February 29, 2008

A warm day, but a search of Peace Park didn't turn up any insects. As usual on any warm day in winter, I found a few Red-shouldered Bugs outside Jesse Hall. I also had a winter crane fly land on a book I was reading outside.

I've been reading Enjoying Moths by Roy Leverton. The book was published in Great Britain, so it's mostly about British moths. Here's a great quote from the chapter discussing European moths that have become established in North America:

“Some moths (or rather their caterpillars) have been given common names, such as Apple Leaf Skeletonizer Chloreutis pariana and Omnivorous Leaf-tier Cnephasia longana, reflecting an American tendency to see moths as enemies rather than as wildlife. After it was introduced, our Rosy Rustic became their Potato Stem Borer!”

Impatient for Spring
February 14, 2008

Since I'm getting impatient for spring, I decided to look back at some of my late winter / early spring photos. Syrphid flies were at blooming Witch-hazel on February 15, 2005. On February 29, 2004, I took photos of a water strider in Flat Branch Creek. My first butterflies last year were Question Marks that came to bait on trees in our backyard on March 12th.

I'm going to try to be much more diligent about updating my blog this year, noting when I see new insects as we move from winter into spring. I've already seen a few flies in January, and a couple of Asian ladybugs and box elder bugs crawling over the exterior walls of our house on warm days.