Okay, I'm going to post today's pictures in a minute, but first I have to backtrack. Remember I got all annoyed with BAMONA last month because they couldn't ID my looper moth caterpillar? Well, I was doing a little searching based on the moths they've identified for me and I think I figured it out myself.

Here are the pictures to remind you.



I thought those black marks were pretty distinctive, and I was right (per usual). I found this on Tulane's website: http://www.tulane.edu/~ggentry...

Clearly, it's a Small Mocis moth. What's weird is that BAMONA identified the adult form for me a while back. There are hundreds of them in my neighbor's property. Every time I take a step, it seems like a couple go flying and hide elsewhere in the grass. Here's the ID of the adult I submitted. http://www.butterfliesandmoths...

How can they know the adult and not the caterpillar?

Okay, now for today's photos. I went to Joshua House to volunteer and of course, take pictures of any butterflies. They still have tons of White Peacocks.



The caterpillars on the Passion Vine appear to be Gulf Frits now that they're big enough.



Only two Polydamas left on the pipevine. The others were big enough to have made their chrysalises since last week.



I thought I had a ton of Long-Tailed Skippers at my house, but it seems to be the whole neighborhood.



And I managed to get a couple of pictures of this Barred Sulphur as I was carrying a bunch of stuff to the library.



Back home, I counted three Gulf Frits at one time. They were pretty active today; I was lucky to get this photo.



And finally, I had this little Skipper friend on my porterweed.

Melanie, that is strange about BAMONA, the moth ID and not the caterpillar. Are you going to send them that ID information???

Yes, you should contact them! Sometimes, it's people like us that make the info on moth caterpillars more well-documented and available. Years ago, I was intrigued by the little black and yellow caterpillars that I'd see on a native Texas plant that grows on my property. I couldn't seem to find anything resembling those caterpillars anywhere I looked. Finally, a light bulb came on in my ADD brain, and I decided to start searching instead using the plant name (Stillangia texana) , including the words "host plant". I found an obscure reference to another species of Stillangia being the host plant of a little-known moth called Doa ampla (no common name had been given in the U.S.) and it mentioned that other species of Stillangia might also be used. But then, I could not find a single image of the Doa ampla caterpillar, or even a good description! There were a few images I found of the adult moth, however. The moth was not common in the U.S. and the photos were only from Texas and Arizona. I took some of the caterpillars in to be raised and later was able to see the emerged moths, although I wasn't able to take any photos because the little bitty moths would get disturbed if I even picked up the container and fly around the container. I posted the pics of the moth caterpillars then on a couple of websites, with the ID of Doa ampla. I was eventually contacted by a guy who was part of a website of people that were very interested in moths...he was quite excited by my info, as he also lived in Texas! Unfortunately, those moths are not coming to my place anymore, not sure if that was caused by effects of the long drought or what.

Those are really interesting caterpillars Linda, I am so glad that you recorded them.

Ooh, those are cool caterpillars! I went in and edited my BAMONA sighting since it's still technically "pending". I don't know if that will move it back up their queue or not. If I don't hear anything in a few days, I might just resubmit it and see what happens.

I'm busy playing technical support for my family, but I will post some pictures soon! I'm going to start charging them. I figure I can at least get my brother to wash my car.

Oops, I edited my post above, realizing that the plant the caterpillars were on was really Stillangia texana. Senior moment, I guess.

LindaTX8 said:

Well those caterpillars sure ARE very interesting!

Very neat, Linda! And good going! I did a search for Doa ampla butterfly and found your picture on bugguide! http://bugguide.net/node/view/... It's still the only pic of the cats. http://bugguide.net/node/view/...

Moth humor from Facebook today.




If you don't get the joke, it's that Luna Moths literally do not have mouth parts as adults. They only live a few days on the fats they stored up as a caterpillar.

Awww... there goes Linda. That humor is a bit dark.

The things the ladies do for good looks!

Poor moth! But at least the caterpillars can eat a lot!

Okay, I'm watching the horrible situation in Paris on CNN, but I'm going to drop some butterfly pictures here to cheer us up and make the world a more beautiful place.

From yesterday...a Skipper.



Blurry Long-Tailed Skipper



Torn up Gulf Frit



Both of my Common Buckeyes came out today. Here's the first one. It landed on my shorts so that's my leg in the picture. It then settled in an oak tree.



Fed the Io Moths while I was out there. I've switched them to Black Cherry. They eat so much and so many of the plants they eat are deciduous.



And here's the second Buckeye that emerged.

Melanie, those Buckeyes are very pretty, wish we had them here.

I too am so envious of all the butterflies and moths that Melanie has. [big sigh]

Those buckeyes may be common in numbers, but they are UNcommonly beautiful!

Oh, stop sighing everyone! I must admit, though, a fresh Buckeye is uncommonly beautiful. They're pretty good about keeping their colors even after they get worn out in the wild, but there's nothing quite like a fresh butterfly with all its scales.

Now, to keep everyone from sitting around and sighing about their lack of butterflies, I want to remind everyone that the 2015 photo contest has started! I know you guys are excellent photographers. If I'm going to get beat, I better get beat by one of you! And yes, there is an insect category. You can submit your best five in each category so start sifting through those pictures! I think the deadline is December 1 but go check the front page for all the rules.