insects
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Megachile on Asclepias
Leaf-cutter bee on Butterfly Weed. You can’t tell this when they’re in the air, or, frankly, very easily when they’re still, but bees have four wings (flies have two). In this photo, however, you can just see the smaller hindwing underneath the forewing on the right side here.
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Blue Dasher, White Tail
You have to get pretty close to see the white face on one of NYC’s most common dragonflies, the Blue Dasher (Pachydiplax longipennis). This is a male; as he gets older, his blue abdomen will get more powdery or chalkier looking. Such pruinescence, as it’s called, is caused by wax exuded from the animals’ cuticle.…
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Clearwings
Another critter hard to pin down. This is a Snowberry Clearwing Moth (Hemaris diffinis), named after one of its host plants and, more obviously, those see-through parts of the wings. This was moving quickly between honeysuckle blossoms, another of its caterpillar hosts, and proving hard to capture in the lens. Note that it mimics a…
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Skippers
In my listing of NYC butterflies, I noted that the skippers are hard to identify. These little butterflies in the Hesperiidae family are mostly small, orangish to tawny brown, and have a tendency to look like jet planes when perched.This male Sachem (Atalopedes campestris)–identification tentative–assumes the position: hindwings and forewings are separately opened at different…
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Brooklyn Long-horns
This black bee was a real brawler, tackling each flower like a linebacker, rolling up and over the flower parts until it was upside-down. Note the long opera-glove-like sleeves of pollen on the hind legs. These legs have more hair than the other two sets, and these pollen packs are rather larger than you see…
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More Beetlemania
This tiny beetle is Sehirus cinctus, the White-margined Burrowing Beetle. 4-6.5mm long. There were several on the very hairy leaves of what looks like Stachys something or other. Adult females of this species care for their young, which is fairly unusual in the insect world. Plenty of insects provision their young, but most aren’t around…
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Tiger Bee Fly
Xenox tiginus is a large fly with a distinctive black and clear wing patterning. At least in our eastern region, where there is just one of these Xenox genus flies; there are a few more out west. These lay their eggs at the entrances of Carpenter Bee nests so that their larvae can parasitize the bee’s larvae.…
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Butterfly Showcase
Starting to see a few Monarchs (Danaus plexippus) out and about. And the Black Swallowtails (Papilio polyxenes) are also active now. Male above, female below, I think. Eastern Tiger Swallowtail(Papilio glaucus) female. A very conspicuous butterfly, both for her size (4-4.5″ wingspan) and her bold tiger-like patterning. Males lack the deep blue. But wait! Delaying…
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Fireflies
You know what I like about this blogging project of mine? The fact that there is always something new to learn. It’s the universe, after all, and I will never ever even begin to contain it.For instance, this is one of the Lampyridae family of beetles, the fireflies, lightning bugs, glowworms. But hold on a…
Backyard and Beyond 