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prominent is a generalist when it comes to host plant preference unlike some caterpillar species which feed on only one or a few species of plants the caterpillar of the saddled prominent feeds on pretty much any woody plants including american beech birches buckeyes dogwood hickories maples oaks sumacs and many other trees and shrubs a relatively common species in southeast ohio yet one that i always enjoy seeing is the giant leopard moth hypercompe scribonia although you can t really tell from the photo giant leopard moth caterpillars are large they re also extremely easy to identify if you see a large black caterpillar covered in black bristles with red rings where each abdominal segment meets you ve got yourself a giant leopard moth the caterpillars of this species feed only at night spending most of the daylight hours hiding out on the forest floor although the black bristles which are technically called setae look formidable the giant leopard moth does not actually sting instead they will simply roll up into a ball if threatened and hope that they look scary enough for the threat to leave them alone if you want to read about the adult giant leopard moth check out my previous post mothing at clear creek the showy a few minutes after seeing the giant leopard moth caterpillar another strikingly similar caterpillar crossed our paths this is the caterpillar of the agreeable tiger moth spilosoma congrua like many other species of insects the agreeable tiger moth is able to sequester toxins found in the plants that they eat in order to become toxic themselves in the case of this species these caterpillars sequester iridoid glycosides although the levels of iridoid glycosides aren t very dangerous to most potential predators of the agreeable tiger moth they do make the caterpillar taste pretty nasty which would hopefully deter any predators from eating this species caterpillars of the agreeable tiger moth come in two color morphs one with colored rings and one with red dots down the side of the body although i couldn t find any information about the two morphs it would be interesting to see if there are any differences between the two whether they occur in different geographic locations or if they have differences in the iridoid glycoside sequestration or the likes by far the most abundant type of caterpillar of the night were the geometers geometers better known as inch worms are moths belonging to the family geometridae the geometer family is huge with over 1 400 species in north america and several hundred in ohio alone identifying geometer caterpillars can be incredibly difficult especially since many of them are incredibly camouflaged and lack much in the way of obvious identifying characteristics although i couldn t identify the one pictured above to species it was my favorite geometer of the night this caterpillar is a perfect twig mimic i would have never seen him had i not had a uv flashlight uv flashlights are indispensable tools when searching for caterpillars most caterpillaring occurs under the cover of night when caterpillars are most active it just so happens that most caterpillar species fluoresce when exposed to ultraviolet uv light if you walk around the forest with a hand held uv flashlight which you can easily find on amazon the caterpillars will quite literally light up making it much easier to find cryptic species one of the most peculiar species of the night was the black waved flannel moth lagoa crispata the caterpillar of the black waved flannel moth is rather ridiculous looking in my opinion appearing like a frizzy toupée but don t let its appearance fool you flannel moth caterpillars are not one to mess with this caterpillar has two lines of defense first all those long hairs you see are urticating setae which are essentially bristles which can break off into your skin causing irritation like dozens and dozens of tiny splinters but hidden within the urticating setae is the second line of defense short venomous spines being stung by the caterpillar of any flannel moth species is not a pleasant experience but the black waved flannel moth is one of the least painful of the bunch the southern flannel moth megalopyge opercularis wins the pain contest i couldn t talk about the black waved flannel moth without at least showing what an adult looks like the adult black waved flannel moth is one of the most fuzzy moths out there unlike the caterpillars the adults are completely harmless this individual was found in ross county earlier in the summer the last three species i want to highlight are all slug caterpillars from the family limacodidae the slugs are almost always a favorite of anyone into lepidopterans moths and butterflies slug caterpillars are called such due to their rounded slug like appearance they hug whatever surface they are clinging too and move around in a manner more like a slug than a caterpillar some slugs like this jeweled tailed slug packardia geminata can be rather dull in appearance others can be stunningly beautiful many slugs are tiny quarter sized or less and mostly green however many species are adorned with stinging hairs such as this is nason s slug natada nasoni the spines of the nason s slug are unique compared to many other slug caterpillars these spines are actually retractable and most of the time the caterpillar will only have the tips of the spines exposed if the caterpillar feels threatened it will extend its spines and hopefully scare the threat away if not the threat whether it be a bird human or whatever will receive a painful sting this was a good species to find for the night as the nason s slug is restricted to only the southern and southeastern portions of the state the highlight of the night at least in my opinion was this saddleback caterpillar acharia stimulea the saddleback is one of the most well known slug caterpillars and it s easy to see why even someone who doesn t care about insects would be hard pressed to ignore one of these cats as you can tell from the photo above the common name for this species is due to the circular saddle on its back but if any feature is grabbing your attention it s most surely all the protruding appendages covered in spines these spines pack quite a punch each spine is rigid incredibly sharp and most importantly hollow at the base of each spine is a venom gland if a spine comes in contact with exposed skin it breaks off into the skin and begins releasing venom the saddleback s venom is both vesicating and hemolytic meaning that it causes your skin to blister while also breaking down your red blood cells and damaging your tissue a sting from one of these caterpillars will cause immediate localized pain fellow blogger andrew gibson likened it to burning knives and in extreme cases can also cause nausea migraines and a host of other symptoms the effects of the venom can last upwards of 5 hours on the front end of the saddleback are two large white spots these are thought to mimicking eyes fake eyes are common in insects especially in lepidopterans and these eye spots serve to scare away potential predators by either startling the predators or conveying that the animal in question is dangerous like always this year s caterwauling for caterpillars event was fantastic if you want to read about some of the caterpillars from the first caterwauling for caterpillars night please check out my post entitled caterpillars caterpillars and more caterpillars and if you are interested in seeing some caterpillars yourself mid september is the best time for that in ohio get out and see what you can find posted by kyle brooks at 7 48 pm no comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels nature ohio photography parks arthropods athens county ohio caterpillars insects lepidoptera moths location athens oh 45701 usa tuesday june 27 2017 mothing at clear creek the showy on the night of june 17th i traveled to clear creek metro park in fairfield county ohio to participate in a moth night i talked about some of the drab and subtle moths of the night in my previous pos t but now i want to take a moment to highlight some of the showy species weather plays an important part when it comes to mothing as a general rule moths like warm and dark nights the darker and warmer the night the more moths you will see luckily the night was not only in the mid 70 s but was also pitch black no moon was out and clouds covered the sky the amount of moths flying and visiting the mothing sheets was incredible as the photo above shows i ll begin with the io moth automeris io the io moth is a stunning species in the saturniidae family the same family the contains other knockout species like the luna moth cecropia moth and the imperial moth the io moth is a relatively common moth across the entirety of ohio and over a dozen visited the sheets during the course of the night as you have probably noticed the wings of the io moth have two large eye spots these eye spots serve to ward off predators the io moth typically sits with its wings closed if a potential predators comes near the io moth will open its wings and flash its eye spots if everything goes according to plan the surprised predator should back off giving the io moth time to escape moths have a diverse array of anti predator defense mechanisms and not all are based on appearances take the painted lichen moth hypoprepia fucosa for example this species along with many other related tiger moths subfamily arctiinae has another line of defense when the painted lichen moth flies at night they are at risk of being eaten by various bat species the painted lichen moth is semi toxic though and relatively unpalatable to bats the problem is bats won t be able to see the red orange black warning coloration of the moth at night so how does the moth let bats know not to try to eat it they click when a bat is in the area making its own clicking noises for echolocation the painted lichen moth will hear the bat and begin clicking in defense this lets the bat know that this moth isn t a good meal and the bat will hopefully leave the moth alone this tiny moth is the orange headed epicallima epicallima argenticinctella this species inhabits deciduous forests where the caterpillars feed on elm trees the orange headed epicallima is what is commonly known as a micro moth micro moth is general name given to tiny moths there is no strict definition of a micro moth but most people seem to consider moths that are 1 2 inch long or smaller as a micro moth identifying micro moths is oftentimes a difficult process but the orange headed epicallima is one of the more easily identifiable species another showy micro moth of the night was the labyrinth moth phaecasiophora niveiguttana the caterpillars of this species feed on the mid story tree species sassafras and witch hazel this moth gave me quite the headache and this frustration underscores a problem with arthropod field guides i must have flipped through the peterson field guide to moths of northeastern north america a good 5 7 times while trying to identify this moth but i simply couldn t find it i posted a photo of it on the facebook group mothing ohio to see if someone could help within a few minutes a member id ed it for me and i soon realized why i couldn t find it in the guide it wasn t in there when it comes to arthropods there are tens of thousands of species there are over 11 000 species of moths alone in north america a field guide can not simply contain every single species with numbers like these even if that guide only focuses on one group of arthropods in one section of the continent like the peterson guide does choices have to be made on what to include and what to exclude and the authors of the peterson field guide to moths only included 1 500 of the most common or most eye catching moths in northeastern north america luckily the internet fills in these field guide gaps and facebook groups or sites like bugguide will help you out when i was a young kid this was the first moth that i learned the name of this is the giant leopard moth hypercompe scribonia the giant leopard moth along with the polyphemus moth were my two spark moths a spark animal is the colloquial term for a species that inspires a curiosity or admiration of a given group of animals in a person the individual pictured above is actually a female giant leopard moth as can be told by the loss of wing scales on the ends of the wings when giant leopard moths mate the male and female will stay attached for 24 or more hours during this long lasting session of mating the male will position his wings over the female s this results in the male accidentally rubbing off the female s wing scales leading to an appearance like this staying with black and white moths for a moment here s the neighbor haploa contigua moths have the best names don t they the neighbor belongs to a group of tiger moths in the genus haploa which are often referred to as the haploa moths haploa moths all have various black lines set against white wings and identification involves carefully studying the patterns of those black lines to see the diversity of wing patterns in the haploa moths check out this bugguide link this is the beautiful wood nymph eudryas grata the beautiful wood nymph is just one of several moth species which are hypothesized to be mimicking bird droppings imagine you re a small predator making your way through the forest in search of a meal if this moth was just sitting on a leaf out in the open you would probably be quick to dismiss it as some unsavory bird feces you would move on in search of some actual tasty food and the beautiful wood nymph would live another day this stunning moth is the dark banded geometer ecliptopera atricolorata for many this was moth highlight of the night this is another relatively uncommon species that is missing from the peterson field guide to moths typically when i write a post like this i try to find at least one neat fact to share for each species the problem is i can barely find any information on this species i did however find a quote about this moth from the famous lepidopterist and naturalist william jacob holland in his 1903 book entitled the moth book holland writes that the dark banded geometer is one of the most beautiful of the geometrid moths found in the atlantic states there you have it the dark banded geometer always a show stopper i ll end with the very last moth of the night this gigantic beauty is the polyphemus moth antheraea polyphemus due to columbus metro park rules the moth night had to officially end at midnight the night however did not end there after shutting down the mothing sheets many of the moth ers traveled down the road to a gas station that straddles the intersection of clear creek road and us route 33 why travel to a gas station you might ask well there are bright lights and these lights attract moths we might not have be...
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