Syntomeida ipomoeae host plant

[Reed Johnson]

I'm interested in the life history of the wasp-mimic, Syntomeida
ipomoeae.  C.P. Kimball lists the moth's host plants as "thistle,
grapefruit and bloom of morning glory", in his book _The Lepidoptera of
Florida_.  At first I thought that this seemed like an impossible
combination of host plants.  My experience attempting to rear this
animal showed that they are choosy eaters -- larvae refused to eat
leaves of many kinds of the morning glory after which they are named.  I
took their choosiness to mean that thistle and grapefruit could not
possibly be host plants for S. ipomoeae.

Then I was lucky enough to find a caterpillar in the wild.  It was
eating, of all things, lantana flowers.  Everything made sense -- S.
ipomoeae is a flower eater!  It wouldn't eat the leaves of most morning
glories, but it eats the flowers of all of them.  Now I'm not so sure
that I can rule out grapefruit and thistle as host plants, since
caterpillars could be eating the blossoms.  

So, has anyone seen S. ipomoeae on thistles or grapefruits or any other
kind of possible host plant?  Thanks for any insight you can give.

Reed Johnson

 
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