Entries by Betty Ann Rubinow

Blue Dasher

Common name: Blue Dasher, Fishers Island, NY, July 2017 Scientific name: Pachydiplax longipennis  Not a moth, but too beautiful to omit. The blue dasher is one of the more common […]

Common Spring Moth

Common name: Common spring moth, Fishers Island NY, June 2017 Scientific name: Heliomata cycladata Season: March-July Food:  Black locust and honey locust. Ecology: As the name implies, these moths are […]

Curve-toothed Geometer

Common name: Curved-toothed geometer Scientific name: Eutrapela clemataria Food: Larvae feed on leaves of ash, basswood, birch, elm, fir, maple, poplar, willow and other trees. Ecology: These geometers live in […]

Monarch Butterfly Caterpillar and Aphids

Monarch butterfly caterpillar and aphids, Fishers Island NY, August 2015 Scientific names: Danaus plexippus and Aphis nerri Here’s a bit of hidden moth science, provided by entomologist Adam Mitchell, PhD: Like animals, […]

Delicate Cycnia

Common name: Delicate cycnia or dogbane tiger moth, Fishers Island NY, June 2017 Scientific name: Cycnia tenera Season: Two generations in the Northeast, with adults in late spring into June […]

Eastern Tent Caterpillar

Common Name: Eastern tent caterpillar moth Scientific Name: Malacosoma americana Season: One generation, with caterpillars appearing first in April into late May, and adults by June. Food: Caterpillars feed primarily […]

Eastern Tent Caterpillar Moth Nest

Common Name: Eastern tent caterpillar moth Scientific Name: Malacosoma americana Season: One generation, with caterpillars appearing first in April into late May, and adults by June. Food: Caterpillars feed primarily […]

Eyed Paectes

Common name: Eyed paectes, Fishers Island, NY, June 2017 Scientific name: Paectes oculatrix Season: There are multiple generations of eyed paectes in the Northeast, with adults present by April through […]

Giant Leopard Moth

Common name: Giant Leopard Moth Scientific name: Hypercompe scribonia, Fishers Island NY. June 2017. Season: One generation a year in the Northeast, with adults in June, caterpillars through the summer […]

Grapeleaf Skeletonizer

Common name: Grapeleaf skeletonizer, Fishers Island NY, June 2017 Scientific name: Harrisina americana Season: At least two generations in the Northeast. Food: Adults feed on grape leaves and the nectar […]