.

This moth has a quite cool shape and color to it. It almost looks like a brown leaf, and often the edges of its wings are a little ragged-edged and wavy as well. It’s always neat to come across one!

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Ornate Tiger Moth

Posted on June 14, 2024 by tspuckler

While exploring California, I encountered this insect that is commonly found in late Spring and early Summer. It is a medium-sized (about 1 inch) moth. Its forewings appear black, typically with a net-like pattern of extensive yellowish or rosy off-white transverse lines and thinner pale veins.

The Ornate Tiger Moth’s habitats include coastal grasslands adjacent to the ocean, coastal rainforests, low elevation grasslands west of the Cascades, oak woodlands, mixed hardwood-conifer forests in the mountains, and Ponderosa Pine forests at middle elevations.

Its caterpillar looks like a typical “wooly worm” and like other types of Tiger Moth larva, it is a feeding generalist that consumes a wide variety of vegetation. The bright warning coloration displayed by Tiger Moths is associated with distastefulness, thus protecting it from predation.

The antennae of the Ornate Tiger Moths have an interesting toothed pattern. They normally perch with their wings held roof-like over their bodies. These insects are nocturnal as adults and may be attracted to lights at night. There are about 11,000 species of Tiger Moths in the world, residing in Canada, the United States, Europe, and Asia.

Although moths are stereotypically drab, most Tiger Moths are quite colorful and attractive and this one is no exception. A British airplane serving in the Royal Air Force in the 1930s took its name from this species.

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Great Spangled Fritillary

Posted on December 22, 2023 by tspuckler

While walking along railroad tracks in southern Illinois, I observed an example of this fine butterfly, which I also see in my home state of Ohio on occasion.

This beautiful insect is named for the orange and black fritillary pattern on the upper side of the wings and the silvery spangled areas on the underside of the wings. The sexes are colored differently, with females being more pale with a dark blackish color on the rear half of their wings. This pattern is not seen as distinctly in males.

The species is long-lived and many individuals that are found in late August and September (and in this case early October) are often very worn, with frayed and even missing parts of their wings.

The wingspan of the Great Spangled Fritillary is 3 to 4 inches. As mature butterflies, due to their large size, prefer large flowers including Common Milkweed, Thistle and Joe-Pye-Weed.

Similar to many other butterflies, they have chemoreceptors on the bottom surfaces of their four walking legs. These allow butterflies to find nectar with their feet.

Their caterpillars eat the leaves of different types of violets. They eat at night. During the day, the caterpillars hides under leaves. Unlike most butterfly larvae, which molt five times, they molt six times, becoming bigger each time that they molt until they they reach the final larval stage.

Great Spangled Fritillaries live mostly in temperate climates, but can be found in extremes from the arctic to the subtropical. They can be found in both open woodlands and prairies, preferring to be in moist habitats. Look for this butterfly in open, damp places including fields, valleys, pastures, meadows, open woodland, and prairies.

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Clymene Moth

Posted on July 22, 2022 by tspuckler

I saw this cool creature while hiking in Cuyahoga Valley National Park. It is noted for the striking upside-down cross pattern on its forewings. Because of this design, some people refer to it as the “Crusader Moth.”

This is a member of the Tiger Moth family (as is the Woolly Bear/Isabella Tiger Moth). Typically it inhabits deciduous forests and the fields adjacent to them where their black, bristly larvae feed on a wide variety of plants.

It may be fitting that the Clymene Moth looks like a Star Trek badge, because it boldly goes everywhere, day and night. Unlike the nocturnal habits of most moths, it does not shy away from sunshine. But like other moths, it is attracted to lights at night.

The two smooth black antennae allow them to sense and smell the species in their area. Like like other moths, they communicate through pheromones and chemical smells. With a wingspan of 1-1/2 to 2 inches, this is not an especially large moth.

The Clymene Moth is native to eastern North America. Adults seem to prefer moist areas like wetlands, where they visit flowers and use their long proboscises (tongues) to drink nectar. I most often find it in wooded areas adjacent to creeks.

This is always a neat insect to encounter during the summer months, when it is most active.

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Garden Tiger Moth

Posted on April 22, 2022 by tspuckler

While hiking at Point Reyes National Seashore, I came across a few of these really cool looking caterpillars. The Garden Tiger Moth lives in the northern United States, Canada and Europe.

Like the Woolly Bear (the caterpillar of the Isabella Tiger Moth) from my home state of Ohio, this “punk rock” looking caterpillar prefers cool climates with temperate seasonality, since they overwinter.

Tiger Moths tend to have conspicuous patterns on their wings that serve as a warning to predators, indicating the moth’s poisonous body fluids. Its caterpillar’s hairs act as a deterrent to birds and provide some protection against parasitic flies and wasps.

This species resides in a number of habitats, including gardens, damp meadows, fens, riverbanks, sand dunes and open woodland. Because of the caterpillar’s generalist diet, it is not constrained to where it lives by needing a specific host plant.

Like other Tiger Moths, the adult Garden Tiger Moth exudes a yellow smelly liquid from a gland at the back of its head as a deterrent to predators. This insect’s bold colors are ideal for frightening predators – as the moth normally hides its hindwings under its less colorful forewings when resting.

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Nevada Admiral

Posted on February 11, 2022 by tspuckler

This cool creature has a very limited range and I’ve only been lucky enough to encounter it a few times. The Nevada Admiral occurs only in the Spring Mountains in southern Nevada.

This insect belongs to a large family known as the Brushfooted Butterflies, which are distinguished by their reduced brush-like forelegs that are curled up and not functional for walking. It’s bold black and white pattern make for a distinctive “look,” with white bands replacing the orange bands of the Red Admiral found in my home state of Ohio.

The Nevada Admiral’s habitat is deciduous forests, streamsides in coniferous forests, aspen groves, as well as small towns and suburbs. Like the Red Admiral, male Nevada Admirals often perch in a specific spot, waiting for females to come into their territory and chasing out other males.

Adults feed on tree sap, carrion and flower nectar, while their larva consume mostly aspen, cottonwood and willow leaves. It was neat to see these strikingly marked inhabitants on Mount Charleston when I visited the Silver State.

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Virgin Tiger Moth

Posted on August 13, 2021 by tspuckler

While looking under pieces of plywood on an open field in search of snakes, I came upon the pupa of a moth. I took it home and set it up in a little terrarium. A few months later the moth emerged.

The Virgin Tiger Moth is a member of a large group of sometimes dramatically patterned moths who whose fuzzy offspring are called “wooly bears” or “wooly worms.”

Tiger Moths are unusual among moths because they have tymbal organs, which can be used to produce ultrasonic sound. These ultrasonic emanations are thought to startle bats, warn bats to stay away, or to “jam” their bat radar.

The Virgin Tiger Moth is found in woodland and wetland edges, clearings and fields east of the Rocky Mountains, though it’s uncommon in the far South.

Its caterpillars eat bedstraw, clover, lettuce, plantains and other low-growing herbaceous plants. They are often seen in the Fall crossing roads as they look for sheltered areas to overwinter.

In the Spring the caterpillars become active again and begin feeding. After a few weeks they form a pupa and in late Spring or early Summer they will emerge as adults.

The striking stained glass-looking forewings along with the bright underwings, used to scare off predators, make encountering one of these fine insects a memorable experience.

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Chalcedon Checkerspot

Posted on March 26, 2021 by tspuckler

I sometimes come across this colorful and very cool little butterfly while on my visits to California. It it relatively small, with a wingspan of less than two inches.

It is a highly variable species, with the wing upper surface being black to dark brown and a characteristic yellow and red checkerspot pattern.

The Chalcedon Checkerspot is widespread in the western mountains from Mexico to Alaska and ranges west to the Pacific Coast. It is a habitat generalist, though I most often see it in open fields.

It can also be found in streamsides, forest clearings, sagebrush flats, desert hills and alpine areas. Males often remain perched on their caterpillar host plants, like Monkey Flower, as a strategy to encounter females.

This is an enjoyable creature to see on my visits to the Golden State.

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Clouded Sulphur

Posted on December 18, 2020 by tspuckler

This is often the last butterfly of the year that I see, sometimes here in Ohio as late as mid-November. I also come across them pretty consistently on my visits to southern Illinois in October.

The Clouded Sulphur may be encountered in fields, lawns, alfalfa or clover fields, meadows and roadsides. Swarms of these butterflies often congregate at mud puddles. Their range covers most of North America.

Unlike some other late-flying species, the Clouded Sulphur does not hibernate over the winter as an adult. On the upper sides of its wings, males have a solid black border, while the females have yellow spots in their borders (unfortunately, this butterfly rarely lands with its wings open).

The word “butterfly” probably originated because of the yellow color of European sulphurs. The Clouded Sulphur has seasonal color variations that range from a white to yellow.

To me seeing this insect is a sure sign of Autumn, as it often visits Fall-flowering plants like New England Aster.

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Category Archives: Insects – Butterflies & Moths

Soybean Looper

Large Maple Spanworm Moth

Ornate Tiger Moth

Great Spangled Fritillary

Clymene Moth

Garden Tiger Moth

Nevada Admiral

Virgin Tiger Moth

Chalcedon Checkerspot

Clouded Sulphur