At our little homestead we have more than enough canyon grape vines (Vitis arizonica) to share with the voracious caterpillars of the western grape skeletonizer. That said, I doubt I’ll get an invitation to be a spokesperson for the vintners of the Willcox wine region (the wine capitol of Arizona!) if I’m heard happily jabbering about western grape skeletonizers. But listen, I suspect the vineyards have Harrisina metallica pretty well figured out and I learned that there are organic ways to deal with these native rascals in a vineyard setting. Problem solved.
The photos are mine. The moth is on the flowers of white brush (Aloysia gratissima) blooming conveniently below some canyon grape in our yard. The munching caterpillars look like they’re wearing colorful striped sweaters.
Solanaceae is the nightshade family and according to my Hortus Third: A Concise Dictionary of Plants Cultivated in the United States and Canada, there...
There is no getting around it, every summer monsoon when the borderlands come to life it is so exciting! Apodanthera undulata, the crazy melon, ...
Arizona poppy, Mexican poppy and summer poppy are some of the common names for the beautiful annual wildflower Kallstroemia grandiflora. The common names are...
