In Jo's Yard - 27 Polka Dotted Wasp Moth

COMING NEXT WEEK (Sept. 2, 2019) - Lots of photos - 

BEFORE / AFTER Jo's yard @ 1 YEAR

Not one leaf left on the Milkweed in the Wildflower garden.  The Milkweed by the heat pump on the north side of the house is recovering.  I haven’t been able to find even one chrysalis, although there were five Monarch caterpillars there on Oct 11 (2018). 

Not long ago (#20, July 8, 2019), I posted a picture of the Gulf Fritillary caterpillar on my Facebook page.  A neighbor texted me that she had them on her oleander plant and sent a photo to me.  Although the two caterpillars look similar, the caterpillar in my neighbor’s photo looked like he had little “brushes” along his back, not “spikes”.  So after little research, I concluded that she had the caterpillar for the Polka Dotted Wasp Moth.  Now, low and behold, I see this moth in my yard.  How beautiful! 

The Polka-Dotted Wasp Moth is thought to be a native of the Caribbean.  They are only found in “neotropical areas”, so in Florida and sometimes as far north as Savannah, Georgia.  It resembles a stinging wasp, which keeps many predators at bay, however, it does not sting.  It’s consumption of oleander and devil’s-potato plants makes it poisonous to predators, so it has that two-pronged defense. 



                                         Polka Dotted Wasp Moth Caterpillar on Oleander
                                                           (Photo from Wikipedia)                 

                             

                                Polka-dotted Wasp Moth (Photo from Wikipedia)