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When we create a safe and welcoming wildlife habitat, we are also supporting the natural cycles and systems we may not even be aware of. There is rich and interconnected natural life going on in every section of my rewilded yard - and I only know about a tiny fraction of it!
When I notice an uncommon insect, bird, or critter there is often a pattern to when I might see it again. Unusual migrating birds appearing in my yard fall in this category. Rose-breasted grosbeaks, like the one in the video taking a bath in my backyard, can only be seen in Atlanta when the migrate through in the spring and again in the fall.
The timing of smaller discoveries is not as obvious. Last year on August 30 I saw a tiny Southern Pink Moth (Pyrausta inornatalis) for the first time. I forgot about this until I saw one again a few days ago - exactly a year later! I’m guessing the timing is not coincidental. A pink moth, even an itty bitty one, stands out which is why I probably noticed it. I’m sure there are also dozens of other unique and interesting moths under my feet if I looked for them.
It's still exciting because the Southern pink is not common. On iNaturalist there are only 62 Southern pink observations for Atlanta, GA, mine included.
Native and non-native salvias are host plants for the Southern pink caterpillars called budworms and ornamental gardeners consider them a pest because they disfigure the buds and flowers of salvias.
Southern pink moths were first discovered in 1885 and only recently spread outside their native range. This has coincided with salvias becoming popular ornamental plants and the nursery production industry making more varieties accessible. According to the USDA Census of Horticulture, in 2014 salvia was one of the top 25 crops for containers and flats. Nursery production plants are shipped far and wide from central locations. The nursery industry undoubtedly also played some part in the Southern pink showing up in Japan in 2019 where it is now an invasive species – the moth can’t exactly travel that far from the U.S. without help!
In an ecologically informed yard plant damage from caterpillars like the Southern pink is a goal, not a problem. Caterpillars are a foundational insect in the food web. The Southern pink in my yard was on a lonely native Salvia azurea (blue sage) in one my large planters where native Salvia coccinea (scarlet sage) also grows. Southern pinks might also use (non-native) basil as a host plant which tracks because I also grow my herbs in the same planters.
Salvia urticifolia (nettleleaf sage) is one of the salvias native to the Southeastern U.S. but is rare and often found growing in cedar glades. This leaves native Salvia lyrata (lyre-leaf sage) as the most common salvia host plant for the Southern pink. I let lyre-leaf sage grow wherever it wants, and it seems to be forming patches along the walkway to our house and our front sidewalk where it has its own space.
Yet the Southern pink just can’t catch a break when it comes to pesticides. In addition to salvias in the nursery trade being treated with pesticides at some point in production or by ornamental gardeners, caterpillars on lyre-leaf sage growing in lawns are killed by lawn pesticides. Lyre-leaf sage is an abundant native plant that goes unnoticed by the average homeowner until it become noticed as a “lawn weed” and targeted by a broad-spectrum, systemic, herbicide called metsulfuron that was originally used for agriculture but is now a common lawn pesticide* used to maintain a monoculture lawn. Metsulfuron has 79 trade names! The systemic nature of metsulfuron is dangerous to woody plants because it’s mobile in the soil and may be absorbed by leaves and roots. Oak trees, a native keystone species, are particularly sensitive to and can be damaged by metsulfuron.
According to the National Wildlife Federation site ranking native plants by the number of butterfly and moth species that use them as host plants, salvia hosts 8 species! The immense input of chemicals on lawns to target native plants like lyre-leaf sage so non-native grass can grow is directly contributing to the alarming insect and bird decline happening in real time. Homeowners use up to 10 times more chemical pesticides per acre on their lawns than farmers use on crops. This affect the 96% of land birds in North America that exclusively need insects to feed their babies!
Adding native plants for habitat support is a start to restoring life to our outdoor spaces. For example, if we want to see more Southern pinks in our Southern yards, we might have success if we add native scarlet sage or blue sage and let lyre-leaf sage grow with abandon wherever it pops up. We also need to slow down enough to notice a tiny pink moth if it appears! Yet this is only a small part of a bigger solution if we want to affect a change in the abundance of Southern Pink moths (and other insects) outside our yards. It misses the point to add native plants for habitat support then use pesticides on or around them. We need to connect the dots between how practices such as using systemic or topical pesticides on salvia plants and targeting lawn “weeds” like salvia lyrata impacts insects like the Southern pink moth. This equally important message needs to be shared far and wide! (Video of Southern pink moth on native Salvia azurea - maybe using it as a host plant?!)
The vital interactions between native plants like lyre-leaf sage and wildlife can also be used to paint an aspirational ecological vision of beauty and life. If Lyre-leaf sage and other common natives such as violets were nurtured, they would create a spectacular purple hued native low meadow in the spring.
In a low growing native meadow giant leopard moths and great spangled fritillaries that use violets as a host plant and the dainty pink moth caterpillars that feed on lyre-leaf sage would be everywhere! Seed-eating birds such as goldfinches would enjoy the lyre-leaf sage seedheads. Insect-eating birds would forage to their hearts content to find caterpillars to feed their babies. This enviable ecological vision for a 21st century “lawn” is quite the contrast to the sad, lifeless 1950s inspired chemically drenched grass lawns that are still the norm.
For ecological gardening to percolate beyond our niche gardening and native plant circles we need to paint a world of possibility along with our images of charming plants and the fascinating insects they attract. Otherwise, the Southern pink moth becomes a pretty curiosity instead of a connection to the nature systems outside our front door. In the video below there is a tiny crab spider on the same native Salvia azurea that the Southern pink moth was visiting a few days ago. I'm guessing he fits in with the popularity of the salvia as a host and nectar plant. Noticing him looking for tiny prey is another example of how we only scratch the surface of knowing how everything is functioning together in our yards - and why we shouldn't destroy it with pesticides.
*Note – I use the term pesticide to make a point that all herbicides are categorically pesticides. This is not my definition but that of the EPA’s. I think if this fact become more well known, it might be more obvious that killing plants because we want a monoculture of grass is contributing to the destruction of our local ecosystems.
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