Creatures

Great Black Wasp (Sphex pensylvanicus)

It was a much cooler day today. I woke up to 70° and a very light rain, which was wonderful. I opened doors and windows and enjoyed the freshness of the morning. It got much warmer as the day wore on but nothing like the 95+ degree temperatures we’ve been “enjoying” for the last eleven days (and four over 100°F). In the early evening I went out back and enjoyed all the bees and wasps that are gathering around the mountain mint (Pycnanthemum muticum). There were dozens upon dozens of them, far too many to count, and of course they are constantly on the move, flitting from one flower to the next. The flowers on mountain mint are quite small but they bloom over a very long period and they seem to be very popular with the Aculeata (bees, ants, and stinging wasps).

Katydid Wasp (Sphex nudus)

I have tentatively identified this first wasp as a great black wasp (Sphex pensylvanicus). It certainly fits the name as it’s about 2cm long and very black. The wings are a deep blue-black when it is viewed from the back and you can see a little of that in this picture.

The second wasp, also on the mountain mint, I believe is a katydid wasp (Sphex nudus). This wasp is about the same size as the first one but as you can see it has a bit of color on its legs. They are both fairly shy and don’t like to get too close to my camera. Others are much bolder or at least less concerned with my presence. Both wasps use katydids as food for their larvae, laying their eggs on one that they have killed and buried.

Macrosiagon limbata (Wedge-shaped Beetle)

I went out with my camera on a tripod to take some bee pictures around the mountain mint this afternoon. There were a lot of bumble bees and a few tarantula hawk wasps around. For all their size, the tarantula hawks are quite shy and are hard to get close enough to. I’ll get them eventually but didn’t today. I did find this little wedge-shaped beetle, a Macrosiagon limbata, on one of the flowers. It’s about a centimeter long. I don’t know about this species in particular but some members of the family Ripiphoridae are parasitic on bees and vespid wasps. So, waiting on the mountain mint was probably a good choice.

Apis mellifera (Honey Bee)

I have a feeling we’re going to be getting a lot of bee pictures over the next few weeks. The short-toothed mountain mint (Pycnanthemum muticum) is just starting to bloom and it’s about the best bee magnet I know of. Other plants may attract them as well but I don’t know any that attract a wider variety of bees. Expect to see them soon.

For now, we have one more picture of a honey bee (Apis mellifera) on the Asclepias flowers.

Genus Condylostylus

There were a lot of these flying around the Asclepias tuberosa flowers today, along with a lot of bees (both honey and bumble varieties). I believe that this is a female of the Condylostylus sipho species group. There are a lot of very similar flies and I’m not an expert, by any means so if you are reading this and know better, please leave me a comment. Anyway, it’s almost certainly a longlegged fly (Family Dolichopodidae) and quite pretty.

Papilio glaucus (Eastern Tiger Swallowtail)

It was a beautiful day today and we spent some of it out in the yard. I pulled weeds for a while, doing battle with the Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense). To paraphrase Sonny Curtis, “pullin’ weeds in the hot sun, I fought the lawn and the lawn won.” Anyway, this swallowtail was fluttering around the various flowers and I was able to get a few reasonably good pictures as she landed on the aptly named butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) in the back border. Much easier to get the picture here than later in the summer when they are on the buddleia, which puts them mostly overhead.

Toxomerus marginatus (Syrphid Fly)

I’ve posted a picture of one of these before (see Thursday, April 05, 2012) but I like them quite a lot. They are a little tricky to get a good picture of because they are so small. Even with my macro lens focused all the way in they don’t come close to filling the frame. This is an uncropped shot, though, and it’s about as close as I can get with that lens. It helped that there was not the least bit of wind because it means that the plant was not moving, which only adds to the level of difficulty. The fly in this picture is on the stamen of a campanula of some sort. They seem to like this plant quite a bit, as there were a bunch of them about. While the adults feed on nectar and pollen, the larvae are “voracious predators of aphids, thrips, small caterpillars.” Any predator of aphids, thrips, and small caterpillars is a friend of mine.

Yponomeuta multipunctella (American Ermine Moth)

Since I thought I had been denied the chance to see Venus silhouetted against the sun, I decided to take a few pictures in the yard when I got home. While I was doing that, Cathy came out and we chatted about this and that, going over our days. I sat in a lawn chair which happened to be near the driveway and while we were talking I noticed this little white moth on the side of our car (which, as you probably guessed, is red). At first I identified it as a Mimosa Webworm Moth, Homadaula anisocentra, which is native to Japan and China and was first found in the U.S. in Washington D.C. in 1943. After a little more research, though, I decided that it’s much more likely to be an American Ermine Moth (Yponomeuta multipunctella). As it turned out, I was able to get a picture of Venus, as well, even if it wasn’t a particularly great picture.

Poecilocapsus lineatus (Four-lined Plant Bug)

We’ve noticed that some of our plants are showing signs of attack. At least some of the damage is caused by a great many of these little critters. The four-lined plant bug has a fairly short life span and only produces one generation per year, so their damage is caused during a relatively short period. The plants seem to mostly recover and should be fine again before too long. Still, it’s a nuisance.

Leucauge venusta (Orchard Orbweaver)

I came home and took some pictures of flowers in the yard (see the previous post) but then I came across this spider, hovering over some iris leaves. Each time I moved my tripod a little closer and bumped the web supporting leaves the spider fled to the side but she came back and took up her post again after a little while. I’d like to have gotten a bit closer still, but this is the best I could do without disturbing her web (which I didn’t want to do — spiders are our friends!).

Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)

As I was getting out of my car at work today, this Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) was fluttering around. It landed almost at my feet and stayed there long enough for me to grab my camera and take a few pictures.

Yesterday I had a nice drive out onto the eastern shore and was able to spend a little time in a place I haven’t been in about three dozen years. When I was young we used to go camping at Shad Landing State Park (here: 38° 08′ 20″ N, 75° 26′ 28″) on the Pocomoke River. I stopped in to see how much is was like I remember it. Parts were exactly how I recall but other parts were a bit different. For instance, I thought we used to put out boat in at a wide area on the Corker’s Creek but there was nothing like that now. Perhaps I remember it wrongly or perhaps it’s changed, I don’t know. I did find a trail to this wide area that looks a bit like what I remember but not really all that much like it. I simply don’t know. Anyway, it’s quiet and serene, which does match my memory. I also saw this dragon fly, which was happy to sit for me as I took a photograph.

Honey Bee Swarm

Honey Bees on the Wing

Have you ever seen an honest to goodness swarm? I don’t think I have, at least not recently. We were out at Rocklands Farm today, visiting and enjoying a beautiful spring day gamboling with the goats. Naturally I took a lot of pictures. Shortly before we left, Greg came in and said we should come see the swarm of bees, which was gathering on the southern magnolia in front of the house. The air was filled with the buzzing and on a branch, about 15 feet up in the tree was a seething mass of bees. The bees were flying all around us but seemed totally oblivious to our presence. A few even flew into us but they recovered and continued on their way without incident. The out-of-focus spots in the first picture are bees.

In the second picture you can see how full the air is. They were in constant motion and you could hear it from a good distance away.

Very cool.

Syrphid Fly (Toxomerus marginatus)

I went out into the empty lot next to my office again today. What a beautiful day it was, too. It’s not like summer yet but there was a fair amount of insect activity. I sought out some weeds that are flowering (yellow rocket, Barbarea vulgaris, also variously known as Bittercress, Herb Barbara, Rocketcress, Yellow Rocketcress, Winter Rocket, and Wound Rocket — which is why I like to stick to Latin binomials). After a little waiting, I was rewarded by the appearance on some nearby Shepherd’s-purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris) of a syrphid fly. He (or she, I have no idea) moved to the yellow rocket and I got a few more pictures, including this one. I identified it, with the help of BugGuide, as Toxomerus marginatus.

Tarnished Plant Bug? (Lygus lineolaris)

Then I noticed another insect, some sort of plant bug (family Miridae) I think, on the next plant to my right. My guess is that this is Lygus lineolaris, the tarnished plant bug, but I’m waiting for confirmation (or correction). There are a lot of bugs that look similar to this.

<em>Anthrenus verbasci</em><br />(Varied Carpet Beetle)

I wasn’t particularly pleased to find this tiny beetle in my house today. It is a varied carpet beetle, Anthrenus verbasci and it is quite small (those are millimeter markings on the ruler next to it). Fairly common, apparently, I had never seen one before. Not as bad as finding termites, perhaps, or even having a problem with wool eating moths, it’s still not something you want when you have “treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy.”

Wascally Wabbit

Shh. Be vewy, vewy quiet. I’m hunting wabbits.

I came home to find this fellow chomping away in our garden this evening. No, it didn’t go after it with the rake a la Mister McGregor but I can’t say the thought didn’t cross my mind.

Soaring

I took a two minute break today and stood at my office window enjoying the clouds and the multitudes of green that are beginning to appear on the other side of the parking lot. Looking up I saw this hawk circling overhead, looking for a meal.