Creatures

Mosquito

I have a feeling this isn’t going to be as popular a picture as some. Even the picture of the fly I posted recently (Eristalis transversa, Transverse Flower Fly) was popular because in spite of it being a fly, it’s a beautiful fly. Mosquitoes, on the other hand, are pretty much universally disliked, however they look. I haven’t done much with identification of mosquitoes so I’m not sure which this is. At first glance, I think it may be Orthopodomyia signifera, but I wouldn’t place a great deal of confidence in that. The picture may not be sharp enough, really, to get a definitive ID, but I’ll see what I can find out from the experts at BugGuide.net.

Willet (Tringa semipalmata)

I already posted a picture from our first day (evening, really, because we didn’t arrive until after 5:30) at the beach. Cathy and I walked on the beach for a little while before we had dinner. I took a few pictures and I’m pretty pleased with this one of a willet (Tringa semipalmata) that let me get reasonably close. It would have been better had he been facing the sun, to the left, but when I asked him to turn around, he just flew off. Temperamental bird.

Apis mellifera (European Honey Bee)

We have a lot of European honey bees (Apis mellifera) this time of year, mostly on the mountain mint (Pycnanthemum muticum) but also on the other flowers that are blooming right now: black-eyed Susan, Buddleia, Conoclinium coelestinum, purple coneflower, and Asclepias tuberosa, among others. Contrary to what you may have been hearing, the world population of honey bees is steady or growing. In the USA, “the number of honey-producing colonies has been generally steady for about two decades and has risen four of the last five years – including an increase of over 100,000 hives last year. The bee population is up nearly 13 percent since 2008, recovering after the initial findings of colony collapse disorder.” Many people also are under the false impression that only honey bees are suitable pollinators for food producing plants. This leads to the also false impression that without honey bees, the country would become a barren wasteland. Remember, there were no honey bees in North or South America until they were brought here by European colonists. Many other bees, wasps, flies, butterflies, and moths pollinate flowers. Some of them are actually better pollinators than honey bees. Of course, they don’t have the significant fringe benefit of producing honey, and losing that would be a loss indeed.

Xylocopa virginica (Eastern Carpenter Bee)

This bee (Xylocopa virginica, the eastern carpenter bee) was on our front walk when we came home and I thought I’d get down close for a picture, if it would let me. Turns out it didn’t have much say in the matter, as it wasn’t living. Why it had died is anybodies guess, but there you are. This picture turned out reasonably well. The eastern carpenter bee is extremely common and probably one of the two or three most prevalent bee species in our yard throughout most of the summer, certainly of the larger bees, anyway.

Update: I initially had this labeled as a common eastern bumble bee (Bombus impatiens), but that was wrong.

Calopteryx maculata (Ebony Jewelwing)

It’s high season for dragonflies and the pond next to my building is a good spot for finding them. Of course, taking pictures of them takes a little more than a camera and a good location. You also need a fair amount of patience. They tend to be shy and fly away when you get too close. Getting close is fairly important, though. I found a good spot, got reasonably comfortable, and waited. This female ebony jewelwing (Calopteryx maculata) landed nearby and then moved even closer. Close enough for a pretty near view.

Two Fawns

Generally I try not to post a picture of the same general subject two days in a row. If we’re travelling then I might, or if there is some multi-day event going on, but particularly in the when I’m just taking pictures in the back yard, I try not to. Well, for yesterday I posted a picture of a white-tail deer fawn. This evening there were two. How could I not go out and take pictures of them and post one of those? So, here are two white-tail deer fawns.

White-tail Deer Fawn

For the last few days we’ve had this white-tail deer fawn in our back yard. He seems to sleep in the center of the yard, under a tree in the middle of a bed of lesser periwinkle (Vinca minor) and lily-of-the-valley (Convallaria majalis) but if disturbed he will run behind the roses along the back fence. Like most fawns he is safest if predators don’t see him, so he remained alert but still as I approached this morning. When I got too close, of course, he had no choice but to get up and move. Not that I’m a predator, exactly, but he doesn’t know that.

Leucauge venusta (Orchard Orbweaver)

As I was going out to look for things to photograph this evening, Cathy mentioned a spider web above one of her patio pots. It was an orchard orbweaver (Leucauge venusta), a fairly common, outdoor spider in these parts. This will be my fifth orbweaver photo since I started the blog and my second this year, but never mind.

I know not everyone likes spiders but, particularly outdoors, they are quite good friends to have and I don’t mind them at all. This one is particularly beautiful, I think.

Orgyia leucostigma (White-marked Tussock Moth)

When I left to head to work this morning I noticed this little lad (or lass) on the tire of my car. I took a few pictures of it there before moving it down onto the pavement and taking a few more, including this one. It’s a fairly pretty little caterpillar, although the tussock moths are pests of trees and therefore not necessarily desirable visitors. Note that contact with hairs may cause an allergic reaction.