insects
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Cicadas. Part I.
For me, the sound of summer — hot, humid, stinking summer, the doggiest of Dog Days — is the rising and falling whine of cicadas up in trees. I first became acquainted with cicadas in the Midwest, where hot and humid go together like deep fat frying batter and food on a stick at a…
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Beetle & Bug
A green immigrant leaf weevil, Polydrusus sericeus, as ID’ed by the good people at Bug Guide. I found this one on the grounds of the Stevens-Coolidge Place, in North Andover, MA. A stink bug, Banasa dimiata, found on Nantucket, MA. Not a beetle, it’s a “true bug.” Confused? While “bug” is commonly used for just…
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Night Flyers
A sampling of the children of the night, all pulled to the lights of Bradford, MA during my recent week away from NYC. This last is a giant crane fly of some kind. I only noticed this detail upon examining the image: the two club-like structures beneath the wings. Then I stumbled across what they…
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In the Back 40
A sunflower maggot fly, Strauzia longipennis. Scoping out my sunflowers, which have not yet budded. You can’t really see the red in the eye in my photo, so take a look at this image.
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Field Trip: Doodletown
American carrion beetle, Necrophila americana. The name “Doodletown” usually gets a quizzical look, but it’s real, or was once. Nestled between Bear Mountain, West Mountain, and Dunderberg Mountain in Bear Mountain State Park, Doodletown was a village founded in the late 18th century. Iron mining, logging, and tanning (using hemlock bark) were local industries early…
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Field Trip: Beetles!
Found this handsome creature on the beach on Nantucket, where it was not doing well with the shifting, treacherous, sisyphean sands. The good folks at Bug Guide identified it for me as Tricrania sanguinipennis. Like the oil beetles we found at Jamaica Bay, these parasitize ground nesting bees. Euphoria inda, the bumble flower scarab, found…
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Local critters
Inside, on a wall. Outside in the Back 40, in a pot.
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Honey Bee
I spotted my first Honey Bee of the year yesterday around 1pm. On the sidewalk at the bus stop on 5th Avenue and Union St. Here she is, sticking to the sunny side in the 50 degree day. Daffodils are out; willows are unwrapping their furry buds. You don’t have to consult your Farmer’s Almanac…
Backyard and Beyond 