I’ve got several posts in the works. One is on mayflies, insects that spend much of their lives in clean freshwater ecosystems. Fascinating insects with a lineage that pre-dates the dinosaurs.
Hedya salicella
Another post is about some moths in the Tortricidae that have recently entered North America. Hedya salicella is one of those moths, but there are others. They have appeared in various places in the US and Canada, mostly in the east.
It looks like my computer is fried, but the hard drive might be salvaged. Even the screen and keyboard are destroyed. Fortunately, most of the files are backed up. (UPDATE: my computer came back to life!)
I have two pots of basil on my porch for fresh basil leaves. Everything was going well with big plants with big leaves full of flavor and fragrance. One afternoon, I went to get a few large basil leaves. I was going to make an omelet with Gruyère cheese, onions, crushed garlic, cherry tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, and mushrooms. And fresh basil.
When I looked into one of the pots, there on the largest plant was this strikingly patterned green caterpillar. I’d never seen anything like it before. It reminded me of a sphinx moth caterpillar. But there was no horn or even a bump on the last segment. The head seemed to have the wrong shape, too. Maybe it was a cutworm caterpillar (Noctuidae: Noctuinae), not a sphinx (Sphingidae)?
After many pages at BugGuide, I was at the genus Melanchra. The first species to show up was Melanchra adjuncta (hitched arches), and my caterpillar looked just like it. To be sure, I continued on a little more but found nothing similar.
Basil isn’t the only plant Melanchra adjuncta eats. Their palate is open to a wide variety of herbaceous plants and even leaves of some woody plants. After eating for a few hours, the caterpillar left, perhaps to enjoy other plants on my porch.
This just arrived today, and I know it will be so very useful as I venture further into the world of insects. Flower Bugs: A Field Guide to Flower-Associated True Bugs of the Midwest by Angella Moorehouse (2023) is published by Pollination Press LLC, Minnetonka, MN. The Pollination Press web address is www.pollinationpress.com.
This book has 360 pages, lavishly illustrated with beautiful full-color photographs of 160 species of terrestrial true bugs from 25 families and 52 genera. The area covered includes the states of Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan in the US and Southern Ontario in Canada.
The book includes taxonomic charts that will guide you to family and then to genus, detailed illustrations of bug morphology, their ecology, and a glossary of terms to help you learn and identify true bugs.
Species descriptions are not overly technical, thus making this book more accessible to non-specialists with some background in insect identification. Maps show the range of each species. There are notes on key identifying features, life history, ecology, feeding, and habitat. Descriptions of herbivorous species include lists of plants they consume. Carnivorous species are similarly treated. Not all species receive the same description treatments. Some are represented with photographs.
There seems to be a problem with the index, where some entries do not match the page numbers in the book. Not sure why.
I am loving this book already and will put it to good use identifying the many bug species I have photographed. My first project will be to go through the unidentified species in my files and to re-check previous identifications. After that, I’ll spend many an evening just browsing and waiting for spring and the bugs to return.
Mompha eloisella was probably attracted to the many Oenothera biennis plants nearby.
This is Mompha eloisella (Red-streaked Mompha), a tiny moth with beautiful satiny white wings speckled with symmetrically placed dark brown spots on the head, thorax, and wings, and red diagonal lines on the wing tips. The patterning of the wing tips resembles a face, but who or what will notice something that small and possibly be deterred by it? Or maybe that’s what the markings are for at all.
Mompha eloisella is in the family Momphidae, which worldwide contains at least 115 species. In North America, there are 45 species just in the genus Mompha and probably many more yet to be discovered and described. All are tiny and have unique patterns, often colorful, on their wings. The larvae of most Mompha species feed on plants in the Onagraceae (evening primrose family) as stem, flower, or fruit borers or as leaf miners. Mompha eloisella larvae are stem borers in evening primrose (Oenothera spp.). This one may have been attracted to the small stand of Oenothera biennis growing in my garden.
Mompha eloisella is widespread in the US, but available range maps show it as not present in Minnesota. Now we know it does occur in Minnesota, with this first sighting more than 120 miles north of a previous sighting in Wisconsin.
This isn’t the first Mompha moth I’ve seen here. There are four other species, all very tiny and beautifully patterned. The small size of these moths makes them easy to miss and difficult to photograph, but with a little effort and patience, they can be found and sometimes photographed clearly. Of course, not all of my Mompha photos are clear, but clear enough. They seem skittish, which also makes photographing them a challenge.
To attract more Mompha moths, I have planted Oenothera biennis, Epilobium angustifolium (fireweed), and let the weedy annual Epilobium coloratum (willow-herb) have a place in my flower garden. Not only are these plants food for Mompha moth larvae, but their flowers, sweet with nectar, are food sources for bees, small and large, and even hummingbirds. After blooming, the plants continue to benefit wildlife. A few days ago, I saw an eastern goldfinch in my flower garden feeding on the small seeds of evening primrose.
Not Very Far Away 