Bug question

[Ira Sanders]

Birders

Attached is a photo of a flying bug. It's black with a little orange.  

 I realize it's not a bird question but we have delved into bugs before like black witches so I thought I would give this a shot.

 Does anyone know what it is?

Ira Sanders 

Golden 

[Bryan Guarente]

Ira,

To not take this too far outside of the realm of birds for too long, this looks like a moth i. The genus Harrisina. You can see some more info here:

https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/126906-Harrisina?locale=en-US

I suggest you grab the app called iNaturalist. With this you can insert your photos and it will suggest what it believes the photo is of. It works surprisingly well for everything from trees/plants to birds to herps to insects and fungi. 

Bryan

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Bryan Guarente

Meteorologist/Instructional Designer

UCAR/The COMET Program

Boulder, CO

[Dave Cameron]

Grapeleaf Skeletonizer?

Dave C

[DAVID A LEATHERMAN]

Sent this to Bryan Guarente.  Meant for Ira and everybody else, too.

Dave

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From: DAVID A LEATHERMAN <daleat...@msn.com>
Sent: Sunday, June 27, 2021 7:25 AM
To: Bryan Guarente <bryan.g...@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [cobirds] Bug question

 

Ira,

I think your moth is the Virginia Ctenucha (Ctenucha virginica).  Moths in this family (Ctenuchidae) are wasp mimics.  Sometimes in Nature it pays to look like an hombre.  I don't have any knowledge of birds eating this moth but they probably do.  Since kingbirds eat a high percentage of look-alike wasps, that might be a candidate predator.  Caterpillar of this species feed on lower plants, including grass.  Not uncommon in our area.

Dave Leatherman

Fort Collins

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From: cob...@googlegroups.com <cob...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Bryan Guarente <bryan.g...@gmail.com>
Sent: Saturday, June 26, 2021 8:19 PM
To: Ira Sanders <zroadr...@gmail.com>
Cc: cobirds <cob...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [cobirds] Bug question

 

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CAENnWHt9fK0NMD%3DFVyCFbU2Goa%3D8b-arORBvn0vhytgmu7QNLQ%40mail.gmail.com.

[DAVID A LEATHERMAN]

Ira, as it turns out, it appears the identification of your ctenuchid moth suggested by Brian via iNaturalists (Harrisina americana) and Dave Cameron ("grapeleaf skeletonizer", its common name) is apparently right.  Pam Piombino of Boulder gently suggested to me Ctenucha virginica, which looks very similar to Harrisina americana, does not show the extensive blue pubescence on the wing the way the individual in your photograph does.  The caterpillars of the grapeleaf skeletonizer (and those of Ctenucha virginica) are boldly patterned and possess spines.  This suggests they are both advertising their distastefulness to predators like birds (aka "aposomatic coloration") and armored in case a would-be predator is color blind.   The caterpillars of the grapeleaf skeletonizer "strip mine" the leaves of grape and Virginia creeper.  Both are in the moth family Zygaenidae (the Smoky Moths), which only has a couple dozen species.

Thanks for your question and excellent photo, and sorry to have confused things a bit with my too-hasty initial reply.

Dave Leatherman

Fort Collins

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From: cob...@googlegroups.com <cob...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Ira Sanders <zroadr...@gmail.com>
Sent: Saturday, June 26, 2021 7:51 PM
To: cobirds <cob...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [cobirds] Bug question

 

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