To everything there is a season, and these mushrooms were on the way to deliquescing into ooze. Ants in the first picture. In the second, the white rice-looking things are alive. They are some kind of springtails, possibly of the genus Ceratophysella, and are scavenging on the rich fruit of these fruiting bodies. 
As always, you can click on these images to pop them open, although you may wish to pass on this one.
I read recently a comment from a lower Hudson River valley mushroom hunter, who said this fall has seen the most mushroom in half a century. It was extraordinarily wet, that’s for sure.
Large Yellow Webworm caterpillar.
Posts Tagged 'caterpillars'
Mushroom Monday
Published October 29, 2018 Fieldnotes Leave a CommentTags: ants, Brooklyn, caterpillars, fungi, Green-Wood, invertebrates, mushrooms
Hairy Cs
Published September 29, 2018 Fieldnotes 1 CommentTags: caterpillars, insects, invertebrates
It seems the Yellow Bear caterpillar is yellow in early instars, but then individuals takes on a variety of colors. Virginia Tiger Moth, Spilosoma virginica. In Green-Wood last week. The pupae overwinter.
Hickory Tussock (Lophocampa caryae) named after a favored food (Carya genus), but “expected on almost any woody species,” says caterpillar maven David L. Wagner. Found all over two weeks ago at a spot along the NY/CT border. Pupae also overwinter.
Four days later, this one was still munching away. On the underside of the leaf both days. I suppose that makes this grizzly bear slightly less conspicuous.
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A quick update on GoFundMe. First off, thank you again for contributing. The page is still open for anyone else wishing to contribute. Monies take 2-5 days to transfer; the camera shop is closed until Wednesday. (FYI, out-of-towners: the emporium follows an ancient lunar calendar). When forced to shop, I’m a tactile shopper, so I need to see and hold the cameras I’m looking at before making any decisions.
Statue of Butterflies
Published September 27, 2018 Fieldnotes 2 CommentsTags: Brooklyn, butterflies, caterpillars, Green-Wood
Under each wingpit, a chrysalis. At the tips of the wings, emptied husks of chrysalises. On the left wing, a chrysalis and brand new Monarch. Harder to see, but way down below the drape of rocky dress, another ripening chrysalis. 
Pictures from Saturday. Yesterday, I counted two butterflies and half a dozen chrysalises in process in this patch; the nearby feeding station of Buddleia, butterfly bush, had four more adults on it.
This one looks like it was gotten to by something.
It is that time of year when a walker on the numbered avenues of Brooklyn sees Monarchs fluttering overhead, at cornice height, heading south-westerly.The flight looks so weak, I almost feel like I can catch up. Almost.
Death Comes for the Monarch
Published September 20, 2018 Fieldnotes Leave a CommentTags: Brooklyn, butterflies, caterpillars, Green-Wood, insects, invertebrates
There are some ants on the remains of this Monarch larva. Waste not, want not. I’ve seen a couple caterpillars in this position, suspended in preparation for starting the pupa, who didn’t make it. The Spined Soldier Bugs (nymphs and adults) are one enemy, but I wonder what other creatures or diseases strike these plump cats down. Remember, milkweed essentially fills a caterpillar with toxins, yet obviously the Spined Soldier, among others, can handle that.
The rain too has made a contribution to the dissolution of some corpses. 
But I must be feeling optimistic:
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Do you know the story of the Callery Pear? It’s another invasive nightmare.
Monarchs: The Next Generation
Published September 19, 2018 Fieldnotes 1 CommentTags: Brooklyn, butterflies, caterpillars, Green-Wood
Chrysalis down! It was still attached, so I positioned this leaf in the thicket so that the pupa would hang down.
Half of the newly emerged adults seen Friday.
Larval stage still at it.
This early instar was as long as a dime across.
Milkweeds make butterflies. These have been completely stripped of leaves. This tiny patch had two dozen caterpillars on it two weeks ago.
Return of the Return of Monarchy
Published September 18, 2018 Fieldnotes Leave a CommentTags: Brooklyn, butterflies, caterpillars, Green-Wood
I hope you didn’t think you were going to get away from these things, did you? I’ve had an unparalleled experience watching these critters for two-three weeks now. Missed all this in school, by the way, but must say, the wild is more appealing. 
A variation on the pattern; I’ve seen similar once before.
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Already on shaky ground truth-wise, Kavanaugh firmly denies, following his rapey boss Trump’s strategy of deny, deny, deny… while, paradoxically, Republicans insist that what a white prep school boy does at 17 doesn’t count anymore. Pollitt discusses. Remember, Trump called for the execution of teenage rapists (they were innocent, by the way; of course they were also black) and it’s standard Republican strategy to brand sex offenders for life. Meanwhile, Kavanaugh dissented in a decision to let a 17-year-old in immigrant detention have the abortion she wanted: he wanted to force her to have a child.
Is it too much to say that forcing girls and women is a through-line in the ideology of this repellent radical misogynist?
Smeared Dagger!
Published September 17, 2018 Fieldnotes Leave a CommentTags: Brooklyn, caterpillars, Green-Wood, moths
The Smartweed Caterpillar is also known after its adult moth form, the Smeared Dagger (Acronicta oblinita). According to Wagner’s Caterpillars of Eastern North America, these are quite variable.
Here’s another, missing the red highlights. Excellent opportunity to see the morphology here: the three pairs of thoracic legs (with simple claws) on the left, the four pairs of anterior prolegs, and the pair of anal prolegs (all with hooks and hair-like setae). Tuffs of setae are found in many of the 75 North American species in this genus (!).
Wagner’s book is filled with amazing images of caterpillars, most of which I’ve never seen. For instance, this is the first time I’ve run into this spectacular species. (Inexhaustible nature!) There were three of them visible on Friday. The adult moth is quite plain in comparison.
Revenge of the Monarch
Published September 15, 2018 Fieldnotes 3 CommentsTags: Brooklyn, butterflies, caterpillars, Green-Wood, insects, invertebrates
This is the whole point, right? A new butterfly, hiding under a leaf next to her chrysalis husk. She’ll dry off, harden up, get ready for the world. And what a world! Is this the generation that is Mexico-bound? I’m guessing so since it’s already mid-September. How does she know? Remarkably, these long-distance, south-bound migrants can live up to nine months, compared to the 2-5 weeks of summer generations. 
How do other caterpillars know not to eat the leaf this pupa is hanging from, or do they? 
Two more. My eyes are getting better at this. Both suspended from the milkweed leaf’s midrib. Did they do it at the same time or did one follow the other, as if it was a good place, or is it just random? Monarch sex determination is set at fertilization. There’s a way a tell if the pupa is male or female, evidently, but you have to look closely, and I’m not handling any of these since I follow the Prime Directive. 
Here’s a Spined Soldier Bug adult sucking the life out of one of the caterpillars. I’ve been seeing the nymph stage assassins at work, but this is the first adult I’ve seen.
Saw about three dozen live caterpillars in action, September 6th, overcast hot and grossly humid, and a trio of dead or dying.
Planet of the Monarchs
Published September 14, 2018 Fieldnotes 5 CommentsTags: Brooklyn, caterpillars, Green-Wood, insects, invertebrates
Yes, please! A veritable orgy of caterpillars. I counted 47 in Green-Wood on the morning of September 5th. I have never seen so many, anywhere.
I went early to avoid the heat, but phew, it was still pretty beastly. Obviously, I can’t survey the milkweed further in this tight little meadow. There are probably more caterpillars to be found within.
Of note, another nearby patch of milkweed isn’t showing nearly the same level of activity as this one. I wonder why? It gets more shade: could the female butterflies, who lay one egg per plant, skip it more often for this patch, which is in the sun all day long?
Found one new pupa/chrysalis, for total of three in process.
Many of the caterpillars were late-stage, the big fat ones in the last of five instars before pupation. This one has begun to pupate, anchoring and turning up.
24 hours later. Note the two silk anchors; I haven’t seen these before. This chrysalis is high up above the meadow’s average height, so is this extra protection from the wind? 30 hours after that, those two silk strands were gone.
But not everybody gets that far.
Here’s another goner. Note the killer, a nymph Spined Soldier Bug. True bugs suck, literally. And the other living (munching) caterpillar nearby; these larval stage Monarchs have six simple eyes, but don’t see very well.
Another shout-out to Green-Wood for planting milkweed. The end result looks like hell, but as is so often the case, looks are deceiving. This is paradise.
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The CCR’s legal briefing on civil disobedience.
Realm of the Monarchs
Published September 12, 2018 Fieldnotes 1 CommentTags: Brooklyn, butterflies, caterpillars, Green-Wood, insects, invertebrates
A brand new female. Will she make it down to Mexico?
We’re celebrating Monarch’s all this week. But don’t let my anecdotal enthusiasm delude you. Monarchs in a frightful state.
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AFSC’s guide to civil disobedience.
Backyard and Beyond 