Masters of Disguise By Pat Gibson

Someone told me that those night moths are the adult of corn worms, but I find that hard to believe since there are a lot more of those moths than there is corn. I'm not sure what the caterpillar stages of most moths look like, but I do know I have seen some pretty interesting moths around here.

One of my favorites is what I call the 'Indian blanket' moth. When it lights, it looks for the world like a petal off a Galardia daisy or Indian blanket wild flower. The ends of the folded wings are regularly notched like the flower edge. The colors are banded just like the flower and the head and antenna of the moth are almost transparent so it can't be seen easily. Other pretty's are the green moths. I've seen several sizes of those from tiny ones that could sit on a dime and not cover it, to the tropical visitors that cover your hand. They come in different shades of green depending on what their caterpillar stage eats I think.

Another group of interestingly disguised moths is the bark moths. These mimic the bark on trees and will be very noticeable if they get into the house around the lights. Some look just like bark on a chinaberry or other smooth barked trees while others look for the world like a piece of bark off a live oak. Some are like fungus and striped black and white. I heard one time that the moths that are the most noticeable are those that taste bad or are actually poisonous.

Most of the coloration is for protection from predators when the moth is in its adult stage. In the caterpillar stage, some of them look as if they are trying to attract attention. The green tomato worm has red and blue knobs on it that make it easy to spot. They sure can wipe out a stand of tomato plants in a hurry.

Of course people can really make a dent in plants and their fruit too. Things are now starting to ripen like grapes and figs that are fun to eat out of hand, but that's another story.

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