insects
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Tiger Swallowtail
The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) is the largest butterfly in the northeast (wingspan can reach 5″). I saw my first of the year over the weekend in Massachusetts.This is a male. Females have much more blue on the hindwing. There’s also a dark female form which is more common as you head south.
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Of course you realize this means war
Half a dozen mosquito bites over the weekend.
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Arthropods
Hey! a) I got close enough to this slender inch-long damselfly to capture some detail, notably the broken stripes on the thorax, and hence b) I declare this to be a male Fragile Forktail (Ishnura posita). The pollen pack on this bumblebee, foraging in cluster of sumac flowers, is going to make some baby bumblebees…
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Green-Wood
Fringetree. Galls clustering on a hickory. The leaves of one of that cluster of Common Persimmon trees. A Great Egret being photogenic as always. Water Lily in the Valley Water; there were only a few blossoms yet. American Lady butterflies amid a horde of honey and bumble bees.
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7 Spotted, 13 Spotted
Pupating larva, I assume of the Seven-Spotted Lady Beetle (Coccinella septempunctata), adults of which who were all around Four Sparrow Marsh: A species introduced from Europe to eat aphids. Another commercially available aphid eater is the Convergent Lady Beetle (Hippodamia convergens), which is exported out of California:Like the Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle, this is also…
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Below the bridge
This view is like a dream sometimes. Also spotted in Brooklyn Bridge Park:
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Galls and Crane Fly
A two-fer in this shot of a Witch Hazel leaf:This is a boom year for the Witch Hazel Cone Gall-maker (Hormaphis hamamelidis), an aphid. Read more about these tiny insects and how they force the American Witch-Hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) to create these protective cone forms around their young. For more about the endlessly fascinating galls…
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Viburnum Leaf Beetle (Corrected)
If you read this, you are probably also reading Marielle Anzelone’s Spring series at the New York Times. If not you should be. Yesterday’s article introduced us to the Viburnum Leaf Beetle (Pyrrhalta viburni) an invading species which devours Viburnum species, especially Arrowwood (Viburnum dentatum). EDITED & UPDATED 7/28/15: I was incorrect about this. VLB…
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American Copper
Lycaena phlaeas. Common name aside, the East Coast population of this small butterfly is thought to have been introduced from Europe during the colonial period, probably on the sheep sorrel its larva feeds on. It is notably associated with these invasive sorrels, and often found on disturbed habitats like roads and lawns, where I’ve photographed…
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The Hunt for Red Admiral
Red Admiral butterflies (Vanessa atalanta) are out in force this year, enough to be noticed by my radio station, WNYC. This is probably an East Coast phenomenon, as I was on Nantucket this weekend and saw many but photographed few. Being so fast, flighty, and flittery, butterflies are generally hard to photograph. Red Admirals are…
Backyard and Beyond 