Lady Beetle
I found a lady beetle today. She was nice and bright and crawling around on garlic mustard and mile-a-minute vine. Cute little thing, isn’t she?
Tagged With: Beetle
Lady Beetle
Categories: Creatures
Tags: Beetle, Coleoptera, Insect, Insects, Lady Beetle
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Variegated Lady Beetle
Variegated Lady Beetle
This is a Variegated Lady Beetle (Hippodamia variegata), a non-native species that has only relatively recently (since the 1980s) been found on this side of the Atlantic. Like all the lady beetles, they are predaceous on other insect pests and are welcome in the garden or (as here) the farm.
Categories: Creatures
Tags: Beetle, Coleoptera, Hippodamia, Hippodamia variegata, Insect, Insects, Lady Beetle, Variegated Lady Beetle
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Rove Beetle
Rove Beetle
I wen out again today to see what I could see. The sky was overcast so the sun wasn’t so hot. The dragonflies were also not about in such great numbers. I did get a few pictures,though, including some of this beetle that I think is a rove beetle, Family Staphylinidae, the first or second largest animal family, with somewhere around 56,000 species in 3500 genera. Only the ichneumon wasps, family Ichneumonidae is larger, with an estimated 60,000 species. Anyway, there are some 4,400 species of rove beetle in our area. You’d think you’d see them a lot more often.
Categories: Creatures
Tags: Beetle, Coleoptera, Ichneumonidae, Insect, Insecta, Rove Beetle
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Firefly
Firefly
This firefly, a beetle in family Lampyridae, probably in the genus Photinus, was on a weed in the back of our garden this evening. According to BugGuide.net there are 34 described species in this genus and identification of a single specimen by morphology alone is often impossible. So, I’m not even going to try. It’s a firefly and that’s good enough. One interesting fact about fireflies is that females in the genus Photuris are known to lure in males of Photinus species and eat them in order to obtain a defensive, steroid-like compound that they contain.
Categories: Creatures
Tags: Beetle, Beetles, Coleoptera, Firefly, Insect, Insecta, Lampyridae, Photinus
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Acmaeodera pulchella
Acmaeodera pulchella
I went out to photograph flowers this evening but came across this metallic wood boring beetle (family Buprestidae) on a black-eyed Susan. There are twelve dozen species of Acmaeodera in our area and one of the experts at BugGuide.net identified it as Acmaeodera pulchella, sometimes known as the flat-headed bald cypress borer. We’re not really in bald cypress country but they feed on a pretty wide variety of trees, so that’s not really an issue.
Categories: Creatures
Tags: Acmaeodera, Acmaeodera pulchella, Beetle, Beetles, Black-eyed Susan, Buprestidae, Coleoptera, Insecta, Insects, Wood Boring Beetles
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Tumbling Flower Beetle
Tumbling Flower Beetle
I didn’t get any really good pictures today. It was after 6:00 when I went out and there wasn’t much insect activity this evening, for some reason. I did come across this little beetle, about 5mm long, on the petal of a black-eyed Susan. I think it’s a Tumbling Flower Beetle in Family Mordellidae (possibly in Genus Mordellistena, but I am really unsure). It’s a cute little thing and I was only able to get a few pictures before it flew off.
Categories: Creatures
Tags: Beetle, Coleoptera, Family Mordellidae, Insect, Insecta, Mordellidae, Tumbling Flower Beetle
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Insects
Danaus plexippus (Monarch) Caterpillar
Murgantia histrionica (Harlequin Bug)
Papilio polyxenes asterius (Black Swallowtail)
Euptoieta claudia (Variegated Fritillary)
Allograpta obliqua (Common Oblique Syrphid)
Diabrotica undecimpunctata (Spotted Cucumber Beetle)
I went on a short outing this afternoon to the Agricultural Farm Park today and spent a little time wandering around the Master Gardener’s display garden. Mostly I photographed insects (and a few flowers). It was a pretty productive outing as far as insect photos go.
- Danaus plexippus (Monarch) Caterpillar
- Murgantia histrionica (Harlequin Bug)
- Papilio polyxenes asterius (Black Swallowtail)
- Euptoieta claudia (Variegated Fritillary)
- Allograpta obliqua (Common Oblique Syrphid)
- Diabrotica undecimpunctata (Spotted Cucumber Beetle)
I’m particularly happy with the oblique syrphid fly, as that’s the first one I’ve photographed. The black swallowtail is one we don’t see nearly as often as the eastern tiger swallowtail. I’ve seen harlequin bugs on occasion but not all that often. The same is true of the cucumber beetle.
Categories: Creatures
Tags: Allograpta, Allograpta obliqua, Beetle, Black Swallowtail, Butterflies, Butterfly, Caterpillar, Coleoptera, Common Oblique Syrphid, Cucumber Beetle, Danaus, Danaus plexippus, Diabrotica, Diabrotica undecimpunctata, Diptera, Euptoieta, Euptoieta claudia, Fly, Fritillary, Harlequin Bug, Hymenoptera, Insect, Insecta, Insects, Lepidoptera, Monarch, Murgantia, Murgantia histrionica, Oblique Syrphid, Papilio, Papilio polyxenes, Papilio polyxenes asterius, Spotted Cucumber Beetle, Stink Bug, Swallowtail, Syrphid, True Bugs, Variegated Fritillary
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Necrophila americana (American Carrion Beetle)
Necrophila americana (American Carrion Beetle)
We took a walk near Lake Frank today and had a really nice time. We saw one adult and one juvenile bald eagle next to and on the nest across the lake. It’s too far, really, to get a good picture but I did take a few, anyway, just to record the fact. We happened to come across this pile of American carrion beetles (Necrophila americana), presumably on a piece of carrion. They were definitely there for a reason. It’s fine to get grossed out by them, but then, without them, the rotting meat would stick around a lot longer, so in my book, they’re doing us a service.
Categories: Creatures
Tags: American Carrion Beetle, Beetle, Carrion Beetle, Coleoptera, Necrophila, Necrophila americana
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Lady Beetle
Lady Beetle
I haven’t included the specific name for this lady beetle in my title because I’m not entirely sure what it is. My guess would be that it’s an Asian lady beetle (Harmonia axyridis), though as they are quite common and this certainly looks right. But I’m no expert. I got one photo of this on a leaf before it flew away so although it isn’t as sharp a picture as I’d like, it’s all I have. These are, of course, insects that we like to have in our garden, as they eat aphids. I haven’t seen aphids in great numbers in the garden yet this year but they’ll be along before too long, have no fear. That and Japanese beetles are the two insect pests I see the most in the summer months.
Categories: Creatures
Tags: Asian Lady Beetle, Beetle, Coleoptera, Harmonia, Harmonia axyridis, Insect, Insecta
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Asian Lady Beetle (Harmonia axyridis)
Asian Lady Beetle (Harmonia axyridis)
I took some photos of some yellow flowering sedum this afternoon but they didn’t turn out very well. You’d be stuck with them except I happened to see this Asian lady beetle (Harmonia axyridis) on a stem and got down on the ground to get a few photos of it. This plant has a flower cluster similar to Queen Anne’s lace but that’s not what it is. It’s a very aggressive weed that we picked up somewhere along the way and we really need to do something about it. But it made for a nice photograph, in this case. It may be Chaerophyllum aromaticum but I really don’t know. Whatever it is, you really don’t want any.
Categories: Creatures, Flowers and Plants
Tags: Asian Lady Beetle, Beetle, Chaerophyllum, Coleoptera, Harmonia, Harmonia axyridis, Insect, Insecta
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Cicindela sexguttata (Six-spotted Tiger Beetle)
Cicindela sexguttata (Six-spotted Tiger Beetle)
Cathy and I went on a new trail today. I don’t know if the trail is actually new but it was new to us. We walked in the Rock Creek valley between Muncaster and Muncaster Mill Roads. As the crow flies, it’s probably a mile from end to end. The trail winds quite a bit and there’s a bit of up and down and based on a map we found, it’s more like 2.5 each way. So, about five miles. It was pretty hot and very humid, but we really enjoyed the green and also the birds that were supplying the background chorus most of the way. We saw quite a few of these six-spotted tiger beetles (Cicindela sexguttata) as well as ebony jewelwings (Calopteryx maculata), a damselfly with black wings (except for on females there is a conspicuous white spot at the end of the wings.
Categories: Creatures
Tags: Beetle, Cicindela, Cicindela sexguttata, Coleoptera, Green, Insecta, Six-spotted Tiger Beetle, Tiger Beetle
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Popillia japonica (Japanese Beetle)
Popillia japonica (Japanese Beetle)
I am definitely not a fan of the Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica), a native of (unsurprisingly) Japan, and instroduced into North America in the early 20th century (first found in the United States in 1916 near Riverton, New Jersey). They are quite destructive of a wide variety of plants, including both ornamental plants (like roses, which they love) and agricultural crops (soybeans, stone fruits, etc.). Their larvae damage lawns, feeding on the roots of grasses. They are, of course, pretty if you can disassociate them from the destruction they cause. But that’s hard for me to do and I don’t really have a lot of sympathy for them. This one is on a rose of Sharon (a.k.a. shrub althea, Hibiscus syriacus).
Categories: Creatures
Tags: Beetle, Coleoptera, Insect, Insecta, Japanese Beetle, Popillia, Popillia japonica
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Chauliognathus pensylvanicus (Goldenrod Soldier Beetle)
Chauliognathus pensylvanicus (Goldenrod Soldier Beetle)
This goldenrod soldier beetle, (Chauliognathus pensylvanicus) is well camouflaged against the petals of the black-eyed Susan in our back yard. Often when looking for insects, it’s a matter of looking for motion, because they blend in so well with the background. I spotted this on after taking a few photos of a monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus), also on the black-eyed Susans. They are starting to fade, but there will still be plenty of color for a while yet. One interesting thing about this beetle is that the species epithet, pensylvanicus, is the correct spelling and the version with a double n (i.e. pennsylvanicus) is incorrect.
Categories: Creatures
Tags: Beetle, Chauliognathus, Chauliognathus pensylvanicus, Coleoptera, Goldenrod Soldier Beetle, Insect, Insecta, Orange, Soldier Beetle, Yellow
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Diabrotica undecimpunctata (Spotted Cucumber Beetle)
Diabrotica undecimpunctata (Spotted Cucumber Beetle)
I was down on the ground taking some photos of a skipper on some blue mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinum) when I noticed this spotted cucumber beetle (Diabrotica undecimpunctata) just to my right. I got a handful of photos of it before it flew away and I actually got a fairly good one of it just taking off. I think this is a better picture, overall, though, so I thought I’d use it. This is a destructive insect and really I should have squashed it, but it flew away before I had the chance. They do significant damage to many field crops “including cucumbers and other squashes, corn, soy.”
Categories: Creatures
Tags: Agricultural Pest, Beetle, Coleoptera, Diabrotica, Diabrotica undecimpunctata, Insect, Insecta, Spotted Cucumber Beetle
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Lightning Bugs (a.k.a. Fireflies)
Lightning Bugs
I’m not sure how well this will show up unless it’s viewed on a largish screen. Anyway, I decided to try taking long exposures to capture the flashing lights of lightning bugs, otherwise known as fireflies. They didn’t turn out as well as I would have liked, because when I used a long enough exposure to get a lot of flashes, parts of the picture were so bright that it looked like day time. That was mostly due to electric lights from our neighbors. If I get a chance, I may try to find a darker spot and see what I can do. The trails of lights are generally made by individual insects, flying along flashing as they go.
Categories: Creatures
Tags: Beetle, Beetles, Coleoptera, Firefly, Insect, Insecta, Lampyridae, Lightning Bug, Photinus, Summer
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Diabrotica undecimpunctata (Spotted Cucumber Beetle)
Diabrotica undecimpunctata (Spotted Cucumber Beetle)
Cathy’s brother arrived from the Chicago area today and in the evening we all went to the Agricultural Farm Park. In the dahlia garden, we spotted this spotted cucumber beetle (Diabrotica undecimpunctata) on a beautiful magenta dahlia. It’s not peak season for the dahlias quite yet, but there are enough blooms to make it worth visiting, if you’re in the area. The demonstration garden ‘next door’ is in fine fettle and also worth walking through. It’s in a lot better shape this summer than last year, when I suspect getting people to work on it was a bit harder.
Categories: Creatures
Tags: Agricultural Pest, Beetle, Coleoptera, Diabrotica, Diabrotica undecimpunctata, Insect, Insecta, Spotted Cucumber Beetle
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