Tonight’s caterpillar is a member of the Crambidae family – Saucrobotys futilalis, or the “dogbane saucrobotys moth.” The host for this species is the namesake dogbane (Apocynum species) and they can also feed on milkweeds (Asclepias species). I found these pretty easy to find in mid to late July at Don Robinson State Park by simply looking for their web nests within dogbane plants. There were usually several cats within each nest and a little beating of the plants could get quite a few tumbling out.
I find the Latin binomial for this one to be pretty entertaining. Saucro, coming from the Greek for graceful, pretty and beauty, along with botys, the genus to which this moth was originally ascribed. While, on the other hand, the specific futilalis seems to come from the Latin futilis, meaning brittle, vain, or worthless. Taxonomic nomenclature can be confusing and is often steeped in history (this species was described in 1863), but I find this grouping to be pretty entertaining.
A Thousand Acres of Silphiums 