BELLA MOTHS: COLOURFUL, POISONOUS & PROMISCUOUS

April 8, 2024 by Rolling Harbour

Day-flying_Bella_Moth_(Utetheisa_ornatrix) on Rattlebox Blossom (Bob Peterson, Florida)

BELLA MOTHS: COLOURFUL, POISONOUS & PROMISCUOUS

The BELLA MOTH Utetheisa ornatrix is also known as the ‘ornate moth’ or ‘rattlebox moth’ (a tall spiky plant of the species Crotalaria). The italianate ‘bella’ signifies beauty and all the many synonyms for it. These moths come in colours ranging from pink to red or orange, and yellow to white. Some have vivid coloration, others are less bright. Their black dot markings are broadly similar. Moths are often thought of as creatures of the night, so daytime would not be an auspicious time for moth-hunting, you might think. In fact there are many moth species that are active during the day (‘diurnal’), and the Bella Moth is one of them.

Bella Moth, Neem Farm, Abaco (Keith Salvesen) 1

Bella Moth, Neem Farm, Abaco (Keith Salvesen) 2

DEFENSIVE WARNINGS

The bright coloration is (as in many species) nature’s way of saying ‘leave me alone’ and in particular, ‘I am very unpleasant to eat’. It is called APOSEMATISM. The unpleasantness derives from toxins of the plants they feed on. This starts at the larval stage. The larvae feed on plants that contain poisonous alkaloids – in particular the yellow rattlebox plant. This renders them extremely unpalatable, both as larvae and as adults. Bella adults in need of an alkaloid boost may cannibalise moth eggs, pupae or larvae to counter a deficiency.

Ornate_moth_(Utetheisa_ornatrix) Charles J Sharp wiki

BELLA MOTH SEX LIVES: ‘IT’S COMPLICATED’

Sexual encounters are dictated by females, who compete with other females for males
Females seeking to mate always outnumber available males
A female bella will release powerful pheromones at dusk to lure males
Related females uniquely engage in collective pheromone release
This is termed “female pheromonal chorusing”, an irresistible draw for the males
Several males will give the female chemical ‘nuptial gifts’ of both poison and sperm
The female chooses the best of her various suitors and copulates with 4 or 5 of them
The whole process of multiple copulation may take up to 12 hours
In some way I don’t understand, madam is able to select her preferred sperm provider
The sperm of the other males is rejected, and they go away dejectedly to the pollen pub
Humans: do not try any of this, whether at home, in the office, in public, or when driving

Utetheisa_ornatrix (Dumi, Jamaica)

Credits: Bob Peterson (1, 6); Keith Salvesen (2, 3); Charles J Sharp (4); open wings by Dumi (5)

BELLA MOTHS: COLOURFUL, POISONOUS & PROMISCUOUS

June 12, 2022 by Rolling Harbour

Day-flying_Bella_Moth_(Utetheisa_ornatrix) on Rattlebox Blossom (Bob Peterson, Florida)

BELLA MOTHS: COLOURFUL, POISONOUS & PROMISCUOUS

The BELLA MOTH Utetheisa ornatrix is also known as the ‘ornate moth’ or ‘rattlebox moth’ (a tall spiky plant of the species Crotalaria). The italianate ‘bella’ signifies beauty and all the many synonyms for it. These moths come in colours ranging from pink to red or orange, and yellow to white. Some have vivid coloration, others are less bright. Their black dot markings are broadly similar. Moths are often thought of as creatures of the night, so daytime would not be an auspicious time for moth-hunting. In fact there are many moth species that are active during the day (‘diurnal’), and the Bella Moth is one of them.

Bella Moth, Neem Farm, Abaco (Keith Salvesen) 1

Bella Moth, Neem Farm, Abaco (Keith Salvesen) 2

DEFENSIVE WARNINGS

The bright coloration is (as in many species) nature’s way of saying ‘leave me alone’ and in particular, ‘I am very unpleasant to eat’. It is called APOSEMATISM. The unpleasantness derives from toxins of the plants they feed on. This starts at the larval stage. The larvae feed on plants that contain poisonous alkaloids – in particular the yellow rattlebox plant – rendering them extremely unpalatable. both as larvae and adults. Bella adults in need of an alkaloid boost may cannibalise moth eggs, pupae or larvae to counter a deficiency.

Ornate_moth_(Utetheisa_ornatrix) Charles J Sharp wiki

BELLA MOTH SEX LIVES: ‘IT’S COMPLICATED’

Sexual encounters are dictated by females, who compete with other females for males
Females seeking to mate always outnumber available males
A female bella will release powerful pheromones at dusk to lure males
Related females uniquely engage in collective pheromone release
This is termed “female pheromonal chorusing”, an irresistible draw for the males
Several males will give the female chemical ‘nuptial gifts’ of both poison and sperm
The female chooses the best of her various suitors and copulates with 4 or 5 of them
The whole process of multiple copulation may take up to 12 hours
In some way I don’t understand, she is then able to select her preferred sperm provider
The sperm of the other males is rejected and they go away disappointed
Humans: do not try any of this, whether at home, in the office, in public, or when driving

Utetheisa_ornatrix (Dumi, Jamaica)

Credits: Bob Peterson (1, 6); Keith Salvesen (2, 3); Charles J Sharp (4); open wings by Dumi (5)

BELLA MOTHS: COLOURFUL, POISONOUS & PROMISCUOUS

April 25, 2016 by Rolling Harbour

Day-flying_Bella_Moth_(Utetheisa_ornatrix) on Rattlebox Blossom (Bob Peterson, Florida)

BELLA MOTHS: COLOURFUL, POISONOUS & PROMISCUOUS

Today’s offering is a creature I have never seen before on Abaco, or anywhere else for that matter. We saw it at the Neem Farm when we were looking for birds, butterflies and Spring flowers. I didn’t have moths in mind at all until I saw this one. For a start, moths are considered creatures of the night, so midday would not be an auspicious time for moth-hunting. As it turns out, the moth we found is, most unusually, active in day-time (‘diurnal’).

Bella Moth, Neem Farm, Abaco (Keith Salvesen) 1

The BELLA MOTH Utetheisa ornatrix is also known as the ‘ornate moth’ or ‘rattlebox moth’ (after its favourite plant Crotalaria – me neither). The one we saw was pink, with bright pink showing on the wings in flight. However these moths come in other vivid colours ranging from pink to red or orange, and yellow to white. Their black wing markings have many patterns.

Bella Moth, Neem Farm, Abaco (Keith Salvesen) 2

The bright coloration is, as in many species, nature’s way of saying ‘leave me alone’ and in particular, ‘I am very unpleasant to eat’. It is called APOSEMATISM. Quite simply, the larvae feed on plants that contain poisonous alkaloids – in particular the yellow rattlebox plant Crotalaria, rendering them, as adult moths, extremely unpalatable. Bella adults may cannibalise eggs, pupae or larvae to counter alkaloid deficiency. Bella Moth, Neem Farm, Abaco (Keith Salvesen) 4

BELLA MOTH SEX LIVES: “IT’S COMPLICATED”

Sexual encounters are dictated by females, who compete with other females for males
Females seeking to mate always outnumber available males
A female bella will release powerful pheromones at dusk to lure males
Related females uniquely engage in collective pheromone release
This is termed “female pheromonal chorusing”
Several males will give the female chemical ‘nuptial gifts’ of poison and sperm
The female chooses the best of her suitors, and copulates with 4 or 5 of them
The whole process of copulation may take up to 12 hours…
In some way I don’t understand, she is then able to select her preferred sperm
Humans: do not try any of this at home, in the office, in Maccy Ds or when driving

Ornate_moth_(Utetheisa_ornatrix) Charles J Sharp wiki

Utetheisa_ornatrix (Dumi, Jamaica)

Credits: Header (on rattlebox blossom Crotalaria), Bob Peterson; 3 frankly rather feeble photos RH & Mrs RH; sharp photo by Charles J Sharp; open wings by Dumi

GEE! BEES!! HIVE TALKIN’ ON ABACO

May 2, 2014 by Rolling Harbour

GEE! BEES!! HIVE TALKIN’ ON ABACO

This post concerns the bees of Abaco, with little or no apology for the cultural cross-reference to the dread mid-70’s musical era. If you wish to experience the full horror, scroll straight to the bottom of the page and relive those heady days of Barry, Robin & Maurice…

The bees on Abaco south of Marsh Harbour are mostly wild. The header photo shows the West Indian Woodpecker nest box near the skiff park at Delphi that has become the exclusive residence of bees. They have a profusion of flowers in the Delphi Club gardens to choose from, but it is not practical to keep hives for them. So they are left to do their own thing. Here they were last month, being busy.

During the past year I have found 2 places between Delphi and MH that keep hives. One is PEPPER POT FARMS – click the name to reach their FB page. You can get their honey direct or in MH for $6.75 a pot. I enjoyed their evidence of why bees are called ‘workers’…

5 FUN BEE FACTS

Bees must visit approximately 2 million flowers to make 1 lb. of honey.
Bees have to fly over 55,000 miles to make 1 lb. of honey.
On average a worker bee will make 1/12 teaspoon of honey in her lifetime.
Two tablespoons of honey would fuel a honey bee flying once around the world.
Honey bees will visit between 50-100 flowers during one nectar collection trip.

The other place with hives is ABACO NEEM FARMS, the base for the production of the stock at the Abaco Neem shop on the way into MH from the roundabout . The owner Nick has installed 2 hives which we had a look at when we took up his invitation to bird-watch there. It is something of a birding hotspot, benefitting from pine woods, coppice, fruit trees and open land over a large area.

There was plenty of bee action around the hives on a warm sunny day and plenty of plants for them to feed from. We watched them come and go, the returning bees having filled their trouser pockets with pollen.

There are both cultivated and wild flowers all over the place, with bees feasting on plants and fruit trees of many kinds. I liked the bright flower chosen by this bee.

I’ll be posting more about the birds and plants of the Neem Farm in a while. Meanwhile, here are a couple of links to previous relevant links.

TO SEE AN EARLIER ABACO BEE POST, CLICK HERE

TO SEE A CUBAN PEWEE AT THE NEEM FARM CLICK HERE

Finally, here is your chance to roll back the years with the Brothers Gibb. And below it, an excellent corrective!

This excellent Bee Gee parody by the “Hee Bee Gee Bees” called “Meaningless Songs in Very High Voices” is live from Sweden. Well, it still makes me laugh anyway (they also ripped off and ripped into Bowie, Jackson, The Police, Status Quo & many more).

FLUTTER BY, BUTTERFLY: ATALA ENCHANTING ON ABACO

June 21, 2013 by Rolling Harbour

FLUTTER BY, BUTTERFLY: ATALA ENCHANTING ON ABACO

It’s hard to resist another fly-past for the Atala Hairstreak Butterfly Eumaeus Atala . So I won’t. Once seen, never forgotten. They are small wonders, with their plump orange abdomens and their striking blue-dotted motif; obvious candidates for a signature Rolling Harbour logo for insect posts.

This close-up in particular shows clearly that the vivid blue markings are not confined to the Atala’s wings. They are also on the body, the head, and surprisingly on the legs as well.

It is rare to see the inside of an Atala’s wings. In flight they tend just to look black; then they land with precision and closed wings (zeugma score!). In sunshine the spots of the feeding Atala shine out like small LEDs. They very rarely open their wing to reveal the velvety blue upper sides.As I watched the single Atala, a second one arrived and almost immediately ‘jumped’ the first. By which I mean that, for a few seconds, the new arrival ‘covered’ the feeding Atala in every sense of the word. Please consider this a blurry study of the upper side of an Atala’s wings, and politely ignore the intrusive circumstances. This is not a scandal blog. Yet. Mere moments later, it was all over **. I made my excuses and left.

These events may have piqued your interest in the life cycle of the Atala. Some months ago I posted in detail about this, with the whole process illustrated from eggs, larvae, caterpillar and chrysalis to the emergent butterfly. At the end of the post are some helpful links. CLICK LIFECYCLE OF THE ATALA HAIRSTREAK

Finally, you may want to get a sense of size for this butterfly – crops and zooms can sometimes give a distorted impression. So here is a normal snap of the butterfly feeding.

**My spam box is full of suggestions about this

Image credit for open-wing shot on flower: Stranica

A TASTE OF HONEY: SPRING BEES ON ABACO

April 18, 2013 by Rolling Harbour

A TASTE OF HONEY: SPRING BEES ON ABACO

There are a number of insects on Abaco that demand human attention. The smallest and most persistent nuisances are the ‘no-see-ums’, tiny sandflies whose near-invisible size belies the effects of their bite. They seem impervious to many standard types of insect repellent. Different things work for different people. My method is to eat marmite (cf vegemite) on plain biscuits daily for 2 weeks before a visit to Abaco, and that does the trick. This year, I had a single bite (of course, if you hate marmite you’ll need another plan). See RECOMMENDED LINKS in the SIDEBAR under SAND FLY for more on this topic.

There’s a form of yellowish horsefly that can give you a bit of a nip. At the top end of the pain and discomfort scale is the PEPSIS WASP (Tarantula Hawk). I’ve only ever seen one, and if you do come across one be sure not to disrespect it (click link to see why…).

Until recently, I can’t say I’d ever noticed bees on Abaco. There are plenty of wonderful flowers that are visited for their nectar by the many species of butterfly and various kinds of bird (hummingbirds, bananaquits). Then, last month, I heard a distinct buzzing in a bush. Bees. Lots of them. I took a few photos, some of which are shown below. Then I began to notice them elsewhere. Everywhere. Compared to the european bees that I am familiar with (check out my BEE GALLERY), Abaco bees are much smaller – see how they look on the individual flower heads in the first few photos. These little creatures were constantly on the move. No sooner had one settled on a flower, than it moved on to the next one…

I kept an eye out for bumble bees, but saw none – indeed, I’m not certain there are any bumble species in the (northern) Bahamas, and I have found no references to their existence. Enlightenment on this topic welcome via the comment box.

There was plenty of pollen for the bees, though not all of it went into their what’s-the-correct-word-for-their-pouches (EST the Beekeper please can you help here?)However most were managing to harvest impressive quantities to take back to the hive. It’s worth saying that these are all wild bees. I know of only one honey-producer in South Abaco (south of Marsh Harbour). A successful foraging expedition… somewhat surprisingly this bee was still able to take off…This is my favourite photo: there’s something about the expression on that little face that says “Ooooo. More good stuff in this one….”

Wild bees find a novel use for a woodpecker nesting box

A PRAYING MANTIS – AT LAST, MY VERY OWN MANTODEA PHOTOS…

September 22, 2012 by Rolling Harbour

About a year ago, Sandy Walker encountered a praying mantis at the Delphi Club. For technical reasons his photo(s) of it didn’t work out. Undaunted (and because I’d never seen one outside an insectarium) I turned an essentially non-event into a short post SANDY’S PRAYING MANTIS, in the course of which I learnt a bit about these strange creatures. There isn’t a great deal of compelling information to pass on, to be honest. And I still don’t buy their supposed resemblance (for the sober observer) to Eleuthera.

We saw no mantises this summer on Abaco, and I forgot about them completely until a week ago… And there, nonchalantly strolling across an outdoor table where we were staying for a few days in Italy, was the very creature. It obligingly posed for some prayerful snaps, then I put it gently on a balcony railing where it clung upside down and apparently content overnight. It was still there at breakfast, gone by lunchtime, and we never saw it again. But the images live on…*