Page A-12
Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020
Weather
Watch
Cave Junction
Thursday, Oct. 22
Partly Cloudy
High --60 Low -- 36
Friday, Oct 23
Partly Cloudy
High -- 64 Low -- 44
Saturday, Oct. 24
AM Showers
High -- 56 Low -- 32
Sunday, Oct. 25
Sunny
High -- 57 Low -- 30
Monday, Oct. 26
Sunny
High -- 63 Low -- 36
Tuesday, Oct. 27
Mostly Sunny
High -- 67 Low -- 41
Wednesday, Oct. 28
Mostly Sunny
High -- 68 Low -- 43
Following are the high & low temperatures,
and rainfall recorded at The End of the Road
in O’Brien by Cheryl Johnson:
Oct
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
High
60.7
68.8
71.2
72.3
69.7
70.9
78.3
Low
47.4
37.1
52.8
47.4
51.9
47.4
44.7
Rain
0.73
0.01
0.02
0.06
Oct. Rain: 0.82” YTD Rain: 0.82”
Page A-12
Crawlies with Cri: by Christy Solo
This week’s
crawly is always ready
for Halloween and
could easily go to a
party as any Sith Lord
straight out of Star
Wars. Meet the red-
shouldered ctenucha
tiger moth (Ctenucha
rubroscapus) – we’ll
call them “red” for
brevity.
Red is here to
disprove that adage
“Butterflies are pretty,
moths are boring.” Red
is a day-flying moth
and while they are not
poisonous their bold
color is meant to trick
would-be predators
into thinking they are
dangerous to eat.
While moths with
muted colors go for the
camouflage “you can’t
see me” survival tactic,
tiger moths opt for the
“come at me bro!” faux
warning colors.
Even at rest
with their black
wings resting in a
“V” formation, those
crimson shoulder
stripes keep them from
blending in.
At just over one-
quarter of an inch long,
reds are good-sized
moths too. The adults
fly in July and August
and can be found all
over Oregon west of
the Cascades. They
can only be found at
lower elevations (below
snowline) and generally
are found in grassy
fields.
Red has a couple
similar-looking cousins.
The white fringe on the
outer, bottom edge of
red’s wings are the tell
for this species.
Adult reds are
nectar drinkers. Their
caterpillars munch
on wild grasses like
wild rye (Elymus) and
orchard grass (Dactylis)
and sedges (grasslike
herbaceous plants).
Because the
caterpillars don’t eat
flowering plants,
adult reds aren’t
flower specialists and
you may find them
fluttering around a
variety of flowers. They
do prefer composite
flowers, like dandelion,
chrysanthemum,
yarrow, sunflower,
thistle and zinnia.
Not only are reds
beautiful and dramatic-
looking moths, but
they’ll pollinate many
of the perennials in your
yard.
Their caterpillars
(Photo by Christy Solo, Illinois Valley News)
Confusing petrophila moth (Petrophila confusalis)
are black and white and
“fuzzy.” Like the adults
they look like they
might be poisonous.
If you want to
attract reds to your yard,
be sure to leave some
grasses and sedges
unmown. Just some
left in a clay pot for
fire safety might just be
enough.
A close cousin
of red, the yellow-
collared scape moth
(Cisseps fulvicollis), can
be found throughout
Oregon. Its coloring is
classic Halloween, with
brownish black wings
and an orange head. It
lacks the fancy shoulder
stripes of red.
The collared tends
to be in meadow and
riparian areas. They’ll
be on the wing until the
first hard frost of fall, so
if you’re lucky you may
still see one.