IN SEARCH OF THE FRENCH-GRASS FLOWER MOTH
(SCHINIA NR-JAGUARINA)
Schinia nr-jaguarina (French-grass flower moth or Sainfoin
flower moth). The scientific name used here is just a placeholder used on Bug
Guide (https://bugguide.net/node/view/1638554)
since this species has not been officially named at this point. Oh yeah, and I
totally made up those common names.
Anyway, here I am, an Illinois botanist in search of a rare
moth caterpillar. Who would have thunk it? I can’t hardly believe it either. As
far as I remember, I first became aware of this rare moth and its striking
caterpillar about five or six years ago after seeing a blogpost by Jim McCormac
(https://jimmccormac.blogspot.com/2012/07/interesting-moth-new-to-science.html).
I have searched for it a few times in the past, but this year I decided to get
serious. Other Schinia flower moths are reliably found on specific host
plants and as a botanist I know that I can find this caterpillar’s host plant, Orbexilum
onobrychis (French-grass or Sainfoin). Huh, so maybe it does make sense for
a botanist to look for a flower moth. French-grass is not a common plant but it
is distributed widely across 13 eastern U.S. states and Illinois is at the
center of its distribution (See distribution map from BONAP).
Orbexilum onobrychis (French-grass or Sainfoin) |
As an Illinois botanist, I know of several central Illinois
populations for French-grass. Also, a few friends have kindly alerted me to
additional locations (Thanks, Matt, Matt, and Jared!). One of these new to me
sites is just a short 20-minute drive from my home. So close that I could not
pass up the opportunity, so this past Friday I took a much-needed day off work
and went to check it out. This site is a remnant prairie that was both
protected and neglected because of the adjacent railroad. In the past, several local
prairie heroes from Champaign and Vermilion counties have looked after high-quality
sections of this prairie corridor. Now the railroad is gone and replaced by a
bike path. This site, although degraded, is once again receiving some love,
this time by the local Champaign County Forest Preserve District (CCFPD) staff.
Distribution map from BONAP. |
I was able to park close to the bike path prairie corridor, at
a local farm access. With my camera in hand, I started walking down the bike
trail, with my expectations low. After all, this caterpillar which feeds on a reasonably
common plant remained unknown for hundreds of years. Surely it won’t be here. Not
today. At first I was just passing the time sweating and taking photos of grass
inflorescences and weedy plants that came in along the new path, but it didn’t
take long to find a nice sized population of French-grass. The nice thing about
French-grass is that it is a large showy plant and it forms extensive colonies.
It is not necessarily an easy plant to find since it is absent from most of
what seems to be suitable habitat but, if you know of a location, it is an incredibly
easy plant to notice and not one that you are likely to just walk by.
Warty legumes of Orbexilum onobrychis. |
So here it, a nice population of French-grass running for tens
of feet parallel to this narrow corridor between U.S. 150 and the bike path.
The plants are in flower so, even though I do not see any caterpillars right off
the bat, I start taking photos of French-grass flowers. They are beautiful!
Racemes full of small blue-purple legume flowers. Then I notice the fruit has
started to develop, a somewhat pointy and odd-shaped warty legume. I guess I’ll
take some photos of those too. I got a little distracted and started chasing
some grasshoppers and other insects around the plants, some I’m able to catch
up to and photograph and others just provide me with some exercise. Then, right
in front of me, I see my first caterpillar of Schinia nr-jaguarina, the
French-grass flower moth. It’s maybe about two centimeters long, yellow with
dark black spots in lines down its body. A striking little caterpillar for
sure. After a little more searching, I saw a few dozen caterpillars, most very
small at this time.
At this point, it seems this amazing little caterpillar has been found in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois, and Missouri and I believe this is at least the fourth record in Illinois. Hopefully, I'll be able to find a few more locations while the caterpillars are still out and about.
Success came easy this time but it was still sweet and I was overjoyed to have finally encountered this little mystery organism. Next year, I want to get to the site earlier to try to photograph some mature moths. Onward to the next search!
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