Elizabeth Hilkemann has found another moth previously unreported from the state (her second this year). On June 20 and again on June 26 she found two plume moths she thought looked “suspicious”. She sent them to Dr. Deborah Matthews (a plume moth expert) at the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity at the University of Florida. Dr. Matthews identified them as Goldenrod (Borer) Plume moths (Hellinisa kellicottii), an eastern North American species. Its larvae bore into and feed on goldenrod stems and roots. The next nearest record is from eastern Missouri. Great job Elizabeth!! The next generation of Lepidopterists are alive and thriving.
Congratulations again and again Elizabeth!