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Here and There…Now and Then |
Danaus plexippus (Monarch)
Across the street from the kousa dogwood in yesterday’s post there is a large buddleia hedge. I couldn’t resist stopping to take pictures. In addition to this female monarch (I guess that makes it a queen?), there were eastern tiger swallowtails (Papilio glaucus) and a huge number of Painted Ladies (Vanessa cardui. This monarch only flashed her wings at me once when I was ready. All the other pictures show the underside of her folded wings.
Chrysoperla (Lacewing) Larva
Cathy found this little thing (it is about 5.5 mm long) crawling on our kitchen counter. I didn’t recognize it so I figured I should take its picture. I convinced it to crawl up onto a piece of paper and then put it in the freezer. I sort of wish I had known what it was, though, and put it outside. This is the larva of a lacewing and one of the most voracious aphid eaters around. So, if you find a little think that looks like this, don’t freak out. Carefully move it to your garden and be glad.
Eumenes fraternus (Potter Wasp)
I see these fairly often but this is the first time I’ve gotten a decent picture of one. This is on the tiny red flowers of painter’s palette (Persicaria virginiana) in our back yard. it’s also one of the first good pictures I’ve taken of these little flowers, now that I think about it. They really are small but add a red haze over the variegated foliage.
Junonia coenia (Buckeye)
This is a buckeye butterfly. Seen with its wings open it is particularly beautiful. The underside of the wings are not nearly so nice but it’s still a pretty little thing. It fluttered away from me a few times and then landed here and let me get quite close, but only with its wings held together. This was taken in the late evening so I had to use flash to get enough light.
Asclepias tuberosa
On August 16 I posted a picture of large milkweed bug nymphs (Oncopeltus fasciatus) on a milkweed seed pod. I was out in the garden again this afternoon and see that they are still there, although the seed pods have opened up and are spilling their seeds.
Papilio glaucus (Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, male)
It was a bit late in the day before I went out to take pictures so the light was a bit low. I didn’t take a tripod but the problem was more with the subject moving than anything else. Butterflies don’t often sit still when they are feeding. I managed to get reasonably close to this tiger swallowtail but his wings were fluttering and he was moving about the whole time. I also saw a sphinx moth (most likely genus Hemaris) but the pictures of that are too blurry to be worth much.
Butterfly Wing
When I got home this evening I noticed three butterfly wings on the sidewalk. No idea where the fourth was. Anyway, I propped one up on some plants and took a few pictures. If you look closely you can see the tiny scales that give the wing its color.
I haven’t looked it up but at a glance I’m thinking a fritillary, but that may be wrong.
Synanthedon scitula (Dogwood Borer)
Synanthedon scitula (Dogwood Borer)
I was taking pictures of wasps on the mountain mint again today and happened to see this little critter on the black-eyed Susans next to me. At first I thought it was some odd wasp but it didn’t really look right for that. The next thing I thought was that it looked more like a sphinx moth than anything but it was too small (about 1.5 cm long) and not really like any sphinx moth I’ve ever seen.
Armed with that impression I did some searching and discovered a fairly large family of moths called Sesiidae or clearwing moths (about 1370 species in 151 genera). If I’m right (and I’m waiting on confirmation by an expert), this is a dogwood borer (Synanthedon scitula). If not it’s something very like that. Their larvae bore into the bark of many ornamental, fruit, and nut trees. They do significant damage to dogwoods but are also a significant problem in apple orchards.
Anyway, I’d never seen one before so, despite their generally unwelcome nature, I was a bit excited to get a few pretty good pictures of one.
Oncopeltus fasciatus (Large Milkweed Bug) nymphs
There are only a few fading flowers left on the Asclepias tuberosa (butterfly weed) in our yard and there are masses of gossamer bejeweled seeds. While taking the previous post’s picture of a butterfly I noticed masses of these nymphs of the large milkweed bug (Oncopeltus fasciatus). Like many insects that feed on milkweed, they are colored orange, telling would-be predators, “don’t eat me, I don’t taste very good.”
Vanessa cardui (Painted Lady)
I went out to take pictures of skippers on the Verbena bonariensis but ended up with a pretty nice picture of a painted lady (Vanessa cardui) on a black-eyed Susan. It’s a pretty little butterfly, not particularly rare but I’ve found them difficult to get close to. This one let me get a few shots off before fluttering away.
Strymon melinus (Gray Hairstreak)
I went out in the back yard today to take some pictures of a couple spicebush swallowtail butterflies (Papilio troilus). Those pictures didn’t turn out as well as I would have liked so I decided to post this one of a much smaller little butterfly, called a gray hairstreak (Strymon melinus). I was working without a tripod because the swallowtails were up too high in the buddleia, so even this one isn’t as sharp as it should be.
Antheraea polyphemus (Polyphemus Moth)
So, lots of moths lately. This is a Polyphemus Moth (Antheraea polyphemus) and is another that was on the side of my office building. A coworker came to my office and told me about it and I went down and took a few pictures. When I left for the day it was still there but had its wings folded which gave a nice reflection in the glass on the side of the building. This was taken with flash.
Polyphemus was a the cyclops that Odysseus ran into on his journey. He was the son of Poseidon and Thoosa. The moth is named after him because it has a single eye-spot on each wing. They don’t really show up well in this picture and are more obvious from above.
Atteva aurea (Ailanthus Webworm Moth)
With the proliferation of Ailanthus trees throughout our region, it isn’t too surprising that the Ailanthus webworm moth is also fairly common. They are quite distinct and fairly easy to spot, with their white, orange, and black wings. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get both wings and head in focus in one shot. This was the best I could do without a tripod.
Cycnia tenera (Delicate Cycnia)
For those who were not happy with the first post from today, here’s one that should be less of a problem. This small moth was on the door to my office building when I arrived today. Very pretty little thing.
A few years ago I happened to read and article in Smithsonian magazine about Venus flytraps. It mentioned the Green Swamp in southeastern North Carolina as one of the best places to go to see them in their native habitat. In fact, the area around Wilmington, North Carolina (and into South Carolina) is the only place the plants natively grow.
This year was our third visit to the Green Swamp, managed by The Nature Conservancy. Last year it had been very hot and very dry and was not as rich an experience as the year before. This year was another good one. It has been a very warm summer but it has also rained enough that there was a lot to see.
Drosera sp. (Sundew)
Milesia virginiensis (Yellowjacket Hover Fly)
Dionaea muscipula (Venus Flytrap)
Sarracenia purpurea (Purple Pitcher Plant)
Libytheana carinenta (American Snout)
Peucetia viridans (Green Lynx Spider)
I’ll start with the sundews. There are a number of Drosera species and those we found were just off the parking area beside the partially dried pond. They are small and if you were not looking for them, you might not notice them at all. An entire plant is only a few inches across and tall and the red hairs that hold the drops of mucilage are not obvious against the dark earth. Once you know what to look for and where to look, however, they are easily found. Getting a good picture isn’t all that easy and basically means lying on the damp ground. Still, I’m please with what I got.
My next image is a yellowjacket hover fly (Milesia virginiensis). Between areas of long-leaf pine savanna are pocosins, or shrub bogs. In one of these we came upon this fly, which I mistook for a wasp of some sort at first, until I realized it only had two wings (order Diptera, the flies, literally means “two wings”). In fact, this fly mimics the southern yellowjacket (Vespula squamosa). It was fairly dark under the trees so this isn’t as sharp a picture as I’d like.
The third picture is what brought us to the Green Swamp in the first place. We didn’t see Venus Flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) at all last year. I assume they were still here but with the drought, they were not nearly as obvious. Also we walked a different route, which may have been the reason. In any case, these are pretty hard to spot until you know what to look for. They are small, only a couple inches across, and blend in well with the other vegetation. Just after we found these, we met another couple who were walking back out and who hadn’t seen any. We pointed them out and they were glad to have met us.
In the open traps on this plant you can see reddish spots, which is where the tiny trigger hairs are located. Two trigger hairs must be touched in succession or one hair touched twice in rapid succession before the trap will close. Once it closes on an insect, the insect is digested, which provides nitrogen for the plant growing in this nitrogen- and phosphorus-poor environment.
I really like the pitcher plants in the Green Swamp. There are at least two species here. This photo is of the purple pitcher plant (Sarracenia purpurea). This plant has short pitchers, only about four inches tall, but their dark color makes them fairly easy to spot. They also have flower stalks that are about a foot and a half tall. In this photo you can see the water that has collected in the pitcher on the right as well as the hairs on the upper portion to “guide” insects downward into the trap. Since these are so happy here in the hot south, I find it interesting that the other place we have seen pitcher plants growing is in Newfoundland.
I’ll finish with a couple insects. First is an American snout butterfly (Libytheana carinenta, one of the brushfooted butterflies, Nymphalidae). It perched nicely for me on the panicle of a small shrub. I actually got some closer images but its snout was hidden behind one of the flowers. In this image you can see, if you look carefully, the coiled proboscis.
Finally, but not least by any means, is the Green Lynx Spider (Peucetia viridans). They are fairly easy to find in the Green Swamp. All you have to do is look for a yellow pitcher plant (Sarracenia flava) and there is a good chance one of these beauties will be waiting atop the operculum (the cap over the pitcher).
They are a little shy so if you touch the pitcher they are liable to run away, but they will generally come back fairly quickly. Also, there are enough of them that if you want a good picture you shouldn’t have too much trouble. These pitcher plants are a foot or 18 inches tall, making them perfect for photographing the spiders.
I did actually get some pictures that are a bit closer than this, including some where the spider didn’t quite fit in the frame, but I thought this image was more illustrative. They are such a beautiful green color and so fierce looking with their spiny legs. The lynx spider doesn’t spin a web but is a hunting spider, catching insects that are drawn to the pitcher plant on which it lives. They are not only found on pitcher plants, but live in lots of other areas but this is the only place I have seen them. They are certainly well suited to it.
Laughing Gulls and Royal Terns
It was another mostly grey day at the beach today. We did go in swimming but of course I didn’t take my camera for that. We took a walk down the beach and I enjoyed watching the birds that were gathering on the sand bar. I didn’t spend a lot of time chasing birds this trip but these let me get reasonably close before they flew off.
Loggerhead Turtle
We arrived at the beach and got settled in. We had rain between Lumberton and the beach and some of that was very heavy and there were flashes of lightening all around. Not a lot of wind, though. At one point we saw a flash of lightening straight ahead of us, probably a mile or so away. Shortly after that we came upon a small fire on the edge of the woods, presumably lit by the lightening. I can’t say I’ve ever seen that before, although I know it’s fairly common. With the rain as heavy as it was, I don’t think the fire was a particular threat.
Loggerhead Turtle
In any case, the real excitement of the day was a turtle next just a few houses up the beach from where we were. The bulk of the turtles had hatched and headed out to see the previous two nights but there were some unaccounted for and we were told that they would be dug up as it got dark. A half dozen or so loggerhead turtles were found and most of them were able to crawl to the surf. Volunteers used red lights to guide them down the sand. With my camera set to ISO 6,400 and with the lens wide open at f/2.8 I was able to get an exposure of 1/100 second. Because of the red lights they are much more natural after I converted them to black and white, so that’s what I am posting here.
These two images are of the same turtle, making its slow trek to the ocean. It’s only about three inches from head to tail and I have no idea what its actual chances of survival are. I can’t imagine they are particularly high, but it made it to the water, anyway.
Tachopteryx thoreyi (Gray Petaltail)
Driving home from Kentucky we stopped for gas just west of Hancock, Maryland. This huge dragonfly was sitting on the pavement and at first I wasn’t sure it was alive but it was moving and it flew away after I took a couple pictures.
Sphecius speciosus (Eastern Cicada Killer)
On the sandy shore of Pinchot Lake, where we camped last night, there was a sign warning campers that there were cicada killer wasps laying their eggs. As you may have figured out by now, I’m not particularly scared of wasps and I thought I’d see how close I could get for a picture. As you can see, I did reasonably well. This wasp is a good 3 to 4 cm long and pretty formidable looking but they didn’t bother me as I walked among them, being careful not to step on their burrows, of course.
As their name implies, they sting and paralyze cicadas, bury them in the sand, and lay an eggs on the last cicada. When the egg hatches, the larva has a nice source of food.
Bicyrtes quadrifasciatus
Another afternoon around the mountain mint. This is a fairly common visitor and a dangerous looking wasp. Actually, none of the wasps around the mountain mint seem particularly concerned by my presence. Some move away from whatever side I’m not but none bother me in the least. The bumble bees seem to be the least concerned, letting me get quite close without flying away. These are probably next in terms of boldness, coming right in close under my lens. This photo is full frame, not cropped at all, so you can see I’m pretty close. I took quite a few of this one and some of the others are better for identification but I like this one best as a photograph. It isn’t anywhere near as sharp as I’d like but this fellow is moving around quite quickly.