Creepy Crawlies

Just a short entry to document some critters that I had never seen before, and to share the names and addresses of two very good web sites about such things.

These fellows are enjoying our wild goldenrod. I have seen black wasp looking things before, but what is that pretty insect on the left!

Ailanthus Webworm Moth (Atteva punctella)

I identified it by going to this great web site: Bug Guide. If you click on that link, you will see their two photos.

We do not have any Ailanthus trees (Tree of Heaven) here, thank goodness, but they are in other areas of town and may be taking over the world. You might remember that one from the book and play, A Tree Grows In Brooklyn.

Then there is this surprising fellow. I first thought tomato worm or tobacco worm (after all this is Kentucky!), but there are no diagonal stripes and the horizontal stripes had me stumped. Notice how it has eaten the petals of those two New England Aster blooms, and the one in the upper left hand corner.

Goldenrod Hooded Owlet Moth Caterpillar
(Cucullia asteroides)

So away I went to another great web site about bugs and things: What's That Bug. I could not find it among their green larvae, so I sent in the photo and a message asking for help. Here is the reply: "Your caterpillar resembled that of the Brown Hooded Owlet Moth. Sure enough, there is a photo of a Goldenrod Hooded Owlet Moth Caterpillar, Cucullia asteroides, posted to BugGuide that is a dead ringer for yours."

Here is their even better photo of the larva. And here is their photo of the moth.

That is all for now in the Creepy Crawlies Category. You might find those two web sites helpful someday.