From the Field: Cotton candy-colored Cuties

Submitted by Outreach Director Jasmine Cupp

I would like to echo Tyler's previous blog post and say: One of the most exciting things about birding is you never know what you'll find. 

My love of birding has blossomed into finding any little (or big!) interesting thing nature will show me while I am outside. During the summer season when birds are breeding and brooding, they can be scarce. In those times, I have fallen in love with chasing butterflies and moths! I frequently visit Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge, and one particular visit yielded quite a surprise.

On a hot, windy summer day, I decided to photograph some plants to try and build up my plant identification skills.

Two Primrose Moths on evening-primrose.

I took a photo of an evening-primrose and quickly moved on along the trail. When I got home, I was eager, as always, to look through the photos and identify what I had found. The photo to the top right was a photo that I uploaded to iNaturalist and it kept suggesting "Primrose Moth" as an identification. I certainly didn't see a moth while in the field, but I looked closer, and to my surprise, there was a Primrose Moth! Not only one, but two! (They can be seen in the left bud.) I couldn't believe it! I was so excited, and I thought, "All I have to do is take some photos of evening-primrose and I'll find some pretty moths? That's easy!"

I went back the next day and along the same trail took photos of every blooming evening-primrose. One of them I could see had a moth. When I got home, I could see another plant had a moth and some eggs! Despite searching, I haven't been able to find any other Primrose Moths. And as I've learned since then, they can be quite localized and hard to find. I was just lucky enough to be in the right place at  just the right time to find these cotton candy-colored cuties.  

Primrose Moth on evening-primrose with eggs.

The Primrose Moth (Schinia florida) has a range from Nova Scotia to the Great Lakes region to northern Florida. Larvae go through five instars before burrowing in the ground to pupate overwinter. There is one generation per year, with the adult flight period timed to coincide with the bud development of its larval host plants. Adults are nocturnal, and often rest in the flowers of evening-primroses during the day.

The mimicry of the moth to the buds of the plant is such impressive camouflage. Looking at them side-by-side, you can definitely tell how someone could overlook a moth in the flowers of an evening-primrose.

​Nature is amazing! 

Evening-primrose with Primrose Moth.

Evening-primrose buds.

Photos by Jasmine Cupp
​References: D.F. Hardwick (1970). "The life history of Schinia florida". Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society. 24 (4): 282-287.