Differential Grasshopper - Melanoplus differentialis - Female

Differential Grasshopper - Melanoplus differentialis - Female

(Photo:  Marvin Smith on 10/8/09)

IDENTIFICATION: General color is yellow to yellowish-brown with contrasting black markings ... wings are colorless ... black herringbone markings on outer face of hind femora ... hind tibiae are yellow with black spines and a narrow black ring near the knee ... average length for males is around 1 1/4" ... females are larger, averaging around 1 3/4".

RANGE: One of the more common grasshoppers. Can be found throughout most of the U. S.

FOOD: A mixed feeder that prefers grasses, especially lush vegetation in moist crop area (i. e. corn, clover, alfalfa and various garden crops). Although M. differentialis can be a serious pest in cultivated crops, it's usually not a problem in grasslands.

SEASON: Adults are common in the latter part of July. They deposit eggs from mid-August to October, and the eggs overwinter.

OVIPOSITON: Eggs are [normally] deposited in raised plant crowns of somewhat isolated clumps of sod. Common oviposition sites are compact roads, deserted fields, edges of weed patches and well-grazed areas near weedy ravines. Why the female pictured above chose to oviposit in a nail hole on our porch steps, I do not know. It was not a good choice.

Sources and links:
BugGuide Species Page
Grasshoppers of Colorado

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Differential Grasshopper - Melanoplus differentialis - Female

Melonworm Moth - Diaphania hyalinata

Melonworm Moth - Diaphania hyalinata

(Photo:  Marvin Smith on 11/2/09)

Identification: Very distinctive white to translucent wings with dark brown border ... a tuft of bushy hairlike scales at the tip of the abdomen ... wingspan 2.5-3 cm (around an inch).

Range: Permanent range is Central and South America, the Caribbean, and southern Florida (and maybe South Texas). Moths disperse northward in the eastern U. S. during the summer and have been recorded in New England and the Great Lakes region.

Life cycle: Egg, five instars, pupae and adult. Under optimal conditions, Melonworm Moths can complete a full life cycle in 30 days.

Host plants: Melonworm caterpillars feed on cucurbits. Summer and winter squash are preferred. Cucumber, gerkin, cantaloupe and some pumpkins are secondary choices. Larvae feed mainly on foliage, but may feed on the surface of the fruit, or even burrow into the fruit after eating all the leaves. Crop yield losses to D. hyalinata can be significant.

Comments: The University of Florida says moths are not attracted to light traps, but the moth I photographed was under our porch light.

I found mentions of the "tail feathers" as aids in dispersing pheromones. I believe this is correct, but could not confirm from a reliable source.

Melonworm caterpillar

(Photo:  Alton N. Sparks, Jr., University of Georgia via Forestry Images)

The two white stripes on the Melonworm caterpillar are distinctive, but may be faint in early instars and are lost in the final instar.

Sources and Links:
Forestry Images
BugGuide Species Page
University of Florida

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Melonworm Moth - Diaphania hyalinata

Nature Notes: Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor)

Female Pipevine Swallowtail  (Photo: Marvin Smith on 11/03/09)

In the East and California, Pipevine Swallowtails (Battus philenor) are seen mainly in the spring and summer. However, here here in the South they are more common in late summer and fall. In Mexico they fly year round.

Adult B. philenor nectar from a wide variety of flowers and are usually found in open fields or open spaces bordering woodlands. The female in the photo above was nectaring from the zinnias that brighten our vegetable garden.

Male Pipevine Swallowtail Butterfly
(Photo: Sturgis McKeever, Georgia Southern University, Bugwood.org)

The inner hindwings on male Pipevine Swallowtails are more iridescent than those on females. B. philenor mimics several other butterflies including Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (female, dark phase), Black Swallowtail (female), Spicebush Swallowtail, Red-spotted Purple and Diana Fritillary. BugGuide provides comparison images that help differentiate between these butterflies.

Pipevine Swallowtail caterpillar
(Photo: Sturgis McKeever, Georgia Southern University, Bugwood.org)

Larvae/caterpillars feed on Aristolochia species. Larvae presumably take up toxic secondary compounds from their hostplant. Both larvae and adults are believed toxic to vertebrate predators, and both have aposematic (warning) coloration. (BugGuide)

Pipevine Swallowtail chrysalis
(Photo: Sturgis McKeever, Georgia Southern University, Bugwood.org)

In temperate regions, Pipevine Swallowtails overwinter as pupae (in a chrysalis). In mid-season, the butterfly spends about two weeks in this pupal stage.

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Nature Notes: Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor)