insects
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Some More Southwestern Insects
The largest beetle I’ve ever run across. It was wider than my thumb. Giant Palm Borer? Like the butterfly below, this dragonfly, a Pale-faced Clubskimmer (Brechmorhoga mendax) I think, was deceased.Queen male (Danaus gilippus) and the spider who caught him. This stink bug — genus Eleodes? — has assumed the position and is ready to…
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Under A Big Big Sky
Petrified Forest National Park.Amid the lithified remains of an ancient forest, where the pebbles themselves were essentially petrified mulch, a moving white fluff on the ground was identified as a Thistledown Velvet Ant (Dasymutilla gloriosa), which is actually a wasp. The female is wingless and furry white, like the seedpod of a creosote bush or…
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Some Southwestern Insects
Milbert’s Tortoiseshell (Aglais milberti). I’ve only identified a couple of the following, so holler if you know any of them. Mexican Amberwing (Perithemis intensa). Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor).This katydid was dropped in front of me by a surprised Western Tanager. I think the katydid was surprised too, if not in shock.Like the chimney-shaped ant colony…
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Time bees
In August of 2010 I found a feral honeybee hive here. In 2011 and 2012, I didn’t notice any activity here at all, although I have to say my checking in was sporadic at best — Green-Wood is a big place and my routes didn’t always go past this tree — but still, I don’t…
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Ahoy, Skippers!
The Skippers in the family Hesperiidae are small, fast, confusing, and perhaps not even butterflies. But we will leave that to the taxonomists…Also, they are all over the place: walking through a meadow or even a semi-feral lawn now can stir them up. A subsection of the Skippers, the Grass Skippers, have a characteristic “jet…
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Summer of the Blue Dashers
The Blue Dashers (Pachydiplax longipennis) have been everywhere this year. I said this two weeks ago, and I repeat it now. It is a banner year for them. Just walking down the streets here in Brooklyn reveals them perched on bare branches of trees, fence posts, and car antennas.This is a classic pose for the…
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Flying Now
Barely… actually she seems to be doing ok with those chucks missing from her forewings. This is an Eastern Tailed-Blue (Everes comyntas); a female, with brown wings on the upperside; the male has blue. Wingspan is close to an inch, so about half inch when perched. And the tails made much of in the common…
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Three Wee Damselflies
Fragile Forktail (Ischnura posita) male. Tell-tale broken strip on the thorax like an exclamation point. One of the inch-long damsels.And this looks like the female Fragile Forktail.Immature female Lilypad Forktail (Ischnura kellicotti). Just over an inch long. Without binoculars or telephoto, it’s hard to see this gorgeous orange color. And some kind of bluet…
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It’s Been Awhile
Die, hellfiend, die! Oh, uh, sorry… my usual near-Jainist approach to insects falters when it comes to the ancient enemy. This actually hasn’t been a bad for the little bloodsuckers. So far. I was expecting an onslaught getting to Dead Horse Bay last week, as in the past, but that seems to be a spring/early…
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Hovering Now
At last! A good look at a Snowberry Clearwing moth (Hemaris diffinis). I had originally thought this was the Hummingbird Clearwing (H. thysbe) but the black line through the eyes across the sides of the thorax, and the dark legs, are distinguishing. Both species look a little like hummingbirds, but are even smaller than our smallest birds.…
Backyard and Beyond 