The snowberry clearwing is a day-flying moth that frequents our flower gardens during the summer. This stunning moth uses a handful of plants as its larval host; one such plant is coral honeysuckle. This native honeysuckle bears long red tubular flowers throughout the spring and summer. After the moth’s bright green caterpillars have grown as big as they are going to get, they literally drop to the ground beneath their hosts and hide among the fallen leaves. They then enter the next stage of their life; forming a cocoon and pupate during the winter. This miraculous process only works if the caterpillars fall into a protective blanket of leaf litter.
We have at least a foot high pile of leaves under our magnolia. They been accumulating for several years. I hope they could be a benefit to some butterflies or other winter hibernators.
Observed a single hummer today and two yesterday. This afternoon it was chasing a hummingbird moth as it was feeding on our Amistad salvia. Is the moth similar to the one you referred to in the post?
We finally received a bit over a quarter inch of rain today, also.
This Spring and Summer/Fall has been the most outstanding for butterflies I’ve seen in decades!
William,
Thanks for sharing what you are doing for moths and butterflies. Also, thanks for telling me about Amistad salvia. My wife and I had never heard of it. It sounds too good to be true. We definitely want to try it. I hope it would survive our winters here in Middle Georgia.
Our Amistad salvia plant was planted eight or more years ago. I planted it close to an indention at an area where it’s not in an open situation. It survived our 26 degrees’ yesterday morning and has nice blooms today. It sometimes has a few minimal blooms all winter here in Fitzgerald. I always prune it back in late Summer and it’s about three feet by three now. This one plant will sometimes reach about five feet by five. It’s a woody type so it might survive in your area. I think it was a sport that originated in Argentina.