"What a thousand acres of Silphiums looked like when they tickled the bellies of the buffalo is a question never again to be answered, and perhaps not even asked." -Aldo Leopold
Stinging Rose Caterpillar -Limacodidae – Parasa intermedia (4699). Cuivre River State Park, Lincoln Co, MO.
Arguably the most stunning of Missouri’s slug moth caterpillars, the Stinging Rose Caterpillar can most often be found on oak and hickory saplings. However, a number of other woody species (including those in the rose family) will also be used as host plants.
Stinging Rose Caterpillar -Limacodidae – Parasa intermedia (4699). Horseshoe Bend Natural Area – Washington SP, Texas Co, MO.
This is one of the species I voluntarily allowed to sting me – it wasn’t that bad, perhaps a mild ‘stinging-nettle’ type of experience that was gone in 30 minutes or so.
Stinging Rose Caterpillar -Limacodidae – Parasa intermedia (4699). Horseshoe Bend Natural Area – Washington SP, Texas Co, MO.
The image below shows a little of the variety of color and patterns that can be found in this species, this one showing more of a yellow/orange background. Some animals can be found that are completely yellow.
Stinging Rose Caterpillar -Limacodidae – Parasa intermedia (4699). Horseshoe Bend Natural Area – Washington SP, Texas Co, MO.
The next slug to make your acquaintance is the Red-crossed Button Slug. This species is quite similar to one or two others as both larvae and adult, but given that most lists I have seen from Missouri list this one and not the others, I am pretty confident in this ID. This species lacks the stinging, protective hairs, going instead with a more camouflage approach of looking like a bit of leaf blight as it passes over leaves of oaks, hickories and quite a few other known woody, deciduous host plants.
On a trail of silk – Red-crossed Button Slug – Limacodidae – Tortricidia-pallida (4653), Hickory Canyon Natural Area
The image above gives a glimpse into how the slugs get around – on a substance described as liquid silk. See the winding trails?
Even their frass is distinctive – Red-crossed Button Slug – Limacodidae – Tortricidia-pallida (4653), Hickory Canyon Natural Area
Here I caught one in the act. From what I’ve read, slugs leave distinctively shaped (indented) frass that is different from that of other caterpillars. I didn’t pause long enough to investigate.
The slug moth – Red-crossed Button Slug – Limacodidae – Tortricidia-pallida (4653), Hickory Canyon Natural Area
Finally, the adult slug moth is pictured above. Slug moths are strongly attracted to lights and, from what I have read, are often some of the first species to show up when setting up a light and sheet/trap. I have a theory that this may be why I find many less slug caterpillars the closer I look near St. Louis. Although I found very similar habitats with the same composition and numbers of sapling oaks and hickories (the favored host plants), the closer I came to the city the number of slug caterpillars dropped significantly. Perhaps the city lights are sucking in the adults before they are able to reproduce? Probably a too simplistic idea, but it is a trend I noticed. It could just as well be due to fragmented habitat and overall less habitat available the closer one gets to the city.
While searching for arthropod subjects to photograph on Steve’s property, we decided to check the compost/midden pile and found something completely unexpected.
Gold and Brown Rove Beetle – Staphylinidae-Ontholestes cingulatus, Farmington, MO
These beetles were crazy to watch – super speedy while flipping their gold-tipped abdomens over their backs in display. These guys yield even more support to my contention that the vast majority of ideas used in the sci-fi genre (particularly the creature-features) were taken from somewhere within the natural world.
Gold and Brown Rove Beetle – Staphylinidae-Ontholestes cingulatus, Farmington, MO
Check out those chompers!
Gold and Brown Rove Beetle – Staphylinidae-Ontholestes cingulatus, Farmington, MO
Saddleback Caterpillar (Acharia stimulea) photographed at Millstream Garden Conservation Area in late August, 2016.
We were quite fortunate during our first summer of hunting for “slug” caterpillars – members of the moth family Limacodidae who get their name from their absence of prolegs, which are replaced by a sucker that enables them to move quite similarly to a true slug. We (Sarah, Steve and I) were fortunate because we were able to locate and photograph ten species of slugs. I had read about these fascinating animals before, but never realized how abundant and diverse they actually were in the Missouri Ozarks. Yes, a good amount of work and patience is necessary to find them – I don’t want to tally up the hours, but it was time well spent outdoors.
I’ve decided to begin sharing these images with a species that is probably most well known of those who have heard of the slugs – the aptly named saddleback caterpillar. As can be seen in the image below, the saddleback wears a green saddle, bordered with white. Also apparent in these images are the urticating (stinging) hairs that are concentrated along fleshy nobs located at both ends of the caterpillar. These spines are found on a number, but not all of the caterpillars in this family and are capable of delivering a painful sting that is quite similar to that of the stinging nettle plant.
Saddleback Caterpillar (Acharia stimulea) photographed at Cuivre River State Park in mid August, 2016.
The image below shows the ocellus, or eyespots, which are actually on the posterior end of the animal.
Saddleback Caterpillar – Posterior (Acharia stimulea) photographed at Cuivre River State Park in mid August, 2016.
Finally, the anterior end – the animal’s head is nicely hidden under a few fleshy folds that are armed with spiny protuberances.
Saddleback Caterpillar – Posterior (Acharia stimulea) photographed at Cuivre River State Park in mid August, 2016.
I look forward to sharing more examples of this fascinating group of Missouri slugs in the near future.
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In a previous post I wrote a bit about the Warty Leaf Beetle (Neochlamisus gibbosus), a member of the Cryptocephalinae subfamily. Fascinating due to the fact that the adult form seems to be a perfect mimic of caterpillar frass, this species is much more interesting than I had imagined.
This species is highly, if not solely, associated with blackberry as a host plant. While watching these guys and looking for other insects on these plants I kept noticing gall-like structures, usually on the undersides of the leaves.
Paying closer attention, I noticed that these structures were not galls, nor were they attached directly to the plant tissue – they moved. On closer inspection, I could sometimes see the legs of the creature that resided within the house.
I had to crack one open to see if I could get an idea of what sort of organism built and resided within. As you can see in the photograph below, the animal appeared to be a beetle larvae.
Warty Leaf Beetle – Chrysomelidae – Neochlamisus gibbosus. Larvae exposed from within its scatological residence. Photographed at Shaw Nature Reserve, MO.
It took me a while to put it together, but eventually I confirmed that the larvae belonged to the same species as the adult beetles that I observed all over the blackberries. My next question was, on what materials did the larvae use to build its shelter? Usually, an insect will use detritus or perhaps fresh plant tissue that it processes to make a protective enclosure like this. These guys do it a bit differently.
It starts with mom. As she oviposits, she encases each egg with a layer of her own feces and some rectal secretions. As the larvae hatches and grows, it continues to expand its home by building with its own feces to accommodate its increasing bulk. Here is a photo of an adult and larvae close together.
This tiny and speedy ichneumon wasp, which I am calling a Theronia species, has been hanging around my patch of wild strawberries for a couple of months. If I am close to correct in the identification (with more than 100,000 described ichneumons, how close could I be?), then this species parasitize tent caterpillars along with a number of other lepidopterans.
Ichneumonidae – Theronia sp. – Female – Photographed in the author’s wild strawberry patch, St. Louis Co., MO.
“I cannot persuade myself that a beneficent & omnipotent God would have designedly created the Ichneumonidæ with the express intention of their feeding within the living bodies of caterpillars …”
-Charles Darwin-
Ichneumonidae – Theronia sp. – Female – Photographed in the author’s wild strawberry patch, St. Louis Co., MO.
Belonging to the family of moths called Saturniidae, the Imperial Moth can reach up to six inches. Many members of this family are large-bodied and short-lived as adults – typically living only one or two weeks and not feeding in this stage. This female was attracted to lights during a national moth week event at Cuivre River State Park on July 31, 2016.
Imperial Moth – Saturniidae – Eacles imperialis, photographed at Cuivre River SP during national moth week.
While investigating a patch of Maypop (Passiflora incarnata) I could not find my goal of the Passion Flower Flea Beetle, but I was still happy to find a number of Shiny Flea Beetles – Chrysomelidae – Asphaera lustrans.
The Leafcutter Bees are an interesting group of native solitary bees found within the Megachilidae Family along with Mason Bees, Resin Bees and Carder Bees. There are approximately 200 species of Leafcutter Bees (Megachile genus) found in North America and several of these species can be easily found in gardens throughout the eastern United States where they favor the plant families Asteraceae, Campanulaceae and Fabaceae.
Leafcutter Bee – Megachile sp.
Leafcutter Bees get their names from an obvious behavior. These bees line their chosen nest cavities (stems, cracks, wood-boring beetle borings, holes of all kinds) with circular discs that they cut from green leaves or flower petals. When a cavity has been sufficiently lined, the bee will deposit an egg along with a provision of nectar and pollen, afterward abandoning the nest.
Leafcutter Bee – Megachile sp.
Bees in this family are abdominal pollen collectors, as can be seen in the photo above. Unlike most bees that hold pollen in brushes on their legs, the Megachilidae hold their pollen on the underside of their abdomens that consist of course, unbranched hairs that curves towards the tail.
Leafcutter Bee – Megachile sp.
A diagnostic behavior of the Leafcutter Bee is their habit of extending their abdomen vertically while they forage. I have not been able to find an accepted reason that they do this.
Leafcutter Bee – Megachile sp.
This is a group of native insects that anyone can help in their own backyard. Consider making, purchasing and installing nesting structures for your native pollinating bees. It’s quite easy to do and will help out a lot in suburban where natural sites for nests are often hard to find.
A Thousand Acres of Silphiums 