Gardening for Honorary Butterflies (Mint Moths)

Not all moths fly at night and not all are drab. Some deserve the name of honorary butterflies. In fact sometimes they are mistaken for them. Sorry I tricked you by using the word butterflies in the title (not really); but I was afraid that most would ignore this article if they just saw the word moths. The fact is that there are ten times more species of moths than of butterflies; that they are very important components of ecosystems and worth welcoming in our gardens. Some are very beautiful and can give visual enjoyment to the gardener. To me, most if not all are beautiful each in its own way. But I know people who dislike, fear or hate moths in general. I hope that at least they take time to look and learn to love the pretty ones.

I will save some of the most striking ones, such as hummingbird, imperial and Luna moths for later. I will start with some that many people are unaware of and amazed when they first see them.

The crambid snout moths represent a family (Crambidae) with more than 850 species in North America. They get their common name from the appendage that sticks out on front of their heads. Some of them, the members of the genus Pyrausta feed on plants of the mint family, so I will be calling them mint moths, although they don't really have a common name. Most of them are brightly colored and are seen during the day.

Pyrausta orphisalis (Orange Mint Moth) on mountain mint
©Beatriz Moisset

The larvae of the orange mint moth (Pyrausta orphisalis) feed on a variety of mints and sometimes you cans see signs of their feeding, especially at the buds and newer leaves. But the damage is not known to reach serious proportions. It is good to remember that caterpillars are bird food. So it is a good idea to have a few well behaved caterpillars such as these ones to attract birds to the garden. It is also a pleasure to spot this very attractive moth resting on a plant of mint.

Pyrausta signatalis (Raspberry Pyrausta) on mint
©Beatriz Moisset

The raspberry mint pyrausta (Pyrausta signatalis) is also richly colored and earns its name because of the raspberry color of its wings. The larvae feed primarily on spotted beebalm (a member of the mint family), they also feed on a few related plants such as wild bergamot and scarlet beebalm.

Pyrausta tyralis
  © Bob in swamp Flickr

 Another member of this genus, even more striking in its coloration is the Coffee-loving pyrausta (Pyrausta tyralis). This one breaks the mold with its feeding habits, a peculiar feat. It gets its name because it likes wild coffee (Psychotria nervosa) found in Florida. It also feeds on some Asteraceae such as dahlia and bidens.

It is worth mentioning that there are many species of mint moths in Europe. Here is a gorgeous one: the golden mint moth (Pyrausta aurata).

Pyrausta aurata © Bramblejungle Flickr

In summary, if you want to attract these honorary butterflies to your garden plant a variety of mints including beebalm which by the way is also good at attracting hummingbird moths and hummingbirds.

Moth as Pollinators
List of articles
Beginners Guide to Pollinators and Other Flower Visitors

© Beatriz Moisset. 2012 

Crambid Snout Moths. More little known pollinators

Unindentified crambid moth on goldenrod, drinking nectar with its long tongue

The Crambid Snout Moths or Crambidae are a large family of moths that used to be grouped with the pyralid moths. The name refers to the proboscis, the mouth appendage. Most of them are little and rather insignificant in appearance and go unnoticed by most of us; a handful are active during the day and tend to be a little more colorful. A few crambids are flower visitors. None, with one exception, is known for sure to be pollinators, but we know that they take nectar and may perform pollination.

So, here is the exception, and it is an interesting one: a moth that depends on the senita cactus. In turn the cactus depends on the moth for pollination, a nice example of mutualism. It is the Upiga virescens (common name senita moth); a non-descript little creature that carries pollen from flower to flower of the Lophocereus cactus and its larvae feeds on the seeds of this plant. Sorry, no photos.
Among the more colorful crambids that visit flowers are the Desmia Grape Leaffolder, the Raspberry Pyrausta, and the Orange Mint Moth.

Desmia Grape Leaffolder (Desmia sp.) trapped by a carnivorous sundew

Raspberry Pyrausta (Pyrausta signatalis)

Orange Mint Moth (Pyrausta orphisalis)

The Spotted Webworm Moth and the Hawaiian Beet Webworm are perhaps a little less conspicuous. The latter is not a native moth, introduced from Hawaii as the name indicates.

Spotted Webworm Moth (Hymenia perspectalis)

Hawaiian Beet Webworm (Spoladea recurvalis)

The Celery Leaftier is very plain as are a large number of members of this family.

Celery leaftier (Udea rubigalis)

All of these are seen visiting flowers during the day. It is possible that they also visit night flowers and there may be many more nocturnal flower visitors that we don't know of. In many cases, their caterpillars are better known than the adults for the damage they cause. Names such as leaftier, webworm, leaffolder show this.

Moths as Pollinators
List of articles
Beginners Guide to Pollinators and Other Flower Visitors

© Beatriz Moisset. 2012