#amorpha

[faguscarolinensis]

Schistocerca americana on Amorpha fruticosa / American Bird Grasshopper on Bastard Indigo

[coolbugs]

Bug of the Day

This walnut sphinx (Amorpha juglandis) was so fresh and beautiful when it showed up at the light! Also, just realized, this needs to go on my list of genera that are used for more than one organism type - there is also Amorpha fruticosa, a leguminous tree.

[asheternal]

haunting past romance

[femmepathy]

will u be participating the clown awards to nominate mutuals?

yes!!!! mostly as a tie breaker so i'm saving my nominations for the end hahahha

[eumorpha-dream]

This Amorpha juglandis from Texas is blue! Also known as the Walnut Sphinx, these larvae are usually green, or rarely yellow and pink, but I haven't seen blue before! This very rough looking larva will hiss and squeak at you when it feels disturbed. Since I'm working on color morphs for my thesis work, this was a really cool caterpillar to get in the mail. I am really excited to start fully running some experiments next summer, I'll be sure to post photos and preliminary results as I go :) #Amorpha #Amorphajuglandis #WalnutSphinx #Texas #Insects #Bug #Sphingidae #Lepidoptera #SphinxMoth #HawkMoth #Entomology #Caterpillar #Larva #SphinxLarva #MothLarva #igclub_butterfly #igcb_mothmondays #insects_of_our_world https://www.instagram.com/p/B3SUZ-agQ4M/?igshid=1m4xh6qy0ld69

[jillraggett]

Plant of the Day

Tuesday 19 June 2018

This Amorpha fruticosa (false indigo bush, desert false indigo) was covered in small purple flowers with yellow stamens extending beyond the single petal, and was incredibly popular with the local bee population! This deciduous shrub creates a loose, leggy habit covered in pinnate, fine-textured foliage. This shrub can form thickets on riverbanks in the northeast USA and can be invasive. 

Jill Raggett

[calosoma-amitch]

Been a little while since I posted on the blog; fieldwork has been keeping me busy, but will try to keep uploading photos when I can. 

Walnut Sphinx moth (Amorpha jugulandis), Newark DE. July 2017. 

As caterpillars, walnut sphinx moths can be found at dusk on the edges of leaves of their particular host plant. Their bodies appear to be covered in little white granules, which are believed to afford them some protection against parasitic wasps. Although they prefer black walnut (Juglans nigra) and hickories in the Mid-Atlantic, they can be found feeding on many other species of hardwood trees, such as alder, birch,cherry, chestnut, hazel, and hop hornbeam. This caterpillar was reared on mockernut hickory (Cayra tomentosa). 

Multiple generations in the eastern US; two in the Mid-Atlantic. Adults emerge in late spring, with caterpillars to follow by May or June, and adults to appear again mid-Summer through August. Caterpillars overwinter as pupae.

[dendroica]

False Indigo-bush, Amorpha fruticosa (by me)