GAURA WATCH!!!

Gaura mollis along the Creek Field
driveway, 8-26-2015

Every summer, I look for the pretty little larvae of the Clouded Crimson Moth, to be found on plants in the genus Gaura.   

Last summer, I grew anxious because I couldn't find these delicate little green-and-black caterpillars.   I looked and looked--the first week in August,  the second,  the third--no caterpillars.

What I did see, were translucent little "flies," hovering around the Gaura blossoms.   I wondered what they were, but briefly, impatiently.   I wanted caterpillars.

Finally, at the beginning of September I found one Clouded Crimson caterpillar.   Later in the month I found 4 or 5 more--a paltry few!   The paucity was perhaps due to our parched summer--the third drought summer in a row.

This summer we've had regular rains & an explosion of Velvet Gaura, aka Gaura mollis.  

Stilt Bugs on Gaura mollis in the Creek Field

I started my hunt for caterpillars as usual at the beginning of August.   There were those same "flies" again, perching & hovering, just like the year before.   This time they got my attention.   I learned they were "Stilt Bugs,"  not flies at all but true bugs in the family Berytidae.   Probably they are of the genus Jalysus, as Jalysus species can have a special affinity for plants in the Primrose family, such as Gaura.    Gaura affinity & Gaura fidelity--that's what my Stilt Bugs have!

Stilt Bugs (Jalysus sp.) on Gaura in the Creek Field

Stilt Bugs mating on Gaura mollis
in the Creek Field.

These photos of Stilt Bugs were taken Aug. 10.

No caterpillars yet!!

  

 Now it is August 26, 2015, and still no Clouded Crimson larvae.   To make matters worse, the Stilt Bugs, which had been like a feathery cloud around the Gaura, are mostly gone.

But the Gaura leaves only appear to be empty.   Well camouflaged in their midst is the impressive caterpillar of the White-Lined Sphinx Moth!

Hyles lineata on Velvet
Gaura, Aug. 26, 2015

White-lined Sphinx Moth on Velvet Gaura
August 26, 2015

I found a caterpillar, all right!

And he's a beauty!














Clouded Crimsons?  I am still waiting..