insects
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Bombus Away
After a lingering slog of humidity, things have gotten cooler and drier here in the Borough of Kings. Today’s high is forecast to be 69, not the most optimal for insects. Their season is passing. I saw this bumblebee yesterday working a chicory, of the few flowering plants in Sunset Park now. The bumble was…
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So Many Monarchs
Have you noticed what a good year it is for Monarch Butterflies? There have been lots of positive reports from around the city and further afield about the large numbers of Danaus plexippus being seen. On Saturday, I walked from Sunset Park to Park Slope and back again to pick up some baked goods. I…
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Scandonata
So they have the same meadow hawk problem over there. These Sympetrum dragonflies are hard to ID in camera. Looks like S. vulgatum or S. striolatum are the options. Found around the moat of the Kastellet in Copenhagen, where the word for them is Hedelibel, or darter. The following mating damselflies were spotted in the…
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Darners
The mosaic darners of the genus Aeshna are some of our largest dragonflies. There are 20 similar looking species in North America, so they can be a bear to identify. This looks like a Shadow Darner (Aeshna umbrosa), photographed recently in Westchester Co. They run about 2.9″ long. Shadow Darners can be seen well into…
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Spreadwings
I have not come across any of the spreadwing damselflies in Brooklyn. These Lestidae family insects are the exception to the rule that damselflies rest with their wings folded back above their abdomen, in contrast to the dragonflies who don’t fold their wings at all. This year I caught a glimpse of a spreadwing —…
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Painted Ladies
There were more Vanessa cardui butterflies around the Green-Wood Buddleja planting than I’ve ever seen in one place in New York City.Really nice to see so many individuals of slightly different sizes and color intensity.What is up with this hanging out on the stone or tarmac?
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Wing Bands
The Black Saddlebags (Tramea lacerata) is a dragonfly rarely seen perched. But sometimes you get lucky.The “saddlebags” = the dark coloration of the hind wings. This could be an immature male or a female. The yellow spots on the abdomen are the ambiguous tell: a mature male won’t have these.A closer look to examine the…
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Sceliphron caementarium
What the well-dressed mud-daubing wasp is wearing: black and yellow.The Black and Yellow Mud Dauber builds a mud nest. Trypoxylon politum, the Pipe Organ Mud Dauber, is almost all black and builds pipe organ-like nests.Here’s another gathering mud. Her left antenna is broken off. She does not seem to get much mud per trip. This…
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Cicada Killer
Every August you’re practically guaranteed to see poor soul someone jump and shout in terror when they see a Cicada Killer Wasp. Sphecius speciosus are big; over an inch, and tend to fly low when they’re not scouting out trees for cicadas to capture.You need a big wasp to take home a big bug. It’s…
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Papilio glaucus
Now, that’s a flag. Eastern Tiger Swallowtail.Another specimen. This one was working so close to me that I could put my phone next to it to measure the wingspan: slightly longer than 5″. Open up this image to get a sense of the magnificence of life scale. Note that one of the swallowtails is missing:…
Backyard and Beyond 