Metalmark moths. More little known pollinators

Anthophila fabriciana. By Remo Angelini

So much to learn about pollinators! Huge numbers of moths, flies and beetles don't get enough credit for their jobs; the better known ones, bees and butterflies, get all the glory. So let us take a look at a little known moth or family of moths, the Choreutidae, better known as metalmark moths, not to be confused with metalmarks, which are butterflies. Both the butterflies and the moths get their names for the metallic iridescence of their wings.

They are small, no bigger than 10 mm (say, the size of your small fingernail); members of a larger group of moths often called micromoths. The wings are broad and square-tipped; this gives them a chunky appearance. The patches of metallic colors on their wings can be very colorful.

Saptha divitiosa by Bettaman

Metalmark moths fly during the day and can be seen often at flowers. They drink nectar with their long tongues, just as many other moths and butterflies do. Not much is know about their role as pollinators, but we can be almost certain that they perform this function for some flowers, considering their habits.

More is known about the mimicry that many of them perform with their peculiar appearance. The pattern of their wings resembles a jumping spider. They also move in a way that adds to the deception. This disguise serves them well; jumping spiders ordinarily prey on them, but sometimes are deceived to the point to behave as if they were facing a member of their own species. I have no pictures to put here, but you can see a spider mimic.

A few members of the family, called brenthia, strut around like peacocks, so naturally they are called peacock brenthia.

It would be nice to learn more about metal mark moths' role as pollinators. If anyone reading this knows more or has had the opportunity to see one of these moths in action, please, let me know. I will strive to find and photograph some of them next season.

Moths as Pollinators
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© Beatriz Moisset. 2012

Black-and-yellow lichen moth, a little known pollinator

We are very familiar with the pollinating role of butterflies and we are aware that a number of moths, such as the hummingbird moth also visit flowers frequently and provide pollinating services. But we seldom pay attention to the countless other flower-visiting moths and their roles as pollinators.

Lycomorpha pholus (Black-and-yellow Lichen Moth), a very likely pollinator

The black-and-yellow lichen moth is a very attractive, rather slender moth often seen visiting goldenrods and some other flat, open flowers. It is widely distributed throughout the continent, from Canada to Texas and Mexico. Adults fly from June to September. The larva may take longer than a year to complete its development.

Its wings are black and yellow or black and orange as its name indicates. The body and legs are black or blue-black. The caterpillar of this moth and a number of its relatives feed on lichens; that is what the other part of the name refers to. It resembles the lichens it feeds on in color and appearance; a convenient disguise that hides it from predators.

The adult performs another interesting trick of mimicry. It bears an astonishing resemblance to some beetles, called net-winged beetles, especially the end band net-wing or Calopteron terminale. These beetles are poisonous and are avoided by hungry birds. The contrasting colors serve as advertisement of their bad taste. The black-and-yellow lichen moth is also poisonous and so is the orange-patched smoky moth, another one with a similar pattern. The resemblance seems to be beneficial to all of them. Birds need to learn only one kind of warning signal to avoid all these unrelated species and so more beetles and moths survive than if they exhibited different alarm signals. This is called Mullerian mimicry in honor of Muller, the first one to describe and explain this phenomenon.

Calopteron terminale (End Band Net-wing), a poisonous lycid beetle

Orange-patched Smoky Moth, a member of the mimicry complex

Little is known about the black-and-yellow lichen moth's role as a pollinator; but given its flower-visiting habits it is almost certain that it performs this function. This is just another example of how much we need to learn about moths and their role in the ecosystems. If anybody reading this knows of some information on the subject, please, point me in the right direction. We all need to learn more about this and many other moths' capacity as pollinators.

Another view of the black-and-yellow Lichen Moth

See: Bugguide.net
Moths as Pollinators
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Beginners Guide to Pollinators and Other Flower Visitors

© Beatriz Moisset. 2012

Pollinators, the night shift

 We are familiar with day-blooming flowers and day-visiting insects, bees, butterflies, flies and a few others. These insects usually prefer nice, warm, sunny days to visit flowers. In fact, their muscles need a certain critical temperature to begin functioning. It is possible to see some of these pollinators sitting still during chilly mornings, waiting for the sun to warm them up sufficiently so they can take to the air.

Nocturnal moths are another story. Some are well adapted to colder temperatures; they also have eyes that allow them to fly at night. Fortunately for them there are flowers that bloom at this time. Such flowers are likely to produce more nectar at night; they also release aromas that the moths are well attuned to and that enable them to find the flowers.

So when the day pollinators complete their 9-5 schedule, the night shift takes over. Let us clarify that many of these night fliers are more active at dawn or dusk than in the dead of the night. They are called crepuscular pollinators.

You may be fortunate enough to have one of those visitors to your garden if you have moonflowers, evening primroses, Nicotiana or morning glories. It can be quite a treat to see hawk moths in a regular basis visiting your garden; some seem to have a fixed schedule and show up almost daily at their appointed time. They are large, fly silently and unfurl their straw-like tongues in front of long-tubed flowers like the ones mentioned. They look like hummingbirds drinking nectar while suspended in the air. They have handsome patterns on their wings, not as striking as those of butterflies, but very beautiful in a sedate way.

Other dawn or dusk pollinators are less familiar to most of us. The squash bee is an early riser, following the schedule of squash blossoms and finishing her daily chores just after dawn or at mid-morning when blossoms begin to wilt. They are said to be up before sunrise; however, I have never seen them so early. Maybe I should spend more time in the pumpkin patch and I may catch some of them.

Worth mentioning are truly nocturnal pollinators of a different stripe, bats. Most cactus bloom at night, they are strongly scented and produce big flowers with abundant nectar, just right for such large fliers. In the absence of bats, the landscapes of the West would be profoundly different, without the rich flora of saguaros, barrel cacti and prickly pears.

Night Blooms and their Pollinators
Moths as Pollinators
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Beginners Guide to Pollinators and Other Flower Visitors

© Beatriz Moisset. 2011

Pollinators in winter

Wintering pollinators

Pollinators need habitat in winter. There are a few ways of providing shelter for them in our own backyards.

Hollow twigs provide refuge for many bees and wasps

Bee blocks are a very good substitute for the tree holes where many hibernating bees spend the winter

A halictid bee, Augochlora pura hibernating under the bark of a dead log

List of articles
Beginners Guide to Pollinators and Other Flower Visitors

© Beatriz Moisset. 2012

Bees and Vitamins

We need the vitamins provided by fruits

It is said that bees and other pollinators are responsible for one third of all our food. Whether this is exactly right I do not know; but a trip to the grocery store confirms that a substantial part of our food comes from plants that have been pollinated by insects rather than by the wind: most vegetables and fruits, drinks such as coffee and tea. We even have to include in this list beef, poultry and dairy products because farm animals feed partly on alfalfa or clover which have been pollinated by insects. Without pollinators we would be reduced to eating grains or cereals, potatoes, sea food and fish and very little else (and undernourished beef and poultry).

Tomato flowers

What is never mentioned but I find perhaps even more important than food quantity is quality. Many of our essential vitamins and antioxidants come to us courtesy of pollinators. Vegetables and fruits are loaded with vitamins such as beta carotene, vitamin C and a few others.

So, in summary, if it wasn’t for pollinators we wouldn’t be one third hungrier. Instead we would be one hundred per cent dead.

Vegetables are indispensable because of their vitamins

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© Beatriz Moisset. 2012

Sunnyside Dru: Bee Barracks update

Sunnyside Dru: Bee Barracks update: "Earlier this year we posted a picture of this bee block. There are many variations to this all over the farm..small, not really noticeable, ..."

Mountain laurels instead of rose bushes?

Last year I was traveling along the Blue Ridge in May and was pleasantly surprised by the beauty of the blooming mountain laurels. I had to look again and again to convince myself that what I was looking at wasn’t a rose garden but just a natural grove of mountain laurels.

I want that look in my garden. I have two rose bushes which I inherited from the previous owner of the property and I want to replace them. The advantages are obvious to me. Roses are not native; they provide no food for pollinators. Mountain laurel, on the other hand, is pollinated primarily by native bumble bees.

It has a peculiar system of pollination. The unopened blossoms present little knobs which give them a funny look. When the flowers open, the function of these little knobs become apparent. They are pockets that hold the anthers (the pollen carrying part of the flower) trapped. It still doesn’t explain why this is so; in most flowers the anthers are free and exposed, better to spread their pollen at the slightest touch of a flower visitor.

The mountain laurel has a different strategy. The pollen is well protected against rain and wind; but when a pollinator lands on the flower searching for nectar, the weight acts as a trigger, causing the taut stem of the anther to spring. The anther hits the pollinator gently on the back and gives it a dusting of pollen.

Mountain laurel flowers produce a moderate amount of pollen; but most of it ends up where it is intended, on the body of a pollinator, rather than being wasted in other ways. It seems like a highly economic method to spread the pollen.

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