Category Archives: Insects and Other Arthropods

A Tiger Drama

By Greg Dodge, Ranger | Published: March 25, 2010

I saw the first Six-spotted Tiger Beetle (Cicindela sexguttata) of the season on the 19th of March. I’ve seen several others since. These beetles are often encountered in spring on the path or on the rocks alongside the path between Catch the Wind and Explore the Wild. Tiger beetles are small (about 1/2″) but fierce predators. [...] Read more...

A Question Mark, a Comma, and a Question of Origin

By Greg Dodge, Ranger | Published: March 17, 2010

Over the past few weeks I’ve seen several species of butterfly winging through the outdoor exhibits. Two of those species are very similar in appearance and both, if you’re hearing them for the first time, have rather odd names, Question Mark and Eastern Comma. Even their Latin names reflect the strangeness of the common names, [...] Read more...

Also posted in Spring | Tagged assassin bug, butterfly, comma, insect eggs, question mark, stink bug | 4 Comments

Fish Crow and Lep Update

By Greg Dodge, Ranger | Published: March 9, 2010

Though Fish Crows have been seen and heard in our area (Piedmont) for several weeks, Saturday (3/6) was the first sighting for me at the Museum. If I hadn’t heard them first I would have passed them off as American Crows. Although Fish Crows are a bit smaller the two species look very much alike. [...] Read more...

Also posted in Birds, Spring | Tagged American Crow, crow calls, Fish Crow, Spring | 2 Comments

The Springtails

By Greg Dodge, Ranger | Published: January 5, 2010

It was Leon Bradford, Insectarium Manager at the Museum, who first discovered them. Dogged, persistent, Leon was determined to find insect activity on that cold December day. It was supposed to be a warm day, but the clouds lingered longer than predicted and the temps hovered in the thirties throughout the morning. I had told [...] Read more...

Also posted in Winter | Tagged and Symphypleona, Entomobryomorpha, isotomidae, Poduromorpha, springtail, winter insects | Leave a comment

Red Admiral

By Greg Dodge, Ranger | Published: December 29, 2009

On December 23rd a Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) was seen flying about the Mahonia near the entrance to the Dinosaur Trail. The butterfly didn’t stand still for long, but when it did finally settle, it did so twenty some feet up on the trunk of a Loblolly Pine. It was a stretch, but I managed [...] Read more...

Also posted in Winter | Tagged butterflies, leps, overwinter, red admiral | Leave a comment

November Insects

By Greg Dodge, Ranger | Published: November 11, 2009

There’s no doubt that insect activity slows down in November. But (there’s always a but), you may be surprised at just how much insect activity there is at this time of the year. If the sun is shining, much of that insect activity may be found wherever there is a warm spot, away from the [...] Read more...

Also posted in Fall | Tagged ants, Autumn Meadowhawk, fall insects, fatsia japonica, stinkbug, Wheel Bug | 2 Comments

Two Late Larvae

By Greg Dodge, Ranger | Published: October 26, 2009

Near the end of the day on October 8, I received a call on my radio from Ranger Gurlal saying that he had found something interesting in Catch the Wind. He didn’t say what it was, only that he wanted me to see it. Several minutes later as Gurlal rounded the bend in the trail, I could see that he had a folded leaf in his hands; there had to be some kind of insect within. Read more…

Also posted in Fall | Tagged Charadra deridens, Limacodidae, moth larvae, Prolimacodes badia, skiff moth, slug caterpillar, The Laugher | Leave a comment

A Common Thread

By Greg Dodge, Ranger | Published: October 9, 2009

Each fall it seems that spiders appear from nowhere, crawling along the ground, stretching out their sticky webs across our favorite hiking trails, and even entering our living spaces. The truth is, they’re with us the entire summer, we simply may not notice them because they, along with their webs (if they construct them), are [...] Read more...

Also posted in Fall | Tagged butterflies, catch the wind, explore the wild, life + science, marbled orbweaver, Monarch, moths, smartweed caterpillar, snoweberry clearwing, spotted orbweaver, tobacco budworm, tussock moth, wolf spider | Leave a comment

August’s Insects

By Greg Dodge, Ranger | Published: August 31, 2009

Two spiders to look for in both August and September are the Green Lynx Spider (Puecetia viridans) and the Black-and-Yellow Argiope (ar-guy’-o-pee) Spider (Argiope aurantia). The lynx spiders may be found lying in wait on goldenrod, or other flowers, to pounce on nectar-loving insects. The Argiope, one of the most familiar orb weavers in our area, is often [...] Read more...

Also posted in Summer | Tagged (Anisota senatoria), (Argiope aurantia), (Calopteron), (Metaleptea brevicornis), (Panatala flavescens), (Pantala hymenaea), (Puecetia viridans), (Schizura concinna), Black-and-Yellow Argiope Spider, Chinese Mantid, Cicada Killers, Clipwing Grasshopper, Clouded Skippers, Differential Grasshopper, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Eastern-tailed Blues, Golden Tortoise Beetles, Green Lynx Spider, Leaf-footed Bugs, Luna Moth Caterpillar, Net-winged Beetles, Orange-striped Oakworms, Pearl Crescents, Red-humped Caterpillars, Red-spotted Purples, Sleepy Oranges, Soldier Fly larvae, Spicebush Swallowtails, Spot-winged Glider, Stratiomys, Two-lined Spittlebugs, Viceroy, Wandering Gliders, Zabulon Skipper | Leave a comment

Some Late July Insects

By Greg Dodge, Ranger | Published: July 31, 2009

I spent part of the morning of July 22nd with the Museum’s Marsh Madness Summer Campers scooping up critters from the Wetlands. A goodly number of aquatic insects and other invertebrates were captured and studied, including a Water Scorpion, several Backswimmers, various water scavenger beetles, many dragonfly nymphs and a handful of leeches. (Leeches are [...] Read more...

Also posted in Summer | Tagged Backswimmers, Bumble Bee, Cicada Killer, dragonfly nymphs, Dun Skipper, Eastern Narrow-mouthed Toad, Eastern-tailed Blue, Green Treefrog, Horace’s Duskywing, Katydid, Red-spotted Purple, Saucrobotys futilalis, Spicebush Swallowtail, water scavenger beetles, Water Scorpion, Wheel Bug, wolf spider, wolf spider (Rabidosa) | Leave a comment

Greg Dodge is a professional naturalist as well as a writer, videographer and producer of natural history DVDs. His images have been used in various TV productions, museum displays, and corporate videos. Above all, he has a fascination and passion for all things natural.
Stop by and say hello Tuesday thru Saturday in Explore the Wild, Catch the Wind, or on the Dino Trail.

Tags: Backswimmers, Bumble Bee, Cicada Killer, dragonfly nymphs, Dun Skipper, Eastern Narrow-mouthed Toad, Eastern-tailed Blue, Green Treefrog, Horace’s Duskywing, Katydid, Red-spotted Purple, Saucrobotys futilalis, Spicebush Swallowtail, water scavenger beetles, Water Scorpion, Wheel Bug, wolf spider, wolf spider (Rabidosa)