Tagged With: Insect

Eastern Tailed Blue

Eastern Tailed Blue

Eastern Tailed Blue

These little guys don’t sit still for long and don’t like being approached but I managed to get a reasonable shot of one today. Eastern tailed blue, Everes comyntas.

Follow-up: I have two more pictures of this butterfly taken on April 27 in my Extras gallery.

Categories: Creatures | Tags: , , , , , , | Comments Off on Eastern Tailed Blue

Yellow Jacket

Yellow Jacket

Yellow Jacket

I went out hoping to get a better butterfly picture today. I got a few but they aren’t enough better than yesterday’s picture to justify putting them here. So, here’s a picture of a yellow jacket on a garlic mustard flower.

Categories: Creatures | Tags: , , , , , , | Comments Off on Yellow Jacket

Buckeye

Buckeye

Buckeye

his is a common buckeye (Junonia coenia), posing for me on a garlic mustard. An uncommonly beautiful butterfly, I think.

Categories: Creatures | Tags: , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Buckeye

Lady Beetle

Lady Beetle

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?

Categories: Creatures | Tags: , , , , | Comments Off on Lady Beetle

Tiny Green Damselfly

Tiny Green Damselfly

Tiny Green Damselfly

These little things are quite shy and wouldn’t let me get very close so this is cropped from a larger image. It could be a little sharper but I’m pretty pleased with it.

Categories: Creatures | Tags: , , , , | Comments Off on Tiny Green Damselfly

What Is It?

What Is It?

What Is It?

Anyone have a guess as to what this is?

Categories: Creatures | Tags: , , , | Comments Off on What Is It?

Male Ebony Jewelwing

Male Ebony Jewelwing

Male Ebony Jewelwing

Without the white spot on the wing, this is the male Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly (Calopteryx maculata). Handsome fellow, too, but fairly shy.

Categories: Creatures | Tags: , , , , , , | Comments Off on Male Ebony Jewelwing

Tiny Fly

Tiny Fly

Tiny Fly

This little fellow is only about 3/8 inch long but he’s as busy as any bee you’ll find. I originally labeled this as a bee but noticing that it only has two wings, I’ve changed the title to Tiny Fly. I’m guessing that it’s a diptera (di = two, and ptera = wings) — a true fly.

Categories: Creatures | Tags: , , , | Comments Off on Tiny Fly

Variable Dancer

Variable Dancer

Variable Dancer

These little damselflies don’t stay put for very long and they don’t like you to get too close. Also, it was on the warm side today, especially in the sun, which made it harder. I did manage to get two shots of this one. Argia fumipennis violacea

Categories: Creatures | Tags: , , , , , , | Comments Off on Variable Dancer

Variegated Lady Beetle

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: , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Variegated Lady Beetle

Lopidea

Lopidea

Lopidea

I’m not sure which one but I’m fairly certain that this is one of the 50+ Lopidea species, possibly L. media. It’s posing for me on an unopened stock flower. No more than 3/8 inch long (not counting the antennae).

Categories: Creatures | Tags: , , , | Comments Off on Lopidea

Eastern Amberwing

Eastern Amberwing

Eastern Amberwing

Albert corrected me as to the identification. I had labeled it as Perithemis domitia, the slough amberwing. He correctly identified it as Perithemis tenera, the eastern amberwing. That makes more sense, base on where I took the picture and the range of the two species. Also, the differences in markings, although not glaring, are certainly enough to be definitive. Thanks, Albert.

Categories: Creatures | Tags: , , , , , , | Comments Off on Eastern Amberwing

Honey Bee on Wild Onion

Honey Bee on Wild Onion

Honey Bee on Wild Onion

I’ll end the first six months of Project 365 with a honey bee (Apis mellifera), busily visiting the flowers on a wild onion in the empty lot next to my office.

Categories: Creatures, Flowers and Plants | Tags: , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Honey Bee on Wild Onion

Catching Fireflies

Catching Fireflies

Catching Fireflies

We enjoyed a pleasant dusk catching fireflies in the yard today. The joys of summer. Kind of hard to photograph, though. Here’s one on Dorothy’s thumb. She thought it interesting that little girls that don’t normally associate closely with insects have no problem catching fireflies. Somehow they are different.

Categories: Creatures | Tags: , , , | Comments Off on Catching Fireflies

Sweat Bee

Sweat Bee

Sweat Bee

I know some of you are probably getting tired of wasps but I this is one of the nicer wasp pictures I’ve gotten, so, here you go with another one. UPDATE: Identified as Halictus parallelus, a sweat bee.

If I get an identification for it I’ll change the label but for now, it’s a wasp of some kind. I spent about a half hour at the mountain mint (Pycnanthemum muticum) in the back yard today. The sun was pretty hot so by the time I came in I was wilting. The insects didn’t mind and were really out in huge numbers.

Categories: Creatures | Tags: , , , , , | Comments Off on Sweat Bee

Great Golden Digger Wasp

Great Golden Digger Wasp

Great Golden Digger Wasp

I keep thinking I’m done with wasps and bees and then I find a new one (there are thousands, after all). This, I’m pretty sure, is a great golden digger wasp (Sphex ichneumoneus). This isn’t the best picture I took in terms of identifying the wasp but I really like this head-on view.

Categories: Creatures | Tags: , , , , , , | Comments Off on Great Golden Digger Wasp

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

This is a male eastern tiger swallowtail (Papilio glaucus). These and more of the silver-spotted skippers (see photo in yesterday’s Extra gallery) were out in force today feeding on the teasel (Dipsacus sp.) flowers in the lot next to my office.

Categories: Creatures | Tags: , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

Polyphemus Moth Caterpillar

Polyphemus Moth Caterpillar

Polyphemus Moth Caterpillar

This thing is huge. It’s as big around as my thumb and as long as my middle finger. Actually, I think it’s pretty amazing that this big, squishy, green blob turns into a beautiful (and quite large) moth. In this case, a Polyphemus moth (Antheraea polyphemus). It’s named after the Cyclops Polyphemus in Homer’s Odyssey because of the large “eye spot” on its hindwings.

Categories: Creatures | Tags: , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Polyphemus Moth Caterpillar

Pale Beauty

Pale Beauty

Pale Beauty

I saw a few of these little moths today. I believe it is a pale beauty (Campaea perlata).

Categories: Creatures | Tags: , , , , , , | Comments Off on Pale Beauty

Grasshopper

Grasshopper

Grasshopper

What a perfectly beautiful day it was after the rain stopped and it cleared up. It was a pleasant temperature and there was a gentle breeze. I went outside briefly and took a few pictures including some of this little grasshopper who let me get quite close.

Categories: Creatures | Tags: , , | Comments Off on Grasshopper