05/11/2026
Behind the Scenes: The Story of a New Nola Species Discovery.
Introducing a new Nola!
Nola is a genus of small, often overlooked, but nonetheless intriguing and specialized moths that I have been working to better document over the past few years. Last spring, on a trip to South Carolina, I happened upon this small, colorful, spiky pillow of a caterpillar that didn’t match up with any described species. Since that initial encounter, a good deal has happened, and a new species description is in the works!
As I have worked toward publishing a broad and exhaustive account documenting Eastern North American Lepidoptera life histories (currently numbering around 2000 species imaged and presented in plates) I have encountered not just a handful, but an entire landscape of potential undescribed species, suspected unresolved species complexes, and other quirks and curiosities that fall outside any formal list of the currently recognized moth and butterfly species in our region.
At this point these new, or only informally recognized, ent**ies no longer surprise me. They are expected, part of the ever-evolving field of taxonomy. They are undiscovered or unresolved threads waiting to be pulled on or untangled when the time is right. It has been especially rewarding that my work has occasionally helped provide a firm yank on some of them.
Many biological ent**ies that likely warrant description remain in what might be called the metamorphic “inbox” of taxonomy. Like important emails buried beneath newer messages, these potential species, sometimes recognized as unusual in museum drawers or COI barcode datasets, can sit for years or decades awaiting the moment when enough evidence accumulates to bring them back into focus.
One of the most powerful catalysts for reviving these forgotten threads is new life-history information. Genetic data and subtle adult morphological differences may suggest that something unusual exists, but those clues alone can feel abstract and hardly pressing. When the larval stages enter the picture, distinctive caterpillars feeding on unexpected host plants and developing in ways unlike their closest relatives, the case for a new species becomes far more compelling. What once appeared to be a minor variation begins to reveal itself as a fundamentally different organism with its own ecological story.
This was the case when a caterpillar aficionado Karen C. photographed an assumed Nola pustulata on Cyrilla, or swamp t**i, flower spikes in southern Alabama in 2017. The observation raised a question: was N. pustulata feeding on a broader range of plants than previously assumed, or was something else happening?
Eight years later in 2025, when I encountered the same caterpillars at the edge of a Dunkin’ Donuts parking lot in South Carolina and reared them to adults, the signal became clearer. The larvae were distinctive. They fed on a different family of host plants than their presumed relatives. The resulting adults did not comfortably match any described species.
We reared and photographed these South Carolina Nola as they grew. In coordination with several academic partners we also provided specimens for DNA barcoding and genitalic dissection. That could easily have been the end of the story. Much of the work at The Caterpillar Lab falls under the umbrella of natural history investigation and education, with the more formal academic fields of taxonomy and systematic biology only at the edges of our experience.
Fortunately, the network of collaborations surrounding the Lab has grown alongside our work. With new information about the Cyrilla-feeding Nola in hand we were able to enlist Addison Copen, a driven young student of Lepidoptera taxonomy, along with his undergraduate advisor, the experienced morphologist and taxonomist Steven Passoa, and JoAnne Russo, an expert in moth genitalic dissections, to carry the investigation forward toward a formal species description. And already new Cyrilla-Nola sightings are coming in from the wild in 2026 from field-oriented partners like Ashley F. B. in Alabama, adding to our overall natural history knowledge of this previously mysterious species.
With the broader team assembled, further work proceeded. DNA barcoding, genitalic analysis, and a careful review of historical literature all played a role. One aspect of species description that the public may not realize is the deep commitment to the history of the field. Taxonomists must build upon earlier work while ensuring that no contradictions are introduced. The literature of taxonomy is full of synonyms, species described multiple times under different names, and resolving these historical threads is often essential to moving forward.
In the case of this new Nola, the review revealed that the mystery had deeper historical roots than we initially suspected. Decades earlier Douglass Ferguson had recognized evidence suggesting the existence of a species closely related to Nola pustulata and even informally proposed a name for it, Nola “gemina.” However, the work was never fully resolved. Like many such leads in taxonomy, it remained dormant while other priorities took precedence.
Now, with new life-history data, a clear host plant association, and fresh genetic and morphological evidence in hand, the timing is right to resolve that long-standing thread and give it a good old yank. Soon a new species, Nola gemina, will be formally described, a discovery decades in the making and brought to completion by the renewed momentum that classical life-history field work can provide.
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The Caterpillar Lab’s Role
It has been a challenge for The Caterpillar Lab, and for me personally, to find our place within the academic world. We have come to know these creatures deeply and in some specific ways perhaps more deeply than anyone else. Through our work we regularly encounter new discoveries and questions that do not yet have satisfying answers.
Yet we are not university supported academics working within the context of these highly specialized fields, and our mission extends beyond research alone. We value the time spent exploring, educating, and helping shape broader conversations about these creatures just as much as we value pursuing every individual scientific question that arises from our work.
Finding collaborators such as Addison Copen and JoAnne Russo in this project, and others like David Wagner and Naomi Pierce in earlier ones, has helped clarify what that role can be. Addison has carried the present Nola description forward with growing expertise in a field that we do not have the time or resources to fully pursue ourselves. JoAnne has become our trusted guide whenever moth genitalia must be examined.
At The Caterpillar Lab we often provide the first spark, whether it is a kindergarten student encountering their first Cecropia moth or an academic team investigating a species that deserves description. We also want to help curate the story of discovery, showing how a moment in the field, Karen C. in Alabama, or myself at the edge of that Dunkin’ Donuts parking lot in South Carolina, can open the door to entirely new questions and answers about the natural world. The story may not make it into a formal journal publication, but we want to keep it front and center and celebrated at The Caterpillar Lab.
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Thanks to all those involved in the discovery and description and thanks to The Caterpillar Lab's Jack Forrester for the black-background portrait shots of this new creature!
- Sam
