Watching Insects

2011-05-19T18:03:00.001-07:00

First periodical cicadas today in Boone county!

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2011-05-09T10:33:00.001-07:00

A carpenter bee (Xylocopa sp.) just flew across the yard chasing a Monarch then spun around after a bird flying the opposite direction.

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Iliniwek Village State Historic Site, July 13

2010-07-13T09:55:00.000-07:00

Mosquitoes!
Unidentified Syrphid

Red-spotted purple
Little yellow
Dainty sulphur
Monarch
Eastern tiger swallowtail
Hackberry emperor

Blue dasher
Wandering glider
Unidentified damselfly

Gray catbird
Mourning dove
Carolina wren
Northern flicker

There for about 1 hour. Hiked to the long house with a stop to follow the damselfly for photos. And a stop for mosquito photos which was harder than expected. I collected 3 to key out - with 1 ant as bycatch.

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2010-07-12T03:30:00.001-07:00

Eastern amberwing
Baskettail
Common whitetail
Widow skimmer
Eastern pondhawk
Fragile forktail

Silver-spotted skipper
Pipevine swallowtail
Dainty Sulphur
Little yellow
Orange Sulphur
Hackberry Emperor
Red admiral
Common Buckeye
Cloudless Sulphur
Monarch
Azure
Variegated Fritillary
Duskywing
Pearl crescent
Least skipper
Eastern tailed-blue

Velvet ant
Robber flies - Proctacanthus hinei, Efferia
Moth fly
Mydas fly
Bee fly
Whirlygig beetles
Planthoppers - Metcalfa pruinosa (Citrus Flatid Planthopper)
Treehopper
Water striders

Robin
Eastern kingbird
Indigo bunting
Baltimore oriole
Cardinal
Bobwhite
Red-headed woodpecker
Mourning dove
Flicker
Canada goose
Catbird
Mockingbird
Orchard oriole
Chipping sparrow
Downy woodpecker
Blue jay

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Cuivre River, June 29

2010-07-01T10:55:00.001-07:00

We headed here hoping for a Striped Hairstreak, but none so far. Probably at least 50 Pipevine Swallowtails nectaring at purple coneflowers.

Pipevine swallowtails
Eastern Tiger swallowtail & black female
Cloudless sulphur
Little yellow
Snout
Pearl cresent
Azure
Wood satyr
Painted Lichen moth
Eastern tailed-blue
Least skipper
Silver spotted skipper
Great spangled fritillary
Monarch
Question mark
Silvery checkerspot
Celery webworms

Clubtails
Pondhawk
Widow skimmer
Eastern Amberwing
Slaty skimmer
Common whitetail
Baskettail
Blue dasher

Damselflies - several species unidentified right now.
Moesta

Louisiana waterthrush
Carolina wren
Turkey vulture
Nuthatch
Flicker
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Great crested flycatcher
Robin
Phoebe
Catbird
Bobwhite
Pewee
Chat

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Cole County, May 27

2010-05-28T09:24:00.001-07:00

Hackberry emperor
Least skipper
Orange sulphur
Red admiral
Azure
Monarch
Monarch caterpillar
Little wood-satyr
Polygonia
Dainty sulphur
Gray hairstreak
Great spangled fritillary
Giant swallowtail
Spicebush swallowtail

Dun skipper
Zabulon skipper

Bird-dropping moth
Moon-lined moth
Geometrid

Eastern pondhawk
Green darner
Black saddlebags
Spangled skimmer
Common whitetail
Twelve-spotted skimmer
Blue dasher

Lestes
Bluet
Citrine forktail
Eastern forktail

Bee fly
Crane fly
Syrphid fly

Spittle bugs
Giant water bug

Six-spotted tiger beetle
Firefly
Checkered beetle

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2010-05-24T09:09:00.001-07:00

Orange sulphur
Common buckeye
Azure
Dainty sulphur
Little wood-satyr
Polygonia sp.
Monarch

Twelve-spotted skimmer
Common whitetail
Green darner
Eastern pondhawk
Possible Comet darner
Forktail
Black saddlebags
Blue dasher
Widow skimmer
Spangled skimmer
Slaty skimmer
Gomphidae
Baskettail

Lixus
Click beetle
Firefly

Spittlebugs
Bee fly

I also saw a Brown Thrasher bring nestling droppings from the nest and drop them into a pond.

White-eyed vireo
Baltimore oriole
Eastern kingbird

Chipmunk

On Saturday, I saw a Brenthia in Boone County.

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2010-05-08T12:03:00.001-07:00

I watched what I think was a Common Whitetail emerge just after noon on a somewhat cooler day than we've been having. I'll edit this post later to add details and a photo.

Sightings:
Red-banded hairstreak
Common whitetail
Backswimmers
Water striders
Fragile forktail
Eastern forktail
Springwater dancer?
Zabulon Skipper
Painted lady
Red admiral
Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle
Cucumber Beetle
Publilia concava with ants
Carpenter Bee
Syrphid

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Sightings

2010-05-06T12:06:00.001-07:00

Citrine forktail
Green darner
Black saddlebags
Eastern forktail
Lestes
Baskettail
Common whitetail
springwater dancer
Blue corporal
Monarch
Question mark
Red hairstreak
Red-spotted purple
Painted lady
Red admiral
Peck's skipper
Juvenal's duskywing
Orange sulphur
Backswimmer
Giant water bug
Whirlygig beetles
Water striders
Ants & aphids
Six-spotted tiger beetle

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2010-05-04T09:14:00.001-07:00

Taking photos of a female Pipevine Swallowtail laying eggs on the pipevines growing in our yard. Pipevines in bloom.

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2010-03-23T15:17:00.001-07:00

Lots of green lacewings flying around on this warm, sunny day.

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Spring Sightings

2010-03-23T13:48:00.001-07:00

Water Striders, Eastern Comma, and plasterer bees in cental Missouri on 3/18. Flies at bait on 3/19. Forsythia blooming on 3/23. Dung fly (Scathophagidae) photo from 3/19 at http://donnabrunet.com/pages/stock/flies/scathophagidae.html

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Antlion

2010-03-01T19:11:00.000-08:00

On February 23rd, I noticed what appeared to be a freshly dug antlion pit in the colony by our front door. It was very small - only about 1/2" across. I'm guessing that it was formed on either the 18th or 19th when it warmed up to the low 40s.

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2010-02-21T09:02:00.000-08:00

I photographed a blooming Ozark Witch Hazel shrub on Thursday.

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2009-11-20T15:48:00.000-08:00

November 20, 2009
Columbia

Sunny for a change and a high in the upper 50s. An unidentified anglewing (Polygonia) at home. Last week (can't remember the exact date) I saw a Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebis sennae).

2009-11-08T20:04:00.000-08:00

November 8, 2009
(Boone County)

On a day with a high of 76 F and lots of sunshine, I saw a Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebis sennae) pass through our front yard while I was sitting outside reading Photo Impressionism and the Subjective Image by Freeman Patterson and Andre Gallant. Later, a Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) found bait in the backyard. No photos because it was on the rim of a bait jar. I almost successfully moved it to a tree trunk and probably would have been successful if I had used my finger instead of trying to move it with the paintbrush.

2009-11-03T20:10:00.001-08:00

November 2, 2009
(Boone County)

Butterflies: Cloudless Sulphur

November 1, 2009
(Boone County)

Butterflies: Cabbage White, unidentified Comma, Orange Sulphur, Monarch

2009-10-28T19:31:00.000-07:00

October 28, 2009

Wow – another sunny day. Must be the 4th one this month!!!

I took leaf photos today, some were similar to those I took last weekend, zooming and / or rotating the camera. But I really liked this image the best – handheld 200 mm lens at a very slow shutter speed in a strong wind.

Saw a few insects during a walk on campus: Monarch, Orange Sulphur, Great Spreadwing, Red-shouldered Bug, and Syrphid Flies. The woodchuck that lives in Peace Park was out today – always fun to see him.

2009-10-19T19:55:00.000-07:00

October 19, 2009

Sunny and high of 76. A Sharp-shinned Hawk flew over the house just before we ate our lunch on the deck before leaving on a bike ride. I wanted to get all the way to Rocheport, but we didn't have time for the whole ride starting from Columbia so we drove to McBaine and rode to Rocheport and back.

We saw a few butterflies on the Katy Trail – 2 Cloudless Sulphurs, 1 Orange Sulphur, 3 Cabbage Whites (including one at home while putting the bikes on the car), 2 unidentified anglewings, 3 Monarchs, and about 6 woolly bears.

We also saw 5 snakes on the trail. Unfortunately, I ran over one. I was looking straight down at my tire going around a beetle on the trail and when I looked up I was just a couple of feet from the snake. All in the same second, I thought “Could that be a copperhead? If I slam on my brakes I'll probably end up stopped right on top of it. Not good if it is a copperhead.” The snake was about 2' long so I just aimed for as far to the tail as possible. I don't know what happened to the snake because I couldn't bring myself to turn around and look. I did watch the snake when I hit it and it didn't react. I've had snakes really move fast and get out from in front of my bike at the last minute and this one never moved. I had about convinced myself that someone else had hit and killed the snake before me, but on the way back to McBaine the snake had apparently moved off of the trail. I hope I hit far enough back on the tail that I didn't really hurt it. With more time to think about it (and a quick look through a field guide when we got home), I've decided it definitely wasn't a copperhead. Most likely a Prairie Kingsnake.

2009-10-18T15:32:00.001-07:00

October 18, 2009

Saw a few insects during a walk on campus; the high was 60 F this afternoon but it was 29 F when I got up this morning. A Variable Meadowhawk (Sympetrum corruptum) was flying through the white campus and a Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) was basking in the sunlight on a sidewalk in front of Jesse Hall. I also saw several Hymenoptera: honey bee (Apis mellifera), Dolichovespula sp., and Vespidae.

Yesterday I saw an Orange Sulphur (Colias eurytheme) flying across Providence from the MKT Trail.

2009-10-17T09:46:00.000-07:00

October 17, 2009
Not Insects

This is about fish. While eating breakfast this morning, I read “A Taste for Blood” by Natalie Angier in the October/November issue of National Wildlife.

I'm sure everyone has heard the story about the candiru – a catfish that supposedly enters the urethra of people in the water in the Amazon and Orinoco Rivers. While I had heard that it was an unusual occurrence, I didn't realize that only a single instance has ever been confirmed. (Although I guess that wasn't much comfort to the only person). What really surprised me was why the fish is supposedly confused. Candiru feed in the gills of larger catfish – which they find by the scent of urine: “fish, after all, urinate from their gills.”

2009-10-15T09:50:00.000-07:00

October 15, 2009

Yikes! Almost 4 months since I've updated my blog. Obviously, I've seen quite a few insects this summer that I haven't mentioned. This was pretty much a horrible summer, though. My Mom fell at home and fractured two vertebrae. She went to the hospital mid-summer and is now in skilled nursing doing rehab. She's walking much better and will hopefully head home sometime. Worrying about her reduced my productivity this summer.

Some of the best insect sightings from the summer were a Vesper Bluet (Enallagma vesperum, June 4, Boone County – a lifer! But it flew off before I was able to photograph it), Imperial Moth (Eacles imperialis, June 16, Boone County), Lilypad Forktails (Ischnura kellicotti, June 17, Boone County), male and female Io Moths (Automeris io, June 29, Dallas / Laclede Counties) , Saddleback Caterpillar (Acharia stimulea, August 23, Cape Girardeau County), and Citrine Forktails (Ischnura hastata, August 26, Dunklin County).

I'll try to post a few images of those soon. In the meantime, here's a shot from this week in my kitchen. I guess entomologists are weird – we've got a large population of fruit flies (Drosophila) that have been breeding in a jar of moth bait that's been sitting on our counter for about two weeks. But instead of getting rid of them, I've been taking photos.

There were a couple of cool events from the summer. I opened a studio at Orr Street Studios, so if you happen to be in Columbia, email me and I can meet you there sometime. I don't go to the studio every day, so if someone just shows up at the studio, more than likely I won't be there. I also recently signed a contract with Animals Animals stock photo agency and got an Honorable Mention in the Visions Photography Exhibit with my shot of a Bumble Bee chasing a Monarch from a flower.

For the next few weeks, I'll be hard at work to meet a December 1 deadline for the Missouri Department of Conservation field guide to butterflies and moths.

2009-06-26T08:45:00.000-07:00

June 20, 2009
Additional Photos from Macon County

I decided to add photos of 2 more butterfly species from that day.
Banded Hairstreak (Satyrium calanus)
Gray Copper (Lycaena dione)

2009-06-23T08:28:00.000-07:00

June 20, 2009
Edward's Hairstreak (Satyrium edwardsii)

Last year I got a brief glimpse of a hairstreak in Macon County, but did something I usually remember to avoid – I tried to get a closer look without using my camera. When it flushed, I had missed getting both a good look and a photograph taken from a distance. As a result, I had no idea what I had seen. I still don't, even though I got a lifer hairstreak in Macon County this week when we returned to look for hairstreaks.

Last weekend, I came home with good images of an Edward's Hairstreak (Satyrium edwardsii). But from what I remember from the glimpse I got last year, this isn't the species I saw on June 22, 2008.

I also saw a Swamp Metalmark (Calephelis muticum), which was kind of a surprise.

When I got home, I managed to succeed at something I failed at last year – a photo of a firefly in flight.

June 19, 2009
Springtails (Collembola Entomobryidae)

Decided to take photos of an ant nest in our yard, but immediately got distracted by the springtails crawling over the stone / sand patio.

2009-06-15T05:09:00.000-07:00

June 13, 2009
Regal Fritillaries (Speyeria cybele)

Headed toward the western part of Missouri for the day in search of Regal Fritillaries (Speyeria idalia). I'll have to try again sometime, because I couldn't find a female today. I did get photos of both the dorsal and ventral side of males – there were quite a few today in Pettis County.

I also found a Robber Fly (Asilidae) ovipositing into a coneflower.

We headed south into Benton County in the morning because when we arrived at the prairie, it was cool and completely overcast despite a forecast of sunny weather which has been very scarce this year. We hiked a trail through a glade and found both Blue-fronted Dancer (Argia apicalis) and Powdered Dancer (Argia moesta). Fortunately, the sun broke through around noon.

2009-06-09T07:15:00.000-07:00

Wow! I can't believe it's been over 2 months since I updated my blog. I've been meaning to, but there was always something with a higher priority.

Some highlights of the last 2 months were:

May 28, 2009
I watched a fly ovipositing on an American Giant Millipede (Narceus americanus). I didn't realize this, but when I looked up the scientific name on http://bugguide.net, I read the following comment posted by Rattlebox Photography “When threatened, it secretes a brown liquid capable of causing long-lasting stains on bare skin or clothing. It also secretes a defense of very pungent chemicals that causes severe eye irritation from up to three feet away and which can cause temporary blindness if they get into the eye. Should not be handled, especially not without appropriate protection.”

May 18, 2009
A Gray Scoopwing (Uraniidae Callizzia amorata) came to a light in our yard.

May 12, 2009
For several days, I watched a carpenter bee (Xylocopa sp.) dig a nest hole in our deck.

May 4, 2009
I got my camera muddy taking photographs of springtails (Collembola Podura aquatica) at the edge of a pond in Cole County.

April 11, 2009
There were tons of Forest Tent Caterpillars (Malocosoma disstria) swarming over the railings on the boardwalk at Tickfaw State Park, Livingston Parish, Louisiana. These tent caterpillars don't construct tents, but are gregarious.

April 8, 2009
A group of juvenile Eastern Lubber Grasshoppers (Romalea microptera) were at the edge of the trail in Mandalay National Wildlife Refuge, Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana.

2009-04-15T05:31:00.000-07:00

March 20, 2009
Plasterer Bees

Back to take photos of the ground-nesting bees I saw yesterday. Identified as plasterer bees (Colletidae Colletes), named for their habit of lining their nests with a secretion that dries into a thin clear sheet. When a male found a female, they were pounced on by what I assumed were other males attempting to dislodge the original male so they could mate with the female.

2009-03-19T14:22:00.001-07:00

March 19, 2009
Striders!!

Finally saw a couple of water striders in a downtown creek. I also saw ground-nesting bees swarming at a colony along the creek bank. I'll go back tomorrow with my camera. Forsythias are also blooming around town, although I didn't check them for insects.

I haven't looked for insects for a couple of days even though it's been really warm (70s). I have a fast-approaching April 1st deadline for text passages for a butterfly and moth field guide. I'm also providing the photographs for the book which will be published by the Missouri Department of Conservation sometime in 2011.

2009-03-06T18:56:00.000-08:00

March 6, 2009

First insect bite of the year – minute pirate bug (Orius sp. Anthocoridae). Although it doesn't hurt that much when they bite, they have a pretty painful bite considering their small size. I guess that makes sense, true bugs don't often bite, but when they do – it hurts. At least with these, I wasn't wondering whether people could actually die from just pain, like when the Black Corsair bit me on April 2, 2007.

Two new 2009 butterflies – Eastern Comma (Polygonia comma) and Goatweed Leafwing (Anaea andria). I've had bait on several trees in the yard yesterday and today. Getting mostly tons of flies. I should have made a videotape of them, but I'm not accustomed to that feature on my new camera, yet. There were so many of them on the tree trunk, that as I stepped closer and they all flew off, their wings made a fairly loud roar. Pretty cool!

I spent most of my time photographing these tiny flies about 2-3mm long. They would walk on the tree trunk with their wings lifted straight up and vibrating. Twice I saw two of them fight. Once, one appeared to chase after one of the larger flies. After reviewing my photos and deciding I had a good image, I decided to collect one to key it out, but by then it was getting late and I couldn't find one. Maybe tomorrow. As of right now, I have them tentatively identified as black scavenger flies (Sepsidae). The larvae live in decaying material – maybe like what's in our compost bin. The adults were at the bait.

Put on the deck light to see what was attracted. A few moths and lacewings. Highlight of the night – an Ophion Ichneumonid wasp.

A couple of moths that are unidentified are sitting in the refrigerator right now, but they were collected at bait, not the light.

March 5, 2009

First Question Mark (Polygonia interrogationis ) of 2009 – seen at bait in our yard. First Missouri butterfly this year.

Still no water striders in the downtown creeks.

2009-02-28T08:03:00.000-08:00

February 25, 2009

With a high in the upper 60s today, I took a walk to see signs of spring. One of the antlions in our front yard colony dug a pit today. I found a few blooming chickweeds. Despite a careful search of two creeks, I was unable to find a water strider. Some of my previous early water strider sightings were February 29, 2004, March 7, 2007, and March 21, 2008.

As the sun set, I turned on the deck light. It attracted about a dozen lacewings and four moths. The moths scattered as I opened the back door. One disappeared and two landed too high for me to reach. I collected the one that resettled close to the light fixture on the wall. At this point, it's been tentatively identified as Hypena sp. (Erebidae).

New Mexico:
North American Nature Photography Association Summit Meeting, February 18-21

February 17, 2009
Albuquerque Botanic Garden

Two more butterflies – a Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) and a white that had to remain unidentified when it flew over the wall before I could get close enough to really see it.

February 15, 2009
Bosque del Apache NWR

Another early spring butterfly – Checkered White (Pontia protodice).

February 14, 2009
Rio Grande Nature Center

First butterfly of the year, and I only saw a blur when someone else in our group shouted “Mourning Cloak!” (Nymphalis antiopa) Despite a diligent search, we couldn't find it again.

2009-01-27T03:40:00.000-08:00

January 21, 2009

Temperatures in the 60s again today – but not for long. I went out in search of Eastern Tent Caterpillar egg cases, but couldn't find one. I did find 2 flies – a blow fly, but the other one had to remain unidentified. I also kicked up a small overwintering grasshopper (Caelifera) and a small moth. I had hoped to photograph the moth, which almost landed on a small shrub. But after fluttering through the shrub, it disappeared into the top of an adjacent tree.

2009-01-11T07:29:00.000-08:00

January 9, 2009

Back into the high 60s today. While out on a walk to enjoy the warm, sunny day, I stopped under a Goldenrain Tree (Sapindaceae Koelrueteria paniculata) where I found 2 Red-shouldered Bugs (Jadera sp.). Here's a photo of a Red-shouldered Bug on a seed pod under a Goldenrain Tree taken November 2005.

2009-01-06T09:50:00.000-08:00

January 3, 2009

Wow, a high of 67 F today! Almost hard to remember it's winter and not early spring.

I didn't take my camera along on our bike ride today, figuring I wouldn't need it – after all it's early January. But I'd have used it if I had it.

When we got to our turn-around point, we sat at a bench along the creek. After a few minutes, we noticed our orange and red bikes and helmets had attracted a honey bee. A little while later, I saw what I thought was a Polygonia sp. flutter through the woods. Unfortunately not a good enough look to rule out Goatweed Leafwing.

Before we left the bench, a 4 mm long rove beetle landed on Jim's shirt. And then we noticed a tiny weevil crawling along the trail.

2009-01-02T15:51:00.000-08:00

January 2, 2009

A sunny and relatively warm (47 F) day prompted me to take a short break from working on the butterfly and moth field guide to go for a walk. I searched a pipevine (Aristolochia sp.) for chrysalids; the vine fed dozens of Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) caterpillars during the summer. No luck with the butterflies, but I did find 2 praying mantis egg cases. Unfortunately, they both appeared to be Chinese mantids instead of native species.

Highlight of the day was a swarm of what appeared to be winter crane flies (Diptera Trichoceridae). I tried to catch one for a firm id, but the flies were much quicker than my hands. They look like small crane flies, but can be separated by the presence of ocelli on the winter crane flies. Larvae overwinter in decaying plant matter. Here are a couple of photos from a previous post.

2008-12-30T14:24:00.000-08:00

December 30, 2008

Just thought I'd pass along something interesting from the Fall 2008 issue of Wings (a publication of the Xerces Society). The Miller Moth (Euxoa auxiliaris) is found in Missouri, but the individuals living on the western edge of the Great Plains migrate into the Rocky Mountains during the summer. Most likely because nectar is more available there than on the hot dry prairie.

These migrating moths are an important food for grizzly bears which can eat an astounding 10,000 to 20,000 moths each day! In a 4-week period, this immense number of small prey items can combine to provide 300,000 calories. The moths are crucial for the bears as they pack on weight for survival during hibernation.

Source: Small Animals That Pack a Big Punch by Scott Hoffman Black and Matthew Shepard. Wings, Fall 2008, p 4-8.

2008-12-02T10:11:00.000-08:00

Fall 2008

After a busy October and November with 2 due dates for a work project, I'm finally getting around to updating my blog with my last recorded sightings of a few insects.

November 4, 2008

Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebis sennae)
Polygonia sp.

While walking downtown, I noticed a praying mantis sitting on a building. I can't imagine that there were many prey items on the building, although in September, I collected a moth from a downtown building wall. It was only 2 blocks from Flat Branch Park and the trail, though.

November 3, 2008

Wheel bug (Arilus cristatus)

November 2, 2008

I haven't seen a dragonfly or damselfly for a while. Today I saw a Monarch (Danaus plexippus) flying through the parking lot at a grocery store. I also saw a Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebis sennae) briefly stop in our yard.

November 1, 2008

Chrysalis – first seen on October 30th. Collected.

October 31, 2008

A Common Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus communis) was nectaring at a dandelion in our yard today. I saw another one somewhere else in town nectaring at Aromatic Asters.

October 30, 2008

Saw quite a few butterflies on a bike ride today. It's still really warm, although most of the leaves have turned. The Asian ladybugs were out in force swarming around looking for overwintering spots. I was bitten by one and took my revenge on about a dozen of this exotic species. Too bad stomping on a few won't even make the smallest dent in the population. Saw a green chironomid and an ichneumonid wasp near Perche Creek. Cicadas are still calling.

Butterflies:

Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebis sennae)
Goatweed Leafwing (Anaea andria)
Polygonia spp.
Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia)
Clouded Sulphur (Colias philodice)
Cabbage White (Pieris rapae)
Orange Sulphur (Colias eurytheme)

October 29, 2008

Wheel bug (Arilus cristatus)

October 27, 2008

Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebis sennae)

October 26, 2008

A Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) was in our yard. Saw a few insects on a bike ride – a distant unidentified dark swallowtail, an unidentified anglewing (Polygonia sp.) and Cabbage White (Pieris rapae). Highlight of the day were 3 Wandering Gliders (Pantala flavescens).

2008-10-21T20:09:00.000-07:00

October 21, 2008

Few butterflies and moths around, but I found several in a small area with native plants. Most of the blooms were aromatic asters.

Butterflies:
Pearl Crescent (Phyciodes tharos)
Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Sachem (Atalopedes campestris)

Corn Earworm Moth (Helicoverpa zea)
Yellow-collared Scape Moth (Cisseps fulvicollis)

I also saw lots of Syrphid flies.

Herald Moth (Scoliopteryx libatrix)
October 17, 2008

I photographed this Herald Moth about 25' inside of a Boone County cave; this moth overwinters as an adult inside of caves.

Blue-faced Meadowhawk (Sympetrum ambiguum)
October 16, 2008

I'm going to try to keep track of the last day I see some things this year, although I find that much more difficult than mentioning the first time I see something for the year. In addition to being more tedious to keep track of, it's also somewhat depressing.

Several Blue-faced Meadowhawks were in a downtown park along with numerous mating pairs of Great Spreadwings (Archilestes grandis). I couldn't find any water striders.

Festive Tiger Beetle (Cicindela scutellaris)
October 11, 2008

We went to a Horseshoe Lake State Park in Illinois to find Bronze Coppers (Lycaena hyllus). We did find several coppers, along with a variety of other butterflies.

Tiger beetles are pretty high on my list of favorite insects, and we found plenty of them. While I haven't put names on all of them, I did identify a gorgeous maroon tiger beetle as a Festive Tiger Beetle. A lifer. In eastern Missouri on the 10th, I also found a Cow Path Tiger Beetle, which I saw for the first time this spring.

Also saw 2 moths:
Chickweed Geometer (Haematopis grataria)
Hawaiian Beet Webworm (Spoladea recurvalis)

2008-10-15T09:09:00.000-07:00

Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
October 10, 2008

I frequently see bees plow into butterflies at flowers, chasing the butterfly from the flower so they can feed at it themselves. Today I finally managed to get a shot of this, even though it happens in a fraction of a second. My first thought was to be annoyed at the bee for chasing away the Monarch I was photographing, then I realized that unlike other times when I ended up with the insects either blurred from flight or moving out of the frame, I actually had a cool image.

Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
October 5, 2008

Couldn't find many butterflies today, so I resorted to photographing honey bees. This one had its mouthparts extended as it flew away from the flowers.

Dagger Moth caterpillar (Acronicta sp.)
September 30, 2008

Found this gorgeous caterpillar crawling along a bridge railing crossing a stream on a wooded trail. No idea what it had been feeding on, but it shows only minimal differences with the Interrupted Dagger Moth caterpillar (Acronicta interrupta) pictured in David L. Wagner's Caterpillars of Eastern North America.

Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebis sennae)
September 18, 2008

I always think of Cloudless Sulphurs as fairly obvious, but when this one landed late in the afternoon on the underside of a leaf, I realized how cryptic they can be. The faint spots and overall color blended in perfectly with the underside of these leaves with the fading sunlight shining through.

2008-09-08T18:23:00.000-07:00

Common Spragueia (Spragueia leo)
September 8, 2008

Have I just been overlooking these guys or is their population up this year? At any rate, I started taking insect photos in May 2003 and I saw one in August 2003 and then none until this year. I photographed one in captivity that had been collected at a mercury vapor light on August 15th, I saw one in Callaway County on September 6th but it flew off before I could take a photo, and then I saw a Common Spragueia nectaring at sedum today.

I'm glad I headed out for photographs, the forecast was for rain so I was working inside at the entomology museum. I noticed the sun was out and didn't want to waste a day at the end of the flight season, so I headed out. By the time I was out, it was cloudy and windy, but there were quite a few skippers feeding at the clump of sedum along with a Corn Earworm Moth (Helicoverpa zea). And then I noticed the Spragueia!

Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor)
September 7, 2008

We have so many Pipevine Swallowtail caterpillars on our pipevines that we can hear them chewing the leaves when we walk by.

Cicada (Cicadidae)
September 6, 2008

We spent a cloudy morning at a central Missouri prairie, but didn't see much, I'm sure the weather didn't help. The highlight was finding a cicada being eaten by a praying mantis – unfortunately, it was an introduced species – a Chinese preying mantis. I didn't have a collecting permit for the area, otherwise I would have liked to have collected them – partly to be able to key out the cicada (hopefully I'll have an id to add to this page in a day or so) but mostly to kill an introduced species – even though that would obviously have no real effect on the population.

Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor)
August 27, 2008

Lots of Pipevine Swallowtail caterpillars around this week. I slightly disturbed this one and it extruded its osmeterium – a defensive organ that expels chemicals to repel predators.

Pipevine caterpillars ingest plant chemicals that make them inedible to some predators, but they are still preyed upon by others, including ladybug larvae. Pipevines frequently defend themselves by biting the ladybugs, they are more likely to successfully defend themselves if they are bigger than the ladybugs. Caterpillars preparing to pupate are more likely to extrude their osmeterium than feeding caterpillars. Other defensive actions include thrashing around and regurgitating. (Stamp. 1986. Physical constraints of defense and response to invertebrate predators by pipevine caterpillars (Battus philenor: Papilionidae). Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society, 40: 191-205)

2008-08-25T08:44:00.000-07:00

Common Spragueia (Spragueia leo)
August 15, 2008

I tagged along with a Master Naturalist program to collect moths at lights at Overton Bottoms in the Big Muddy National Wildlife Refuge. I was really excited to catch this brightly colored Common Spragueia and am still trying to shake the disappointment of having a Eumarozia malachitana land on my right hand and then fly off while I was trying to figure out how to collect it.

Other highlights of the evening were a Short-lined Chocolate (Argyrostrotis anilis), Basswood Leafroller (Pantographa limata), and quite a few Honey Locust moths (Syssyphinx bicolor).

Grasshopper
August 9, 2008

I found this grasshopper with a white head and body while we finished up a butterfly count at the Prairie Garden Trust. I'm still working on an identification.

Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor)
August 2, 2008

As I got out of the car when we returned home from eastern Missouri, I noticed this chrysalis which a caterpillar had formed on my car tire. I'm really glad I noticed it, since it obviously would have been smashed as soon as I moved my car. About a week earlier we had counted 33 caterpillars feeding on the pipevines (Aristolochia tomentosa) we planted in our yards to attract the butterflies. It worked great – we have adult Pipevine Swallowtails in our yard almost every day, especially at the end of the summer.

The chrysalis had to have been formed sometime between July 31st and August 2nd
-- days I didn't drive my car. The female emerged mid-morning on August 25th. I cut the silk holding the chrysalis to my tire tread and used a dot of Elmer's glue to fasten it to a stick which I placed in a plastic aquarium with a screen lid. When I noticed her, I brought the container outside and removed the lid at about 10:15 am. (I had checked the cage sometime within the previous hour and she hadn't emerged yet.) When we went onto our deck for lunch, she flew off and landed on shagbark hickory leaves about 10' away and 15' high and remained there for about 20 minutes before flying off again.

Milkweed Tussock Moth caterpillar (Euchaetes egle)
August 1, 2008

This Milkweed Tussock Moth caterpillar feeding on milkweed leaves shows off bright colors warning that it stores toxic chemicals from feeding on milkweeds and is inedible.

This twirler moth (Gelechiidae Anacampsis sp.) is tiny, with a wingspan of about 10mm. While we watched and photographed it, occasionally it would spin in a circle.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus)
July 31, 2008

While at the Cape Girardeau Nature Center taking down my July photo exhibit, I took a few photos of a black form female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail.

In addition to the swallowtail, I was really excited to find this Reticulated Sparganothis moth (Sparganothis reticulatana) while we hiked one of the wooded trails.

2008-07-20T15:07:00.000-07:00

Mydas Fly (Mydas sp.)
July 18, 2008

Highlight of the day was finding a group of 3 Mydas flies (guessing from size, 2 females and 1 male). The 2 females were seen laying eggs in a mulch pile along the edge of the trail. Later, one of the adults was observed feeding at Rattlesnake Master (Apiaceae Eryngium yuccifolium) flowers.

Barton County
July 11 - 13, 2008

Went to Prairie State Park hoping for good shots of Regal Fritillaries (Speyeria idalia) but came home without them. We did see a few male Regals flying back and forth over the prairie searching for females, but by this time of year, most of the females were no longer interested in the remaining males. One chase, however, was very interesting, since the male basically flew circles, similar to the path of a ferris wheel, around the female as she flew about 30' high. Several passing males were so close I almost could have reached out to touch them, and just before we reached our car when we were leaving the park, a final male passed close enough to brush its wings against the side of my head as I heard the sound made by the wings! Really frustrating not to be able to get a photo, but it's almost impossible to get a really great image of a butterfly in flight.

We did manage to find a few cool moths, the highlights were a Coffee-loving Pyrausta Moth (Crambidae Pyrausta tyralis) and a Black-bordered Lemon Moth (Noctuidae Thioptera nigrofimbria).

The highlight of the trip, though, were the fireflies. The most awesome firefly show I've seen since we went to Great Smoky Mountains National Park for the synchronized fireflies at Elkmont. We were in the campground, which is wooded, not prairie. When it started getting dark, just looking forward, there were about 50 flashes visible at any given moment. And it was the same in all directions! We were also seeing different species of fireflies in the group – the flashes were different. During the day, we were able to find resting fireflies in two different genera – Photinus and Photuris. Photinus spp. have defensive chemicals that provide protection from predators. Photuris spp. aren't chemically protected, so the females flash the pattern of Photinus females to bring males into striking range. The female then eat the male, acquiring the chemical defense of the other species. The Photuris female flashes the pattern for her own species, mates with an appropriate male, and provides the chemical protection from the Photinus firefly male to her own eggs.

2008-07-10T06:15:00.000-07:00

Scissor-grinder Cicadas (Tibicen auletes)
July 7, 2008

This evening I was in the backyard and realized I was hearing cicadas. I grabbed my iPod and played the cicada section from the Singing Insects CD produced by the Missouri Department of Conservation and identified them as Scissor-grinder Cicadas. I recognized the sound as what I hear every year, but this was the first time I tried to identify the species by the sound.

2008-06-26T04:20:00.000-07:00

One-banded Sparganothis (Sparganothis unifaciana)
June 23, 2008

At the same location as my stint as an inadvertent food provider for a Cobra Clubtail on the 17th, I repeatedly flushed Haploa moths that wouldn't tolerate my approach within several feet. Oddly enough, one Haploa was nectaring at a Black-eyed Susan and tolerated me taking numerous photos from various positions around the flower.

Also on the 17th, I had a brief look at a One-banded Sparganothis moth, but didn't manage to take any photos because of its position in the vegetation. Today, I walked through the same area for over an hour hoping to spot another individual. I got my photos today, but paid for them with over 200 chigger bites. I guess that should be expected when not only walking through tall vegetation, but also stopping occasionally to sit in it.

Shoot First, Ask Questions Later
June 22, 2008

I need to work on taking photos before I approach close enough for a full-frame shot. I believe I got a quick look at a Striped Hairstreak (Satyrium liparops) yesterday, but never even looked at it through my camera lens. While thinking, "Is that really a Striped Hairstreak?", I took a step for a closer look, the butterfly took off, and I was left thinking that at least a photo from far away would have let me zoom in for a longer look back home on the computer.

Later the same day, I remembered the lesson and took a photo of a Pink-bordered Yellow (Phytometra rhodarialis) from a few feet away. I need to find another individual of that species for a decent photo (this one is seriously cropped), but for right now, I can at least prove to myself that my id was correct.

2008-06-18T09:02:00.000-07:00

Haploa sp.
June 17, 2008

I kicked up quite a few moths (and found a few perched on top of leaves, looking very much like a brown area of leaf damage) while walking through prairie plants. An unmarked Haploa flew at my approach when I was 8' to 10' away. I followed it for a while, each time as I got close (but still too far for a good photo), it would fly away – sometimes just a few feet, sometimes up to 30', but the white inch-and-a-half wingspan was easy to follow. After several chases interspersed with breaks to photograph a geometrid moth and a milkweed beetle, I once again failed to sneak up close enough for a frame-filling image of the Haploa despite slowly crawling through the 2' tall vegetation.

Feeling guilty about repeatedly flushing the moth, I decided that I'd make one last approach and then leave it alone. But when I was about 10' from the moth, I noticed a clubtail perched on the plants just about halfway between me and the moth. I immediately decided to abandon my pursuit of the moth in favor of Cobra Clubtail (Gomphus vastus) photos. I snapped one from where I was and then crept closer to the clubtail for better shots.

Now I was only 5' from the moth, its average level of tolerance, but because of its position in the vegetation, it wasn't very visible and I wasn't even looking for it anymore. Suddenly it bolts – at least by its definition of bolting – which is actually a slow flutter. My eyes instinctively leave the clubtail to glance at the moth – just in time to see that I'm not the only one who noticed it. My reflexes aren't quick enough for a photo – all I could do was scream “NO!” inside my head as the clubtail screamed “LUNCH!” and flew to the top of the nearby oak tree.

Later in the day, I found a dead mole alongside the trail and took photos of flies laying eggs on the carcass.

New species for the year:
Painted Lichen Moth
Cobra Clubtail

Van Meter State Park
June 11, 2008

Found a Stilt-legged Fly (Micropezidae) waving its front legs with white tarsi in front of its head in an effort to resemble a wasp. It's thought that looking like a wasp provides some protection against predators.

Blacklighting for Moths at Overton Bottoms, Big Muddy National Wildlife Refuge
June 10, 2008

Highlight of the evening – prize find of the night goes to Jim who found an Eyed Paectes (Paectes oculatix) feeding on the bait we put out.

2008-06-10T07:36:00.000-07:00

Glorious Habrosyne (Habrosyne gloriosa)
June 5, 2008

It was raining when we went to sleep on June 4th, and I almost got up to turn off the deck light. But within a few minutes, the rain stopped, so I left it on. I'm glad I did. When I got up on the 5th, I found this gorgeous creature sitting on the outside of the kitchen window. I lucked out and managed to coax it into a net – I couldn't swing the net at the window and I couldn't use a jar because the window is about 6' over my head. Fortunately, when I placed the net over the moth and dragged the net towards it, the moth crawled into the net and didn't fly away when I lowered the net to the ground. I shot a few photos in captivity and then released it.

2008-06-03T09:35:00.000-07:00

Orange Bluet (Enallagma signatum)
June 1, 2008

We spent the afternoon kayaking in Boone County. Several Orange Bluets were the highlight of the day. Males were resting on floating plants. I saw one pair ovipositing into a floating plant with the male holding the female just behind the head while his body was angled up at a 45 degree angle. The female was grasping the vegetation with her legs. No photos, though. It's hard to manage insect photos while sitting in a kayak, although I've occasionally pulled it off.

Other firsts for 2008 included Blue Dashers (Pachydiplax longipennis) and Black Saddlebags (Tramea lacerata). I watched a pair of saddlebags oviposit. Every few moments, the male would let go of the female, she would drop to the water and dip the tip of her abdomen into the water while the male hovered just above her, then she would fly up to the male and he would grab her by the head with the claspers at the tip of his abdomen and they would fly off to a different spot to lay more eggs.

Hoary Edge (Achalarus lyciades)
May 29, 2008

Wow! I've never seen so many Hoary Edge skippers in a single day – I'd guess we saw between 30 and 40 while hiking about 2 miles along trails in Miller and Camden counties. I spent 21 minutes photographing a group of Hoary Edges and a Northern Cloudywing (Thorybes pylades) at a very fresh and unpleasant smelling pile of dung. Not a great substance to have 9” away from your head.

A few new species for 2008: Little Wood Satyr (Megisto cymela), Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebis sennae), alderfly (Neuroptera Sialidae Sialis sp.), and a scorpionfly (Mecoptera Panorpidae Panorpa sp.).

We found a few carrion beetles on the trail, and a Calligraphy Beetle (Calligrapha spiraeae), but a dung beetle rolling a large ball of dung definitely was a highlight of the day.

Just before heading home, we topped off the day with an Orange-patched Smoky Moth (Zygaenidae Pyromorpha dimidiata) resting on top of a leaf.

2008-05-22T15:49:00.000-07:00

Termite Swarm (Isoptera Rhinotermitidae)
May 21, 2008

Syrphid flies were visiting the blooming Ninebark today, but not as many flies or bees were around as I would have expected. A Red-banded Hairstreak (Calycopis cecrops) and an Eastern Tailed-Blue (Everes comyntas) were also at the Ninebark, in addition to my first Sachem (Atalopedes campestris) of the year. Another first for 2008 was a male Zabulon Skipper (Poanes zabulon) – but this was in the woods, not at the ninebark. Overall, butterflies were pretty scarce today, especially compared to late April. I flushed a single Goatweed Leafwing (Anaea andria).

I was still seeing a few Calligraphy Beetles (Calligrapha spiraeae), but they were harder to find today. Possibly because the blooms partially covered the leaves the beetles were on.

A Leaf-footed Bug (Leptoglossus clypealis) reminded me that I neglected to mention my first of the year. I had a leaf-footed bug on April 30th in St. Louis County.

During lunch, I noticed a small insect fly a few feet in front of me and idly wondered what it was. When a second one flew past, something finally penetrated my brain – all 4 wings were the same. When I looked around, I noticed quite a few in the air on the other side of the parking lot. I was hoping to find the termite swarm on the ground and lucked out – they were in mulch right at the edge of the parking lot.

Although I've had spittlebug adults, I found my first nymphs of the year today.

2008-05-20T09:40:00.000-07:00

Black-sided Pygmy Grasshopper (Tettigidea lateralis)
May 18, 2008, Johnson County

We found a caterpillar (Erebidae Catocala sp.) crawling on the sidewalk near the campground shower house at 5:30 am. A Bronzed Cutworm (Noctuidae Nephelodes minians) was crossing a park road late morning. I moved both of them into the grass nearby.

I found the Black-sided Pygmy grasshopper (Orthoptera Tetrigidae Tettigidea lateralis) in a savanna. On the same savanna trail, we also saw a Bird-dropping Moth (Antaeotricha schlageri) and Long-necked Seed Bug (Heteroptera Lygaeidae Myodocha serripes).

Quite a few Eastern Forktails (Ischnura verticalis) were in tall vegetation bordering a large lake. A Skimming Bluet (Enallagma geminatum) was found along a trail in a savanna restoration area.

Tortricid Moth (Ancylis divisana)
May 17, 2008, Johnson County

Still seeing lots of Goatweed Leafwings. I also saw a black form female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus).

New species for 2008 included a stinkbug (Parabrochymena arborea), 2 Pistol Casebearers (Lepidoptera Coleophoridae Coleophora sp.) and a tortricid moth (Ancylis divisana).

2008-05-19T05:05:00.000-07:00

Red-banded Hairstreak (Calycopis cecrops)
May 16, 2008

While packing the car for a weekend trip to photograph insects, a Red-banded Hairstreak briefly landed in the driveway. No photos of it, but here's a look at one from September 19, 2007 (also in our yard).

2008-05-12T05:37:00.000-07:00

Nessus Sphinx (Amphion floridensis)
May 4, 2008

Two highlights of the day – a Nessus Sphinx (Amphion floridensis) flying amazingly fast and a millipede (Narceus sp.) being harassed by a pair of flies. The millipede kept changing direction, rolling over, and thrashing around but never managed to shake them in approximately 10 minutes I watched them until the millipede disappeared in the surrounding vegetation.

Toadbug (Gelastocoris oculatus)
May 3, 2008

First toadbug of the year seen along Hinkson Creek in Boone County.

Blue Corporal (Libellula deplanata)
May 1, 2008

Two new species of dragonflies for the day: a Blue Corporal and a teneral (just emerged) clubtail.

Cow Path Tiger Beetle (Cicindela purpurea)
April 29, 2008

It warmed up during the day, but someone told me that they had to scrape frost off their windshield when they headed for work this morning! I saw significantly fewer butterflies today than on April 23 when I saw about 50 Falcate Orangetips and 25 Goatweed Leafwings. Today I didn't see any Goatweed Leafwings and fewer than 6 Falcate Orangetips.

The best sighting of the day was a Cow Path Tiger Beetle – the first one I've ever seen. It was absolutely gorgeous. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get as close as I'd have liked.

Chickweed Geometer (Haemotopis grataria)
April 26, 2008

No photos taken today, but saw Chickweed Geometers (Haemotopis grataria) for the first time this year. Also my first syrphid fly (Diptera Syrphidae).

Eastern Tailed-Blue (Everes comyntas)
April 24, 2008

First Eastern Tailed-Blue (Everes comyntas) of the year seen on gravel during a bike ride. Also saw a Celery Looper Moth (Noctuidae Anagrapha falcifera) in the grass, but it was easily spooked and I couldn't get close enough for photos.

Ninebark Calligrapha Beetles (Chrysomelidae Calligrapha spiraeae)
April 23, 2008

First sighting of whirlygig beetles (Heteroptera Gyrinidae). Today also marked my first 2008 observations of Ninebark Calligrapha Beetles (Chrysomelidae Calligrapha spiraeae) on, well what else?, Ninebark (Rosaceae Physocarpus sp.)

I searched the same tent caterpillar web as on the 21st and today found a mating pair of Anchor Stink Bugs (Stiretrus anchorago). I am assuming the largest one was the female. Really cool bugs – the male green and white, the female orange and black. After the male left, the female ate a caterpillar; she caught one inside of the nest which apparently was a little too close to the outside layer of webbing. A small piece of the caterpillar had been pulled outside of the web by the stink bug and she was busy sucking out all of the body fluids. A few of the caterpillars were wandering on the outside of the web, when they would touch the stink bug's legs, the stink bug would pivot with its beak inside of the caterpillar it was feeding on to get away from the other caterpillars.

Anchor Stink Bug (Stiretrus anchorago)
April 21, 2008

Really upset to be without my flash (which is on the east coast being repaired) today when I saw an anchor stink bug for the first time. I found it crawling on an Eastern Tent Caterpillar web and flushed it. Later in the afternoon, I checked the same web and it was back – this time eating a caterpillar.

Tons of Goatweed Leafwings (Anaea andria) and Falcate Orangetips (Anthocharis midea) flying around Cole County today.

2008-04-16T08:08:00.000-07:00

Common Green Darner (Anax junius)
April 15, 2008

A day of first sightings for 2008. I've never had a day when I've seen so many cool things combined with taking so few photographs – I spent much of the day trying to get close to Goatweed Leafwings (Anaea andria). They were jumpy enough that I was occasionally flushing them from 10-15 feet away.

For a list of first sightings of the year, I'll start with the one that felt the most like “summer's coming” -- Common Green Darner (Anax junius)! It's been a long 6 months – my last Missouri dragonfly was a Variegated Meadowhawk last October.

Another first for spring of 2008 was a Six-spotted Tiger Beetle (Cicindella sexguttata). And a few new butterflies (and a moth) for the year: Falcate Orangetip (Anthocharis midea), Orange Sulphur (Colias eurytheme), Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus), Henry's Elfin (Callophrys henrici), Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta), Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) and a Snowberry Clearwing (Hemaris diffinis) moth.

In addition to the easily startled leafwings, other butterfly behavior lead to the low number of photos. Butterflies were continually jumping up to chase other butterflies. At about 5:30 pm, there were several episodes of 5 individuals engaged in chases: a Painted Lady, a Red Admiral, and a Goatweed Leafwing taking turns at the front trailed by 2 unidentified spreadwing skippers.

2008-04-16T07:53:00.000-07:00

Snow Flurries!!!???
April 13, 2008

That's just wrong!

2008-04-16T07:52:00.000-07:00

Caterpillar
April 9, 2008

We decided to join Randal Clark's wildflower walk tonight, but typical of this spring, wildflower sightings were scarce. Someone on the group found a very tiny caterpillar on gooseberry. Unfortunately, it kind of looked like rain, so I left without my camera – and even without my phone!

2008-04-07T19:12:00.000-07:00

Zebra Swallowtail (Eurytides marcellus)
7 April, 2008

Saw a few butterflies for the first time this year – Spring Azures (Celestrina ladon) and a Zebra Swallowtail (Eurytides marcellus). There were also quite a few moths (Caenurgina sp.) flying over mowed grass along the trail. I also found 2 blister beetles (Meloe sp.) on the trail.

2008-04-06T07:52:00.000-07:00

Water Measurer (Hydrometra sp.)
5 April, 2008

SUN! After seemingly endless days of cloudy, rainy weather, we finally get a break.

I spent an hour and a half sitting at the edge of a pond watching water striders, backswimmers, water boatmen, and a variety of diving beetles. But the highlight came when I noticed a water measurer (Hydrometridae, Hydrometra sp.) walking across the water surface. It's the first time I've ever seen a member this family of insects other than in the Enns Entomology Museum. Maybe I haven't been looking closely enough, but in my defense, it was gray-brown and about the size of a sewing needle. While sitting at the pond, I heard an insect jump onto dried vegetation behind me. It was a froghopper (Cercopidae Lepyronia sp.)

I ended up with 5 butterfly species for the day – Cabbage White (Pieris rapae), Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa), Question Mark (Polygonia interrogationis), Eastern Comma (Polygonia comma), and Gray Comma (Polygonia progne). One of the Gray Commas was nectaring at Fragrant Sumac (Rhus aromatica).

2008-03-21T16:05:00.000-07:00

Water Strider (Aquarius sp.)
March 21, 2008

A mix today of winter and spring sightings. While watching my first water striders of 2008, a White-throated Sparrow foraged on the ground nearby.

I have a new pet -- "Maggie" -- I collected one of the maggots I photographed yesterday. I have it in a plastic container with about 1" of dirt. I think it's a crane fly (Tipulidae), and will try to raise it to an adult to see what it looks like then.

2008-03-21T07:55:00.000-07:00

Maggots
March 20, 2008

A great first day of spring – sunny and mid-60s. But while last week in Louisiana we were in the midst of spring with butterflies, dragonflies and other cool stuff, today I resorted to maggot photos and a photo of henbit which should soon be turning parts of the landscape purple. (Take a look at Daniel Spurgeon's Nature at Close Range blog entry on henbit.)

We did experience my favorite part of spring – extremely loud spring peepers. As we rode our bikes past flooded woods at 2 pm, we heard mostly chorus frogs with a few peepers. The return ride at 5:15 pm was mostly peepers with a few chorus frogs. I like both, but really prefer to hear the peepers. Kind of weird that someone who admits (yes, I'm embarrassed) to being creeped out by frogs, lizards, skinks . . . . thinks listening to them is the best part of spring.

And switching to birds -- my first Eastern Phoebe in Missouri this year.

2008-03-21T06:54:00.000-07:00

Southeast Louisiana
March 9 - 13, 2008

It was really nice to get an extra week of spring by driving out of winter. Some highlights of the trip were dragonflies and damselflies at Tickfaw State Park, including a Stream Cruiser (Didymops transversa) and lots of Fragile Forktails (Ischnura posita). The forktails were common everyplace we went – even in my parents' yard. Butterflies at Tickfaw included quite a few Southern Pearly-eyes (Enodia portlandia).

Everywhere we went – but especially Mandalay National Wildlife Refuge – had way more lizards than I cared to see. We also had to turn around on the Mandalay trail midway one day when we couldn't get around a water moccasin. We had lunch, and returned to the trail and then made it to the end since the snake had left the bridge it was sunning itself on. From the wharf at the end, we saw the biggest alligator I've ever seen while out hiking – I'd guess about 15' long.

The best sighting at Mandalay was a bee mimic robber fly (Laphria sp.). Unfortunately, I had to be satisfied with using a doubler on my lens, shooting from 8' away at an insect higher than my head and cropping the photos. But since it was the only one in the genus I'd ever seen, I was still glad to get the shot. We also saw a few skippers, including this Least Skipper (Ancyloxypha numitor) nectaring at a flower in the pea family.

My parents' yard also had several really cool assassin bugs in the genus Zelus.

2008-03-04T16:00:00.000-08:00

Micromoth
March 4, 2008

Sunny and almost 40. I saw a tiny (probably 3-4 mm wingspan) tan moth flying over a creek at about 3:30 in the afternoon. It landed in the water, swam a few inches and managed to climb out of the water onto a protruding rock. Given the water temperature and the way I was dressed, I opted not to jump into the creek for a closer look.

2008-03-04T09:10:00.000-08:00

Goatweed Leafwing (Anaea andria)
March 2, 2008

When went back outside just before lunch, I noticed a small gray insect almost completely blending into the concrete. Fortunately, I'm constantly looking for insects because I'd have been really upset with myself if I had stepped on an antlion larva and then noticed it smashed on the pavement. I had been wondering if the warm weather would get a few of the antlions in our nesting area moving around, but this was the first time I'd seen one leave the loose dirt and crawl up a 4 inch vertical slab of concrete.

In the afternoon, we headed out to Henry Domke's reception for his photo exhibit at Runge Nature Center. As always, Henry's photos were brilliant, stunning. . . . While out on the trail (on this 77 degree day), we saw our first butterfly of the year – a female Goatweed Leafwing.

I left the deck light on in the evening to watch for moths, but the only visitors were two ichneumonid wasps similar to this one photographed in March 2007.

2008-03-04T09:08:00.000-08:00

Overwintering
March 1, 2008

A warm (69 F), sunny day. I wasn't seeing much on our bike ride, so in desperation I started lifting pieces of bark on the ground below a tree and found an overwintering beetle larva. I also had a fly buzz my bright green and white helmet, but since I was still wearing my helmet, I didn't get a good look at it.

Chorus frogs were calling this afternoon.

2008-02-29T18:26:00.000-08:00

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!”

2008-02-14T08:20:00.000-08:00

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.

2008-01-27T09:41:00.000-08:00

Red-shouldered Bugs (Jadera haematoloma)
January 7, 2008

I went for a walk on campus on this warm and sunny winter day (49 degrees). I saw several Red-shouldered Bugs (Jadera haematoloma) crawling around at the most reliable spot for them on campus – at the Goldenrain Tree (Sapindaceae Koelrueteria paniculata) just outside the doors of Jesse Hall. The insect is believed to be native to North America, but they are so frequently observed at exotic Goldenrain Trees that another common name is Goldenrain Tree Bug.

No photos from today, but here is an image of a Red-shouldered Bug on a Goldenrain Tree seed pod near Jesse Hall on 8 November 2005.

2008-01-27T09:38:00.001-08:00

Winter Crane Flies (Trichoceridae)
December 25, 2007

We were in Columbia on a sunny and 45 degree Christmas day this year. While walking on the MKT Trail, we saw a group of winter crane flies hovering above Flat Branch Creek, and several other individuals at different bridges over the creek. Unfortunately, when I left the house, although I thought about the possibility of finding a few insects, I figured it was a long shot and decided to walk without carrying a ton of camera equipment. Which was why I ended up taking a photo with my phone!!! You can take a look at it, along with a real photo of a winter crane fly taken 20 November 2006.

2007-11-12T13:20:00.000-08:00

Common Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus communis)
October 30, 2007

Back to the same clump of asters today, but not quite as good as it was on the 21st. Still fair numbers of sulphurs and skippers. Here's a photo of one of the Common Checkered-Skippers which are always so much easier to find at the end of the flight season instead of during the middle of the summer.

The bait pulled in a Gray Comma, but I didn't get a second chance at the Goatweed Leafwing.

2007-11-12T13:18:00.000-08:00

Orange Sulphur (Colias eurytheme)
October 21, 2007

Wow! I stopped by a small clump of aromatic asters in Boone County today and it was the best place for insects that I'd been at in a month! I think I really demonstrated the temperament of a macro photographer today – I stayed within a 10' diameter circle from 10:30 am until 4 pm.

Butterflies included Little Yellow (Eurema lisa), Orange Sulphur (Colias eurytheme), Clouded Sulphur (Colias philodice), Red-Banded Hairstreak (Calycopis cecrops), Juniper Hairstreak (Callophrys gryneus), Pearl Crescent (Phyciodes tharos), Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia), and Goatweed Leafwing (Anaea andria). Skippers included Sachem (Atalopedes campestris), Fiery Skipper (Hylephila phyleus), and Common Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus communis). Moths included Yellow-collared Scape Moth (Cisseps fulvicollis), Hawaiian Beet Webworm Moth (Spolodea recurvalis) and Spotted Beet Webworm Moth (Hymenia perspectalis – here's a photo of this species from September).

My favorite image from today is this photo of a male Orange Sulphur engaging in courtship behavior with a female. The male is flying above the perched female. The female wasn't interested and is expressing that to the male by lifting her abdomen into the air.

The Goatweed Leafwing was attracted to bait I had put on several trees near the asters. I wish people who are afraid to get close to wasps could have seen how docile these wasps at the bait were. I had placed the mostly empty container on the ground. When I was ready to leave, I went over to pick it up – it was covered in flies, yellowjackets and paper wasps. I just grabbed the container and shook it to knock everyone off. Then I decided I should have taken a few photos, so I put it back on the ground and waited a moment. Several immediately returned, included this paper wasp.

2007-11-12T13:16:00.000-08:00

Variegated Meadowhawk (Sympetrum corruptum)
October 11, 2007

We were out for a bike ride when I had to swerve around this Black Swallowtail caterpillar (Papilio polyxenes) crossing the trail, presumably out searching for a suitable pupation site to spend the winter.

I've also been noticing a group of Variegated Meadowhawks (Sympetrum corruptum) and managed to get a photo of this one resting on the trail.

2007-11-12T13:12:00.000-08:00

Gray Comma (Polygonia progne)
October 9, 2007

My bait finally attracted a Gray Comma. I've been getting Question Marks and Eastern Commas, along with a variety of other insects. It was especially nice to get today, since the numbers of insects has started to drop as we move into fall. Other insects for the day included Question Mark (Polygonia interrogationis), Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus), Red-Banded Hairstreak (Calycopis cecrops), Little Yellow (Eurema lisa), Fiery Skipper (Hylephila phyleus), Common Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus communis), Sachem (Atalopedes campestris), Eastern Pondhawk (Erythemis simplicicollis), Variegated Meadowhawk (Sympetrum corruptum) and an unidentified red male meadowhawk (Sympetrum sp.) I also briefly saw one of the rainpool gliders (Pantala sp.) but, typical for these guys, I never saw it land so I could get a good photo or at least a look to identify it to species.

2007-10-09T04:23:00.001-07:00

Preying Mantis Egg Case (Mantodea)
October 5, 2007

I managed to take this photo of a praying mantis egg case while fighting the wind which not only kept making my photo out of focus, but was frequently pushing the entire plant with the egg case out of the field of view of my lens. I expect the eggs will overwinter and hatch in the spring.

2007-10-09T04:22:00.001-07:00

Dragonfly Nymph
October 1, 2007

Yesterday, I went for a walk and stopped at Flat Branch Creek where I noticed a dragonfly nymph crawling on underwater plants. I returned with my camera today, figuring I didn’t have much of a chance of relocating the nymph, but instead found about half a dozen of them. They are active predators, not sit-and-wait predators.

I’ll update this post when I have a positive identification.

2007-10-09T04:19:00.000-07:00

Striped Garden Caterpillar (Trichordestra sp.)
September 28, 2007

We were in Greene County to take down my photo exhibit at the Springfield Conservation Nature Center and spent 2 days walking trails and taking photos at the nature center. This caterpillar was feeding on grass seed heads.

We also saw a few dragonflies and damselflies, including this male Double-Striped Bluet (Enallagma basidens).

2007-10-09T04:18:00.001-07:00

Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
September 23, 2007

I went out expecting to photograph damselflies at a creek, but found this group of Monarchs gathered together on a branch overhanging the creek. Perhaps the poor quality of this photo will convince me to always carry my wide angle lens even if I don’t expect to use it. A macro wasn’t the best choice for this photo, but it was all I had with me.

2007-10-09T04:17:00.001-07:00

Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa)
September 22, 2007

Since March, I’ve been putting out moth bait during the day trying to attract a Mourning Cloak. I’ve been suspecting that at least one visited my bait when I wasn’t there to see it. Today, my luck finally changed and I got a couple of decent photos of the ventral side of a Mourning Cloak. This isn’t one of the better shots, but I decided to post this one because it shows interesting behavior. The butterfly was repeatedly mobbed by yellowjackets trying to monopolize the bait.

2007-10-09T04:15:00.000-07:00

Red-Banded Hairstreak (Calycopis cecrops)
September 19, 2007

Each year when the goldenrod in our front yard blooms, we get butterflies, blister beetles, and a variety of bees and flies. Just about every year, we get Red-Banded Hairstreaks in late summer / early fall. Some years (but not this year), we luck out and also get White-M Hairstreaks.

2007-10-09T04:13:00.000-07:00

Potter Wasp (Eumenes sp.)
September 9, 2007

I was sitting outside eating lunch when I noticed this potter wasp had started building a nest on the railing. I took the first photo at 1:27 when the nest had a small circular rim. At 2:33, the nest was completed and the wasp laid eggs inside. The next day when I was on the deck for lunch, she showed up with a small green caterpillar and stuffed it into the nest – unfortunately, my camera was inside. I didn’t see her again, but the next day the hole in the nest had been plugged. On October 7, I noticed a small hole in the side of the nest – it appeared that a bird had raided the wasp nest.

2007-10-09T04:08:00.000-07:00

Spotted Beet Webworm Moth (Hymenia perspectalis)
September 4, 2007

I was really glad to get a few photos of this Spotted Beet Webworm Moth today. I was out for a walk the day before (without my camera) and saw one of these. Went back to the same place with my camera and found several of these. This and a couple of others were at mints but the one I saw yesterday and a few others were nectaring today at Sedum.

There were reasonable numbers of both male and female Pipevine Swallowtails (Battus philenor) at the Pipevine (Aristolochia sp.) growing along 15’ of a fence. Females were repeatedly briefly lighting on a variety of leaves and stems and would occasionally stop to oviposit. Arriving males would fly near females, but were at first ignored, and then if they persisted, the female would fly off away from the vines with the male in pursuit. I never saw any pairs mate.

2007-10-09T04:04:00.000-07:00

Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia)
August 23, 2007

We went out for a bike ride and on a short break, I found this buckeye caterpillar on Plantain.

2007-10-09T03:45:00.000-07:00

Lunate Zale (Zale lunata)
August 21, 2007

I’ve been spreading moth bait (a mixture of overly ripe bananas, brown sugar, and beer) onto tree trunks since March. I think this Lunate Zale is my favorite insect that showed up at the bait this year. I almost didn’t get to see it. As I walked up to the tree at about 10:30 pm, it was at the bait about head-high. It flew at my approach when I was about 3’ or 4’ away. Fortunately, it circled the tree trunk and landed again. I took another step and it flew, but once again landed on the same tree trunk, only this time not at the bait, but just about 10” above the ground where I was able to take a few photos.

2007-10-09T03:40:00.000-07:00

Eight-Spotted Forester (Alypia octomaculata)
August 20, 2007

I never thought I’d be glad it was mostly cloudy and I was leaning toward not going to the pool to swim laps. I kept walking outside to look at the sky and on one of those trips, found an Eight-Spotted Forester nectaring at these white flowers. It hung around for about 20 to 30 minutes. I was hoping to see it again, but it never appeared again. We’ve been in this house for years, but this was the only time I’ve ever seen this species here, although I’ve seen others in Boone County.

2007-08-23T07:30:00.000-07:00

Hackberry Emperor (Asterocampa celtis)
August 1-2, 2007

We made a circle through Missouri, picking up my photo exhibit from the Green Center in University City near St. Louis and bringing it to the Missouri Department of Conservation’s Springfield Nature Center. While in Springfield, we spent 2 days at Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield, one of my favorite places to find butterflies in Missouri. There were literally thousands of Hackberry Emperors – at one point, while trying to take photos, I actually brushed a few butterflies off of my shirt because there were so many they were distracting me. Wilson’s Creek allows horse riding on at least some of the trails, and the droppings prove irresistible for many butterflies. As we’d walk past a pile of dung on the trail, masses of butterflies would rise up. Laying on the ground next to it for photos was fairly unpleasant. Species highlights included Gemmed Satyr (Cyllopsis gemma) and Hoary Edge (Achalarus lyciades).

Most Chalcid wasps are parasites in pupae of either flies, butterflies or moths. This one was at a bagworm.

2007-08-23T06:49:00.000-07:00

Texas
July 15 - 21, 2007

We headed to the Austin area for a week after managing to get a reservation for one of Bat Conservation International’s members night to watch millions of Mexican Free-tailed Bats (Tadarada brasiliensis) fly out of Bracken Cave. This was definitely one of the most amazing experiences ever. We arrived at the cave entrance at about 6:30 pm on July 21st; quite a few bats were milling around just inside the cave. At about 8:15, we were standing on the roof of the sinkhole cave when the bats began pouring out of the opening and passed right over our heads on their way out for a night of hunting moths. When we left at 9:30, the stream of bats exiting the cave hadn’t slowed down yet – it takes a while for 20 million bats to leave. While waiting for the bats to exit, I enjoyed watching a pair of Giant Walking Sticks (Megaphasma dentricus).

The bats capped off a week spent hiking trails and watching insects. We saw lots of butterflies, including Texan Crescent and Pipevine Swallowtail. Other visitors at Pedernales State Park thought it was odd when I was in the bathroom taking photos of a moth on the wall, but they were impressed when they got a look at the Painted Lichen Moth before I released it onto a nearby tree trunk.

I saw my first ever Citrine Forktail (Ischnura hastata) at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center a day or so after her funeral. Unfortunately, I missed getting a photo. I did get a few exciting dragonfly and damselfly photos -- particularly these shots of Green Darners. A female Green Darner was ovipositing in water plants in a concrete pool near the LBJ Wildflower Center entrance when a male swooped over, grabbed her and flew off with her. We also saw Desert Firetail (Telebasis salva), Rambur’s Forktail (Ichnura ramburii), and Black Setwing (Dythemis nigrescens), and Neon Skimmer (Libellula croceipennis)at the Botanical Garden in Zilker Park, and an as yet unidentified Setwing (Dythemis sp.) at Wild Basin Nature Center. Several pairs of damselflies were mating and ovipositing at the top of the waterfall in Wild Basin. Most of these species were also at other sites we visited including Hamilton Pool and Enchanted Rock. I spent about half an hour watching an actively hunting damselfly nymph in an ephemeral pond at the base of Enchanted Rock, even getting to see it grab and devour a tiny insect. Quite a few people stopped to ask what the heck I was photographing while sitting on the ground next to a tiny pool of water with my camera a couple of inches from the water surface.

A family with 3 young boys stopped to watch me take photos of these leaf-cutter ants. The middle boy seemed particularly intrigued with the idea that a person could grow up and, instead of having a real job, spend all day taking photos of insects.

Despite the fact that I don’t really like to be too close to lizards and related animals, I couldn’t resist trying to get photos of these young Greater Earless Lizards (Cophosaurus texanus) at Pedernales State Park. In a nod to my irrational fear, I put a tele-extender on my 180mm lens. I guess I did a pretty good job of sneaking up and putting the lizard, at least, at ease, because while he was running around on the rocks hunting, he ended up running at me once. So I’ve got a full frame image of this lizard, and all of a sudden I see through the lens that it is running towards me. Given the terrain, I’m lucky I didn’t fall over in my haste to escape this “dangerous” 2-inch long baby lizard!

2007-07-13T20:06:00.000-07:00

Halloween Pennant (Celithemis eponina)
July 9, 2007

This was a frustrating day when I seemed completely unable to get close to any insects without spooking them. Fortunately, those days are infrequent.

But a couple of photos made up for the whole irritating experience. I managed to sneak up on this Halloween Pennant; you know it’s hot when the dragonflies start to overheat. Obelisking dragonflies orient their bodies so the abdomen points toward the sun, minimizing absorption of the direct rays of the sun.

These treehoppers (Homoptera Membracidae) were being tended by ants. Treehoppers produce honeydew, which is consumed by ants. In a mutually beneficial relationship, the ants protect the treehoppers from predators in exchange for the food.

2007-07-13T20:03:00.000-07:00

Black and Yellow Mud Dauber (Sceliphron sp.)
July 7, 2007

Is there any better way to spend a summer morning than sitting at the edge of a pond watching dragonflies? I watched a wide variety at a pond created decades ago when the land was strip-mined: Twelve-spotted Skimmer, Eastern Pondhawk, Blue Dasher, Halloween Pennant, Banded Pennant, Red Saddlebags, Slaty Skimmer, Widow Skimmer and Eastern Amberwing.

I noticed this Black and Yellow Mud Dauber (Hymenoptera Sphecidae Sceliphron sp.) gathering mud at the edge of the pond.

2007-07-13T20:01:00.000-07:00

Juniper Hairstreak (Callophrys gryneus)
July 6, 2007

A Juniper Hairstreak was nectaring at milkweed this afternoon. Juniper Hairstreaks, the only green butterfly in Missouri, overwinter as a chrysalis. The caterpillars eat leaves of eastern red cedar.

2007-07-13T19:56:00.000-07:00

Dung Beetles (Scarabaeidae)
July 3, 2007

A pair of dung beetles were rolling a ball of dung just to the side of a trail through the woods. Different species of dung beetles exhibit a variety of behaviors: some construct a nest and bury dung below the ground where it was found, some lay eggs directly in the mound of dung, and others, such as these, remove a small portion of dung, form it into a ball and roll it to a spot they have selected to bury it before oviposition. Some species of dung beetles opt to steal dung that other dung beetles have buried.

2007-06-22T10:40:00.000-07:00

American Snout (Libytheana carinenta)
June 14, 2007

I was photographing this American Snout when it moved to a different plant and I noticed it appeared to be laying an egg. After the adult butterfly moved on, I went back to the leaf and searched and found an egg.

Some butterfly species only lay a single egg at a time, others lay several eggs, while others lay dozens of eggs in a cluster. Some of the factors which contribute to laying large egg clusters are a relative scarcity of appropriate plants on which to lay eggs, opting for the benefits of gregarious caterpillars, or a lower population density which results in a butterfly needing to spend more time locating a mate.

2007-06-22T10:37:00.000-07:00

Antlion (Myrmeleon sp.)
June 3 , 2007

Today I finally got a good look at an adult antlion in our yard. For years, we’ve had a large group of pits dug by larvae in the dust by our front door. You can see photos of one larva that I dug up for photos on my October 9, 2006 entry.

I noticed an adult on the screen of a basement window just above the pits while I was inside framing photos for an exhibit at Runge Nature Center. I went outside, but couldn’t photograph it from it’s perch. I chased it off of the window and watched it’s weak flight through the nearby plants. Fortunately, it stopped nearby instead of taking off, and I was able to shoot a few photos.

2007-05-30T10:17:00.000-07:00

Beautiful Wood-Nymph (Eudryas grata)
May 29 , 2007

The Beautiful Wood-Nymph is often mentioned as a bird dropping mimic, but I just don’t see it that way. I had intended to go to sleep at a decent hour, but had turned the deck light on when it got dark. At 10 pm, I stepped outside to just take a quick look, figuring I’d be out for a moment then turn off the light when I saw this gorgeous animal on the wall. I could have gotten a good photo a lot quicker if I’d asked for an assistant right away. It was a lot easier to focus the camera once Jim pointed a flashlight at it – amazing how much easier it is to focus on an insect when you can actually see it!

2007-05-30T10:15:00.000-07:00

Green Marvel (Agriopodes fallax)
May 25 , 2007

I’ve been photographing moths at the Missouri Department of Conservation office where I used to work as a research tech for the state waterfowl biologist. The building lights stay on all night and moths are frequently found on the exterior walls the next day. Friends have been phoning me when something cool shows up and I was really excited to see this Green Marvel. According to Butterflies and Moths of Missouri by Heitzman and Heitzman, this moth is fairly common in the Ozarks, but not as frequently found in the rest of the state.

2007-05-30T10:11:00.000-07:00

Question Mark (Polygonia interrogationis)
May 18 , 2007

While out riding bikes, we saw this really cool caterpillar, which we identified as a Question Mark, a common woodland butterfly, crawling on a bridge railing along the Katy Trail. My March 12th blog post mentions an adult Question Mark coming to bait. The butterfly is named for the white Question Mark on the underside of the hind wing.

2007-05-17T10:10:00.000-07:00

Warm-chevroned Moth (Tortricidia testacea)
May 12 , 2007

I ran a mercury vapor light as part of a BioBlitz organized by the Columbia Audubon Society. An 8 hour walk as part of the International Migratory Bird Count left us pretty tired and since we needed to set the alarm early the next morning, we weren’t able to stay very late.

But we had a few interesting insects, including a Black Corsair (see the April 2nd post) that I kept an eye on. My favorite moth for the night was this Warm-chevroned Moth (Limacodidae Tortricidia testacea).

2007-05-17T10:09:00.000-07:00

Chickweed Geometer (Haematopis grataria)
May 11 , 2007

I finally took a few reasonably acceptable photos of this common geometrid moth. According to Heitzman and Heitzman (Butterflies and Moths of Missouri), the Chickweed Geometer occurs in all 114 Missouri counties in vacant lots and roadsides.

2007-05-17T10:06:00.000-07:00

The Beggar (Eubaphe mendica)
May 8, 2007

I got covered in ticks and got spit from a spittle bug in my hair while laying down taking photos of moths on a levee surrounding a green tree reservoir at a friend’s house. His daughters were grossed out at the thought of insect spit – I kept it to myself that it came out of the other end.

Two cool moths in exchange for the ticks: Grape Leaf-folder Desmia sp. and The Begger (Eubaphe mendica).

2007-05-17T10:03:00.000-07:00

Bird-dropping Moth (Antaeotrichia schlaegeri)
May 7, 2007

Walking through a mid-Missouri forest adjacent to a glade just before dusk, we found this bird-dropping moth (Antaeotrichia schlaegeri). These tiny moths are grass miners (Elachistidae).

2007-05-17T09:54:00.000-07:00

Common Whitetails (Libellula lydia)
May 5, 2007

I spent most of the day at a pond in a small prairie. The 7 male Common Whitetails at the pond were frequently engaging in chases, and at one point the chasing seemed to intensify and I could hear them actually making contact with each other in flight. A quick search confirmed my guess as to what caused the commotion – the 7 males at the pond had been joined by a single female.

I also saw a frog capture and eat a small black spider while I was increasing my tolerance for frogs at the pond – it is inundated with small frogs and tadpoles. I guess I just wanted to look at the insects more than I wanted to get away from the frogs. A friend insists that most people like frogs. They’re fine, as long as they aren’t too close, but today I managed to remain sitting with one only 2 or 3 inches from me. It was worth it while I watched several species of water beetle and took this photo of the first backswimmer I saw in 2007.

2007-05-03T14:56:00.000-07:00

Grape Leaf-folder Moth (Lepidoptera Crambidae Desmia sp.)
May 2, 2007

It rained off and on throughout the day. We were out hiking from 5:30 pm until dusk – it rained only at the beginning and end of the hike. It was fairly warm, so it wasn’t too bad despite being wet.

Just as the rain started, we saw a small black-and-white moth rushing for cover under a leaf. I didn’t get a great look (or a photo since I left my camera at home because of the rain), but I thought it was a Grape Leaf-folder Moth. The caterpillars feed on grapevines and construct small shelters by folding leaves over and securing them with silk. Here’s a photo of an adult on our tent in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park a few years ago. (replaced with photo from 2009).

2007-05-03T14:42:00.000-07:00

Ninebark (Physocarpus opifolius)
May 1, 2007

Ninebark shrubs were blooming, attracting a variety of flies, bees, butterflies and moths. A species of attractive Leaf Beetles (Chrysomelidae: Calligrapha spiraeae) live on Ninebark and the plants can tolerate their feeding on the leaves. Butterflies included Eastern Tailed-Blues (Everes comyntas) and Painted Ladies (Vanessa cardui).

Two diurnal moths - an Eight-Spotted Forester (Lepidoptera Noctuidae: Alypia octomaculata) and a Mournful Thyris (Lepidoptera Thyrididae: Pseudothyris sepulchralis) – were also nectaring at the ninebark blooms. The Mournful Thyris sat for a number of photos, but every time I clicked the shutter, the Forester bolted. At first I thought the flash was spooking him, but he kept taking off with each shot even after I turned off the flash. I eventually got a single decent shot, but I kind of liked this mistake. The moth was sitting still on the flower when I pushed the shutter, but he flew the instant the flash went off.

Although I rarely photograph anything other than insects, I like this image of a Pileated Woodpecker that flew overhead while I was photographing a dragonfly.

2007-05-03T14:40:00.000-07:00

Picture-winged Fly (Diptera Ulididae: Callopistromyia annulipes)
April 29, 2007

On April 17th, I took a photo of the other North American species in this genus (C. strigula). I was pleased to get a few decent shots of this one as it displayed on a tree trunk. This one holds its wings straight up similar to a male peacock.

2007-05-03T14:38:00.000-07:00

Falcate Orangetip (Lepidoptera Pieridae: Anthocaris midea)
April 21, 2007

I saw my first Falcate Orangetip of the year on April 16, and after 3 days of chasing them, managed to get a decent shot of a female nectaring at Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica).