insects
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Lady Bug
My first lady bug of the year. The Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle (Harmonia axyridis) is also multi-spotted, or sometimes not spotted at all. It’s highly variable, with more than 100 (!) colorforms. The M-shape on the pronotum is usually a good marker of the species. Of course, that’s a W-shape if you look at it…
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Polygonia demystified
Eastern Comma butterfly (Polygonia comma). I found this photo in my archives and thought I would compare it to this photo of a Question Mark butterfly (P. interrogationis) I took the other day:These butterflies’ common names come from the small silver marks on the underside of their hindwings (the lower of the pair), which look…
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Butterflies, Butterfly-Shaped
American Lady (Vanessa virginiensis). Very similar to the Painted Lady (V. cardui), which, like the Monarch (Danaus plexippus), is migratory. Saw my first Monarch as well (last year I noted my first at the end of June); the milkweeds, which Monarchs are so associated with, were only three-four inches out of the ground. I’m using…
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Life Aquatic
The fresh water ponds at Brooklyn Bridge Park were jumping with life in yesterday’s June-like weather. Bathing and drinking birds included Barn Swallows, recently returned north, Common Grackles, American Robins, Northern Mockingbirds, European Starlings, and House Sparrows, lots of House Sparrows. Water is very important for birds, and it’s been a very dry spring, so…
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Moth Fly
Friends! Are you troubled by little gray-black flies that, upon closer inspection (don’t be shy, get a little closer, the details are remarkable) look rather moth-like with their hairy wings and bodies? Do you wonder why they seem to be hanging around your sinks? Or, like this one, in the hallway, just waiting for my…
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Arthropods of St. John Part I
An antennae-span of nearly three inches to greet the early risers.When this moth flew into the veranda, everyone thought it was a bat with it’s 4-inch wingspan.Katydids, part of the night chorus, could usually be found lazing around during the day. This one was caught in a brief rain shower.Saw the same species on Virgin…
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Neighbors
A paper nest made by Bald-faced hornets, Dolichovespula maculata. Found a block down the street from the Back 40. It’s quite empty this time of year. Next year’s already mated females are somewhere nearby, tucked into over-wintering nooks, hoping to become queens of new colonies/nests. They will not reuse this nest. Here’s a these Bald-faced…
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Two Habitats
1.) A Rufus Hummingbird has been hanging out by the entrance to the Rose Center for Earth and Space at the American Museum of Natural History. This species, Selasphorus rufus, is more generally found in the Northwest and West, so its continued presence in Manhattan since December has been cause for comment. The bird is…
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Mortal Foe
Well, it seems it’s finally winter, at least for a day or two. That means cold, just like when I was a boy. Over the weekend we saw a turtle head peeking out of the Lake in Prospect Park. That’s no sign of winter! Two weeks ago, I was battling mosquitos in the tropics of…
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Winter caterpillar
Large Yellow Underwing caterpillar. I took this photo on October 15th in Green-Wood and saved it for the first day of winter to illustrate the insect’s life cycle. I thought October was late in the year, but Noctua pronuba can be active even in the dead of winter, given a thaw. The mature caterpillars can…
Backyard and Beyond 