"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
Tulip Tree Beauty
Epimecis hortaria fam. Geometridae (Hodges#6599)
Host plant(s): Found on sassafras (Sassafras albidum) and pawpaw (Asimina triloba)
Date(s) and location(s): 23, 25 Aug, 2025 – Tyson Research Center, St. Louis County, MO
Notes: Other commonly used hosts include poplars and tulip trees.
Georgian Prominent
Paraeschra georgica fam. Notodontidae (Hodges#7917)
Host plant: Found on red oak (Quercus sp.)
Date found: 30, Aug, 2025
Location found: Tyson Research Center, St. Louis County, MO
Notes: This is the first from a series of caterpillars I will be sharing from a new survey project that will document the caterpillars of Tyson Research Center.
On the 24th of July, during the new moon and National Moth Week, the WGNSS Entomology Group set up several blacklighting stations at Tyson Research Center as a start of an entomological survey. Between WGNSS members, TRC staff and students from Washington University, I estimate there were 25-30 people in attendance until around midnight. Overall, I think the evening was a success and the numbers and diversity of insects was good. We had a few nice highlight species, but because of the number of people, I did not spend time trying to remove moths from the sheet and onto a natural background. I still have a few to process, but this post covers the moths I cared to photograph.
Many thanks to Katie Westby and Rich Thoma for organizing this event. I’d also like to thank jwileyrains at butterfliesandmoths.org for confirming and helping me with some identifications.
Family Crambidae
Family Erebidae
Family Geometridae
Family Limacodidae
Family Noctuidae
Family Saturniidae
Family Sphingidae
I’m looking forward to a few more blacklighting sessions before the season ends and I will share what I find here on the blog.
Thanks for stopping by!
-OZB
A Thousand Acres of Silphiums 