Moths and Their Nighttime Floral Visits

*Xestia normanianus*, a dart moth, nectaring on lance-leaved aster (*Symphyotrichum lanceolatum*) at night.

What do moths do at night anyway? Some of them visit flowers for nectar.

Back in August, I was wandering about in the woods at night looking for foxfire fungi. At the head of the trail on my way out, I saw a sunflower plant with something on the flowers. It was a green tree cricket (Oecanthus) eating the stamens in the sunflower florets.

The next night, I went back but this time with my camera, hoping to find more tree crickets. I had my LED headlamp on like the previous night and used it to illuminate the flowers and foliage where I wanted to photograph. I also set the flash of my camera to “on”.

Although I could hear tree crickets in the bushes, I didn’t see any this time. What I did see were lots of moths on sunflowers and asters. Aiming the lamp’s beam at the flowers, I then pointed my camera at the moths and began taking photos. I wasn’t using a tripod, so many were blurry. Some were also overexposed by the bright LED light. But a few turned out.

*Feltia jaculifera* nectaring on a sawtooth sunflower (*Helianthus grosseratus*)

The moth species (Xestia normanianus, Feltia jaculifera, and Nephelodes minians) I found on flowers at night came as no surprise. These and other dart moth species are common visitors to my moth lights. But it was exciting to see them going about their normal activities in a natural setting. I never did find any foxfire this year.

**Moths weren’t the only visitors to flowers at night. I wonder if this crab spider was sleeping or waiting for a moth.**

Sarea difformis: A fungus that lives on conifer resin

**Black spruce resin with *Sarea difformis*.**

Conifer resin oozing from a tree is an inhospitable place. The terpenoid chemicals in resin are toxic to many forms of life, but not all. Even though conifer resins are full of anti-fungal and anti-bacterial compounds, some organisms have found a way around that. One of these is a fungus called Sarea, a genus of fungi that grows on the resins of pines, spruces, firs, and cedars. Organisms that live on resins are called resinicolous (resin plus “colous” meaning “inhabitant”).

From lichen to fungus

At one time, Sarea was thought to be a lichen, but because it lacks a photobiont (symbiotic photosynthetic organism), it has been “demoted” to a fungus. The tiny (barely 1 mm across) fungus bodies pictured above and below growing on the resin of a black spruce are, to the best of my knowledge, the apothecia (reproductive structures) of Sarea difformis. Cross-sections of the fruiting body examined under a microscope would make identification more certain, but that’s a bit out of my reach right now.

**A few small fruiting disks (marked by red arrows) of the fungus *Sarea difformis* are growing on the darker portions (are those part of the fungal body?) of the resin. Can you find more?**

I have looked for research papers on how Sarea can live on conifer resin, but the results have not yielded much information. Does it actually break down the resin components into simple carbohydrates? If so, then does it do this on its own, or is there a symbiotic relationship with bacteria or another fungus? Are the fungal hyphae growing in the resin or merely on top? How does it disperse? A lot of questions, and I’m sure there are answers somewhere.

Taxonomy

Sarea is a genus in the phylum Ascomycota (cup fungi, sac fungi), which includes familiar mushrooms like morels and the blue mold in Roquefort cheese. The taxonomy of the genus Sarea is not entirely settled, so some species may be moved to other genera, and species from other genera may be moved to Sarea. Also, new species are being discovered.

A similar resinicolous species that might be encountered in northern coniferous forests is Sarea (Zythia) resinae. It can be distinguished morphologically by the color of its apothecia. Sarea difformis has black apothecia, and Sarea resinae has orange apothecia.

Rare?

Sarea is not a rare fungus, but because of its small size and peculiar habitat, it is just rarely seen. It occurs throughout the cooler regions of the northern hemisphere.

Sources and additional reading

Wordless Wednesday

Greetings from two tiger moths

*Apantesis phalerata* (Harnessed Tiger Moth). The pectinate antennae indicate this is a male. Photographed on June 25, 2022.

In an earlier post, I wrote about Williams’ tiger moth (Apantesis williamsii). In this one, I present two more Apantesis species: Apantesis phalerata (Harnessed Tiger Moth) and Apantesis virgo (Virgin Tiger Moth).

Most Apantesis moths are characterized by dark forewings and numerous, often parallel, crisscrossing white or off-white lines. The patterns are usually distinctive enough to determine species, but not always.

What’s in a name?

The genus name Apantesis is from the Greek word “apantēsis”, translated as “meeting, an encounter/reply” and “to meet face to face“. It describes a custom of meeting visiting dignitaries where citizens would gather to welcome and escort the dignitary or hero in a procession. I’m not sure why this word was used to name the genus.

Harnessed Tiger Moth (Apantesis phalerata)

Harnessed Tiger Moth (Apantesis phalerata) is part of a group of similar species that includes Apantesis nais, Apantesis carlotta, and Apantesis vittata. Characteristics of the forewing pattern overlap in all four species, making accurate determination difficult, if not impossible, from a photograph. Had this moth spread its wings, exposing the underwings, then the choice might have been between Apantesis phalerata and Apantesis carlotta. Or maybe not.

Genital dissection is considered to be the only reliable way to determine these Apantesis species accurately, but I’m not willing to chop up a moth that rarely gets this far north. I’m just going to call my moth Apantesis phalerata because it looks more like identified specimens than it does the other three species. Additionally, the orange thorax appears to be another characteristic in photos of moths identified as Apantesis phalerata, distinct from the other three. Of course, I could be completely wrong.

*Apantesis virgo* (Virgin Tiger Moth) showing the underwings. The pectinate antennae indicate this is a male. Photographed on July 22, 2019.

Virgin Tiger Moth (Apantesis virgo)

Identifying Virgin Tiger Moth (Apantesis virgo) is not as fraught as it is with Apantesis phalerata. Apantesis virgo is a large white, black, and red moth, 20 to 27 mm long. Black in color, the forewing has distinct off-white veins and transverse lines in the postmedial and subterminal areas. The hindwing may be bright pink, red, orange, or occasionally yellow, with an antemedian and outer margin lined with a row of black spots. There is also a patchy marginal band.

Larvae and host plants

Larvae of Apantesis moths are similar in appearance. Black and bristly, Apantesis virgo larvae have orange-brown spiracles; the setae beneath the spiracles may be orange. Brown to black bristles cover the black larvae of the Apantesis phalerata, which frequently have a pale dorsal line. Larvae of both species feed on low-growing herbaceous plants.