The white concrete block walls of our kennel and office at work seem to attract quite a few nocturnal insects. I suspect that the white makes them think there is a light there, and as we all know, many of these nocturnal insects are attracted to light. Every day as I drive in and out, I scout the walls, looking for something interesting that might be hanging out wanting it’s picture taken. Most of what likes our walls are moths, some of which are very pretty, but awhile back I also found a giant katydid, so you just never know. Sometimes there is nothing on the walls (most of the time actually), but one afternoon I found three separate moths all on one end of the kennel.

The prettiest of the three was definitely the echo moth, which is a Florida native. It also ranges into parts of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. The adult moth is mostly white with striking tan markings along the wing veins. In my personal opinion, the most striking feature of the adult moth, though, are bushy black antennae with slight white highlights. It also has a fluffy, white thorax, similar to the salt marsh moth. Also like the marsh moth, this light colored moth has a brightly colored caterpillar. In fact, the caterpillar is kind of an icon in certain areas of Florida, particularly the Stetson University campus.

The caterpillars are orangish and bristly with stripes of black and yellow at intervals around the body. They are generally found in thickets, brushy areas, woods, and open fields. They are voracious eaters and will eat a lot of different woody plants and trees including oaks, cabbage palmetto, persimmons, and most notably coontie. Coontie is a highly toxic plant, and it passes that toxicity on to the the echo moth caterpillars, making them poisonous to predators that might normally eat the brightly colored caterpillars. The echo moth caterpillars are also know for being fast moving compared to other types of caterpillar. I haven’t seen any caterpillars yet this year, but knowing that we have the moth in our area, I will be on the lookout for them later in the spring and into the summer. Do you have some type of iconic moth or butterfly (or caterpillar) in your area?