...when Guests find Hosts!
Clouded Crimson Moth caterpillars need plants in the Primrose family.
Here is a member of that family, growing in a road ditch.
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| Gaura mollis, aka Velvetweed, is a native annual/biennial that can grow over six feet tall. |
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| A Clouded Crimson caterpillar munches on its host plant, Gaura mollis. |
A Clouded Crimson growing larger on Gaura mollis
Buckwheats host Cobra Inchworms:
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| Climbing Buckwheat (Fallopia scandens) hosting a Cobra Inchworm (Timandra amaturaria) August 21, 2020. Bird Runner Wildlife Refuge. |
Paracantha fruit flies need thistles.
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| Female fruit fly, Paracantha sp. on Tall Thistle (Cirsium altissimum) Bird Runner Wildlife Refuge August 16, 2020. |
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| Female Paracantha preparing to lay eggs on Tall Thistle. |
Dogbane moths look for--guess what--Dogbane!
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| Cycnia tenera--the Dogbane Tiger Moth-- enjoying his host plant, Indian Hemp Dogbane (Apocynum cannabinum) |
Not all guests are well mannered. The caterpillars of Saucrobotys futilalis, the Dogbane Saucrobotys, can eat their host out of house and home:
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| Dogbane Saucrobotys Moth caterpillars on Indian Hemp Dogbane, stripping the leaves off the plant, August 4, 2020 Bird Runner Wildlife Refuge |
And of course famously, Monarch caterpillars need milkweed:
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| Monarch larva on Common Milkweed June 9, 2020. Bird Runner Wildlife Refuge |
Many insects are generalists and can live off of numerous species of plants. But some are specialists, like the ones above. If their host plants disappear, so do they. And if insects disappear, so do birds, flowers, fruits, vegetables, and eventually--us. Therefore, it's a special thrill to see insects finding the plants they need. It means in some ways anyway, all's right with the world!
All can share in this thrill! Just plant native plants. Whether it's milkweed in a window box four stories up, a 1/8 acre plot at a church or school, or thousands of acres of former cropground next to a national park, it will all help to set the world to rights!
