365Caws is now in its 14th year of publication, and was originally intended to end after 365 days. It has sometimes been difficult for me to find new material, particularly during the winter months, but now as I enter my own twilight years, I cannot guarantee that I will be able to provide daily posts. It is my hope that along the way I may have inspired someone to a greater curiosity about the natural world. If so, I can rest, content in the knowledge that my work here has been done.
Thursday, May 17, 2018
Platypredia Virginalis, Ranchman's Tiger Moth
Day 216: My big score from Ohop Valley yesterday was Platypredia virginalis, known variously as "Ranchman's Tiger Moth" or "Rangeland Tiger Moth." Somewhat larger than the familiar Banded Woolly Bear (Isabella Tiger Moth), Platypredia virginalis reverses the colour scheme: orange on the ends, black in the middle, but adds in long white guard hairs as a dorsal mane. The caterpillars' primary diet consists of plaintains (a genus of weedy plants, not bananas), dandelions and lupine. Plaintain is abundant at this site. It's not that I've never seen the caterpillars before, but thanks to entomologists at BugGuide.net, I am now able to associate the critters with their moth which, incidentally, flies during the day. Its black forewings are striking, marked with large white/cream spots. The hindwings may be black and orange (common at Ohop) or black and white. This specimen was in a big hurry to meet the biological imperative, going hell-bent-for-leather across the asphalt in search of a host plant.
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