invertebrates
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Great Blue Skimmers
Male Great Blue Skimmer (Libellula vibrans). 2.2″ long. Note the wing pattern, seen better below; in addition to size this will help you distinguish these from the also blue males of the smaller Common/Eastern Pondhawk and even smaller Blue Dasher. This one is in a classic oblique perch here; the species will also perch horizontally,…
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Robber Fly
A robber fly of the genus Diogmites. Superficially wasp-like, but actually in the order Diptera as their common name suggests. Note the rather long and spiny legs, the better for grasping prey with. They hunt bees, wasps, and even dragonflies, no mean predators themselves. The piercing mouthparts are for sucking out the prey’s precious bodily…
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Swamp Darner
A female Swamp Darner (Epiaeschna heros), one of the largest dragonflies in the east. A migratory species, averaging 3.4″ long. This is my first sighting. I watched her deposit eggs into pieces of lumber that edged a portion of the Vale of Cashmere. All the other species of dragonflies I’ve seen deposit their eggs in…
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Flying Now
Spicebush Swallowtail (Papilio troilus) are out and about now, moving fast. One of the large “dark swallowtails,” which I find impossible to identify in motion. That’s the point. Both the Spicebush and the Black Swallowtail (P. polyxenes) mimic the Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor), which evidently tastes disgusting after loading up on Pipevine toxins. Predators learn…
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Pondhawk
Common or Eastern Pondhawk (Erythemis simplicollis). This is an immature male; his thorax will turn completely blue as he reaches maturity. Superficially like the common Blue Dasher, but larger, with clear wings, and white appendage. These Pondhawks are known as great predators, and capture and eat dragonflies their own size, including others of their own…
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British Bugs
A selection of the insects spotted on my Dartmoor walk, most of which I can’t identify, so if you know ’em, holler below in the comments.This one was easy to look up. (And be sure to click on the image to get a closer look at the wings.) There are only two damselfly species with…
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Single Swallowtail
Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes) female. Missing one of her “swallowtails,” perhaps lost to a bird.On Joe-Pye Weed (genus Eutrochium), that pollinator magnet.
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Night Walk
A downy woodpecker patrols the trunk of a tree, the white strip down its back almost glowing as the light turns to dark. Above, a blue jay is remarkably quiet as it works out some issues before roosting for the night. As predicted, a young raccoon ambles out from the bushes to start pulling plastic…
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Weekend Dragonflies
Got a grip. The handsome Painted Skimmer (Libellula semifasciata), with his conspicuous orange wing pattern. Note the appendages at the tail-end of the abdomen: this is a male. He uses these to grasp females right behind the eyes (damselflies grasp by the neck). More on the wild kingdom of dragonfly sex can be found here,…
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Instar Light, Instar Bright
According to the good bug people at Bugguide.net, this is an instar caterpillar of the Grey Hairstreak (Strymon melinus). Here’s the adult, also seen at BBP. The caterpillar was munching away on some Desmodium trifoliatum. There is some variability in the coloring of these caterpillars; this one was pretty much the color of the flowers,…
Backyard and Beyond 