Backyard and Beyond

Starting out from Brooklyn, an amateur naturalist explores our world.

As John Burroughs said, “The place to observe nature is where you are.”

  • Two-spotted Scoliid

    The Blue-winged Scolliid Wasp/Scolia dubia regional form has two yellow spots on the abdomen, making them Two-spotted Scoliid Wasps/Scolia dubia dubia. I’ve never seen the non-spotted form. These hunt subterranean beetle larvae and are very fond of invasive Japanese Beetle/Popillia japonica grubs, which is probably why there are so many of these wasps cruising a…

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  • Bald-faced Hornets

    And an announcement: my September bird and bug walks are now listed at their institutional homes.

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  • Pollination

    Chicory. White Clover. Plantain. Dwarf Mallow. Last Sunday, we saw quite a bit of insect activity along a patch of Sunset Park where the Chicories and other flowers had gone wild. These are just the bees, but three species of wasp and several species of flies were readily visible, too. It looked like Parks was…

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  • Raptor Wednesday

    (Note uneaten Spotted Lanternfly.)

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  • The Worm in the Bud

    Larval stage of one of the Allantus rose sawflies. There were three of these on this cultivated rose. This one was curled under a bloom. (Life on a store-bought rose!) I’ve been dealing with some health problems and barely getting outside out lately, so my posts have been scanty. Hopefully picking up the pace…

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    The Worm in the Bud

  • Raptor Wednesday

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  • A Night’s Visitors, Part II

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    A Night’s Visitors, Part II

  • A Night’s Visitors, Part I

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    A Night’s Visitors, Part I

  • Sunflower

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  • Dog Days

    More frequently heard than seen, Dog Day cicadas (Neotibicen) are out there all around us. Half of them aren’t even heard: females, like this one, don’t make noise. The cicada’s mortal enemy, an Eastern Cicada-killer Wasp, pushing earth out of her nest backwards.

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