Day Fliers

Eight-spotted Forester nectaring on Mexican Plum

As part of the larger groups of moths known as the Noctuidae and Thyrididae, Forester and Window-Winged moths are day fliers that commonly have white-spotted black forewings and either similar or bright orange hindwings, and are often found in open woodlands and flowery meadows.  This time of year, you can frequently spot them nectaring on early blooming trees and shrubs, including Mexican Plum, Escarpment Black Cherry, Texas Redbud, and Mexican Buckeye.

A newly emerged adult Eight-spotted Forester

In our area, the Eight-spotted Forester (Alypia octomaculata), Grapevine Epimenis (Psychomorpha epimenis), and Mournful Thyris (Pseudothyris sepulchralis) are the more typical species to be found.  The Eight-spotted Forester has velvety black wings with two large cream-colored spots on each forewing and two large white spots on each hindwing, alluding to its ‘eight-spotted’ common name.  It has a wingspan of about one and a half inches, and its legs are adorned with showy orange tufts where they attach to its body.  Flying from March to June with a second brood in August, the larva of this moth have broader orange bands with black dots, alternating with fine black and white stripes, and an orange head and hind end.  They feed mainly on Virginia Creeper and other various grapevines.

Eight-spotted Forester caterpillar

Grapevine Epimenis nectaring on Mexican Plum

Grapevine Epimenis is another Forester moth that also has velvety black wings, but each forewing has one bold white patch near the outer edge, and each hindwing has a broad orange-red band.  With a wingspan of about one inch, it flies from February to April, and sometimes has a second brood in October.  Its larva feed on various grapevines, most notably Mustang Grape in Central Texas, and are mainly black and white striped with an orange head and hind end.

Mournful Thyris nectaring on Mexican Buckeye

Mournful Thyris is a Window-Winged moth, a chunky-bodied small moth with just under a one inch wingspan, that habitually spreads its wings when alighting on flowers or on wet sandy soils along forest trails.  Its wings are black patterned with multiple various sized white spots, and translucent median patches that form ‘windows.’  It flies from February to April, and its larva also feed on grapevines, most commonly Mustang Grape in our area.

Contrary to popular belief, a surprising number of moth species are day fliers, and many are as beautifully patterned as, and often mistaken for, butterflies.  If you’d like to attract these splendid little moths to your yard, simply plant the native trees, shrubs, and vines listed above, and they will grace you with their presence each spring!

Early Spring Heralds

Windflower, typical white form

February is a time of change in Central Texas, with temperatures often ranging from the 30s to the 70s, and it is precisely these large swings in temperature that create challenges for local wildlife. Finding food is essential, and the little things like insects that emerge in early spring rely heavily on the early bloomers in our native landscape.

Elbowbush

Elbowbush (Forestiera pubescens), also commonly called Stretchberry or Spring Herald, is a multi-branched deciduous shrub with smooth gray bark, long arched branches, and light green leaves.  It is most conspicuous, though, in late January and early February, when small, yellow-green, petal-less flowers begin to burst in small clusters on the bare twigs. Common in open woodlands, brushy areas, and near streams, its early flowering period provides nectar for native bees and spring butterflies, namely Gray, Juniper, and Great Purple Hairstreaks.  Elbowbush gets its common name from branches that typically form in right angles to one another, reminiscent of a bent elbow.  It produces a quarter-inch, fleshy, dark blue fruit often devoured by wildlife in the summer, and its leaves turn a unique chartreuse color in the fall.  Additionally, Elbowbush is one of the larval food plants for the Incense Cedar Sphinx (Sphinx libocedrus). 

Two-flowered Anemone, exhibiting side stem

Poking their colorful blooms above the drab winter landscape are two species in the Buttercup Family,  Two-flowered Anemone (Anemone edwardsiana) and Windflower (Anemone berlandieri). While both of these plants bloom from February to April, Two-flowered Anemone is an uncommon plant that is also called the Edwards Plateau Thimbleweed, since it grows only in this region of Central Texas.  Windflower is common and has a more widespread range, and is often called Southern Anemone or Tenpetal Anemone (even though it can have 10 to 20 petal-like sepals).

Two-flowered Anemone, deep blue form

Two-flowered Anemone grows 6 to 12 inches tall, and is most often found on the moist banks of shaded canyons.  Midway or further up the stem are three bracts, with side stems growing from those bracts, and each side stem can produce 1 to 3 flowers, with only 1 flower on the main stem. In reality, most plants carry only 2 or 3 flowers in total, each 0.5 to 1.25 inches wide and typically white, but can exhibit pink, lavender, light blue, or deep blue. In comparison, Windflower grows 6 to 15 inches tall, with low-lying leaves that are divided into three segments and are often reddish-purple on the underside.  Its single stem carries only 1 flower, 0.75 to 1.5 inches wide, and it can exhibit the same range of colors as the Two-flowered Anemone. 

Windflower, pink form

Windflower, light blue form

Found on the moist soils in shaded canyons in the southern half of the Hill Country, Golden Groundsel (Packera obovate) is a rosette-forming perennial that blooms from February to April. Slender flowering stems rise up to 18 inches above the basal rosette of oval leaves, topped with yellow flower clusters few to many-headed, with each flower 0.5 to 0.75 inches wide.  Once established, this plant colonizes quickly, and can create an early-blooming, evergreen ground cover in shady, woodland areas.

Golden Groundsel

Why not plant some these early bloomers in your landscape, as they not only provide early nectar for bees and butterflies, but they are also heralds of our coming spring!