I've seen these before in my garden, but never knew the name of them. Thanks for sharing the information about these beauties!

I have never seen one, but he is very pretty.

I visit here sometimes from the Oklahoma Forum, and some of the folks here I recognize from the Butterfly Gardening Forum as well. I happened on this thread and thought I'd put in my 2â worth regarding the Southern Pink Moth (Pyrausta Inornatalis). You won't find it "cute" or "pretty" for long.

This moth is specific to Salvia. When the larvae hatch, they consume the new growth and flowers of Salvias - any and all in reach! I am a butterfly gardener and I dislike the use of any chemical in the garden, organic or otherwise. But I was discouraged by the fact that my Salvia plants were under attack year in and year out. I rarely saw blooms on the 'Black & .Blue', 'Cherry Queen', 'Hot Lips', darcyi, or 'Lady in Red'. They were being decimated by this cute little moth' s offspring.

If the moth was hanging out around your S. 'Indigo Spires', it was trying to lay eggs - be sure of it.

I wait for a day when the wind is calm and sprinkle BT-kurstaki on the top of the leaves. The caterpillars then eat leaves. In a couple days they will die. Very effective. May have to reapply to get larvae that emerge later. Also rain will wash it off, so one would need to apply once again in that case.

BT var. kurstaki, Bacillus thuringiensis, is a naturally occurring bacteria that is only toxic to caterpillars - won't harm you, your pets, beneficial insects. It comes in a liquid or powder form. The brand of powder I use is Dipel. It's very cheap stuff.

Susan