insects
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Air Bee and Bee
A local bee motel. There was a wasp checking in, to. This is a rather elaborate one, offering several possibilities for wood- and cavity- nesters. (But don’t forget the ground-nesters!) The Xerces Society has some helpful hints on building your own to encourage pollinators. Update and caveats 11/19: these elaborate, crowded situations don’t replicate natural…
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Seaside Dragonlet
This is a female Seaside Dragonlet (Erythrodiplax berenice), spotted recently on Plumb Beach. This is the only American species of dragonfly that breeds in salt water, in this case probably the saltwater marsh tucked behind the beach. To be honest, I couldn’t see any of the handsome orange and black patterning on the abdomen and…
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Great Spangled Fritillary
A name that should always be said in a W.C. Fields’ voice.Speyeria cybele.
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Migrating Gliders
You may wait a long time before one of these gliders comes to a stop. Both the Spot-winged (Pantala hymenaea) and Wandering Glider (Pantala flavescens) dragonflies seem to spend their whole working day in the air. These are the constantly moving yellow to golden dragonflies that are now being seen above our meadows and grassy…
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Lurking in Plain Sight
Harvestmen or Daddy-longegs (Opiliones).
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Damsel
Actually, it’s the tiny fly (?) this male Orange Bluet (Enallagma signatum) has just devoured who was the subject in distress. You can see a tiny-wing leftover.
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Stag Beetle
A Common or Reddish-Brown Stag Beetle (Lucanus capreolus) male who didn’t make it. Found on the sidewalk next to Prospect Park. This specimen is about an inch long. Inhabitants of parks, suburbs, and hardwood forests, they’re mostly nocturnal. They feed on sap; those pincer-like mandibles are used to battle other males for territory. Dudes. A wonderful…
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Nessus Sphinx
Perching covertly: Nessus Sphinx (Amphion floridness). When I first saw it, my thought was Cicada Killer Wasp. The Peterson guide says this day-flying moth is common throughout its range — the northeast to Virginia, across the midwest — but I think this is the first I’ve seen it.
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Ladybugs!
Convergent Ladybugs (Hippodamia convergens) uh, um, converging. This year’s aphid boom needs more lady beetles!Fourteen-Spotted Ladybug (Propylea quatuordecimpunctata).This looks like a variation of the Multicolored Asian Ladybug larva (Harmonia axyridis). These last two were spotted in Flatbush Gardener’s patch during the C-9 release.
Backyard and Beyond 