I was checking over my native Creeping or Guadalupe Cucumber (aka Melothria pendula) vines yesterday evening when I disturbed a small moth. It fluttered out and landed practically under my nose, just begging to be seen. It did catch my eye, not so much for the striking black and white contrasting colors, but more for its pom-pom decorated derriere! I slowly reached for my camera when the darned thing started waving that pom pom like a Friday Night Lights cheerleader at a varsity playoff game. I took a photo or two then thought to switch over to video, but by that time she was just leisurely waving her pom pom slowly around.
A video of the Melonworm Moth. taken 7/22/2020 about 7:30 pm, in central Montgomery County, Southeast Texas. (Sorry it’s so jumpy, I don’t have any advanced video editing software just yet.)
Now, I’m a native Texan, and I’ve read about if not seen nearly every type of flora and fauna this state has to offer. I have to admit, this was a new one on me. Certainly this moth was NOT from around here. I had to look it up. At first I believed it was a Cucumber Moth (aka Diaphania Indica.) The description is correct, and it WAS on my native cucumber vine… but the Cucumber Moth is native to southern Asia. It has spread, but hasn’t been reported in the US as far as I could determine. So I did a little follow up research and discovered our very own native insect cheerleader, Diaphania hyalinata, the Melon Worm. It occurs throughout most of Central and South America and the Caribbean, northward into the southern US along the Gulf Coast. It can extend seasonally up to the Great Lakes. It feeds on and is occasionally a significant pest of cucurbit crops like cucumbers, melons, squash and pumpkins. The caterpillars eat new buds, leaves, and flowers, and will fold the leaves to form a tent as protection from the elements and predators.
…and that cheerleading pom pom action? She was actively seeking a mate by waving her pom-pom and spreading pheromone messages into the humid evening air.
Sis! Boom! Bah!