insects
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Monarch, Comma
Spotted two Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) in Green-Wood today.Like perfect little kites of joy.Also saw some Cabbage Whites, Orange Sulphurs, and several skippers. Pretty good for a day with temps in the high 40s at sunrise. There was also this Comma (Polygonia comma).Soaking up the sun.
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After Barely A Summer Dies the Bee
This goldenrod was chock-a-stem with bumblebees, carpenter bees, and honeybees, moving slowly if at all on a cool day. You could pet them if you liked. This is the last hurrah for the bumbles and carpenter bees, except for already mated queens, who will soon find a place tucked away in leaf litter for the…
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Shelter From The Rain
On the edge of the storm, a beetle clings to the outside of the kitchen window.Slick wet glass, mind you. Last seen heading further up to the frame. Early October, Brooklyn. Should I submit this to bugguide.net to see who can identify it from this angle? Or would that be cruel? Actually, we have a…
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Caterpillarpoop
This is that lone Monarch caterpillar I saw a few weeks ago. I saw it again the next day, along with this little green pellet. Some quick research revealed that it was exactly what you’d think it was. Something of what goes in must, after all, come out.
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Feasting
Late afternoon, under an elm and its satellite Redbuds, these little flies were thick in the air, and in the ear and eye, too. Many birds were feasting on the tiny things, including a Red-breasted Nuthatch, lots and lots of Palm Warblers, a noisy Black-throated Blue Warbler, several Ruby and Golden-crowned Kinglets, a Downy Woodpecker,…
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Aster Apotheosis
This is the time to see these Symphyotrichum asters. Above is a low-growing, smaller flowered version called “October Sky.”Here’s one of the bigger ones, both taller and larger-flowered. And there are still pollinators — bumblebees, honeybees, and some flies — working them over for the last of the nectar and pollen. The bumblebees are slow…
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Perch
Female Eastern Amberwing (Perithemis tenera).Male Twelve-spotted Skimmer (Libellula pulchella)
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Rambur’s Forktail
I’ve spotted another Brooklyn damselfly species, bringing my NYC list up to nine species. This is a male Rambur’s Forktail (Ischnura ramburii). Approximately 1.25″ long. He was flitting about the edge of Green-Wood’s Sylvan Water among a fair number of Familiar Bluets.This is a pair of Familiars (Enallagma civile) in the mating grip: the male…
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Ocola Skipper
Note the long forewings here, which certainly makes it stick out of the common storm of skippers. This is an Ocola Skipper (Panoquina ocola), a butterfly of the southeast (and down to Paraguay) that occasionally gets as far north as Canada. It’s a “regular stray” up here according to the Kaufman guide. This is a…
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View From The Moraine
A green lacewing (Chrysopidae) paused briefly on the window recently.
Backyard and Beyond 