Tonight’s caterpillars are a few nondescript species of Herpetogramma (Family Crambidae) typically referred to as webworms. Most Herpetogramma feed on grasses, but the individuals I found this year feed on dicots or ferns. These guys are leaftiers that can be found easily by looking for the leaf shelters that they tie together with silk. So far I have been unable to find known associations between these species and hosts, nor visual characteristics that help to identify these larvae to species. Please let me know if you can enlighten me.
This species was found in considerable numbers at Tyson Research Center in August and were hosting on wingstem (Verbesina alternifolia).
The next species is really special as it represents one of the very few species of Lepidoptera that feed on ferns.
This next one was found at Loggers Lake in July. We found this on an unrecorded aster in a simple folder leaf shelter.
A Thousand Acres of Silphiums 