Trichopoda pennipes
After the heavy rain yesterday the weather has turned beautiful. It’s clear and cool and the humidity is much lower than it’s been. I went out twice to take pictures of the varied insects in the back yard and was able to work in the sun without being uncomfortable for the first time in months.
I was also rewarded with some new insect photos. First, there were two species of flies in the genus Trichopoda. The one shown here is Trichopoda pennipes and the other is Trichopoda plumipes, which has more black with a yellow pattern on its abdomen. The genus Trichopoda are known as the feather-legged flies because they have feather like brushes on their rear pair of legs. You can’t see them in this photograph but I got a few other views from behind where they show up quite nicely.
Condylostylus sp.
Back in June I posted a picture titled A Little Green Fly. At the time I identified that fly as Condylostylus sipho. The one pictured here may be the same species or it may be one of the other very similar species in the genus Condylostylus. Either way, it’s a pretty little thing.
P Brown commented that she wanted to write a poem to that one and on Facebook she did but I never got around to posting it here. So, in memory of that last little green fly and in honor of this new one, here is P Brown’s poem:
Ode To A Little Green Fly —
Have you come to snare the dancing honey bee,
You clothed in shimmering green among the Asclepias tuberosa?
Vascular threads forming a highway for thee,
And there long-legged on a leaf, you did pose.
Do I see you waving to a passing fly,
Displaying spindly legs, yet firmly built?
Perhaps to entice sipha for a brilliant mate,
Your short life to defy.
And now Henry has without any guilt,
Captured on facebook, your eternal fate.
Calycopis cecrops (Red-banded Hairstreak)
Next we have a fairly common butterfly but one I haven’t got a good picture of, as far as I know. It is the red-banded hairstreak (Calycopis cecrops). It didn’t fly off when I got close, as they often do, but it was not making itself easy to photograph. For the most part it would turn away from me so all I could see was the trailing edges of its wings. I finally got a few from the side that I was reasonably happy with.
Polistes fuscatus (Northern Paper Wasp)
Finally, we have a northern paper wasp (Polistes fuscatus). In general I wouldn’t consider these to be particularly friendly creatures but this one was pretty oblivious to my presence. I aimed the camera straight down on the tripod and got a pretty descent view of it from above. The light kept coming and going as the taller plants were blowing in the wind but otherwise, this one was easy to photograph.
I also got pictures of a yellow-collared scape moth (Cisseps fulvicollis), a wasp called Isodontia apicalis, and a few assorted and only tenuously identified flies. All in all, an enjoyable little time out back.
