Eleven days after a Cloudless Sulphur caterpillar was first noticed preparing to pupate on a Partridge Pea pod in Catch the Wind, it has emerged as an adult male butterfly. A Monarch caterpillar was pointed out to me on Butterfly Weed in Catch the Wind. I’ll have to keep an eye on that one too! Read the rest of this entry »
Posts Tagged ‘Cloudless Sulphur’
Summer Starts to Buzz
June 30th, 2009The First-of-the-Year Great Blue Skimmer appeared on the 27th of June, perhaps adding to the confusion of novice oders (oders = dragonfly watchers). There are now 3 species of dragonfly cruising the Wetlands in which the mature males are overall blue in coloration. They differ in size as well as in several less obvious characteristics, [...] Read the rest of this entry »
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The Wheel, a Hopper, a Borer, and a Carpet Beetle
April 30th, 2009Dragonfly and damselfly species are picking up. Seen this period were (dates next to names indicate day in which that species was first observed this season) Fragile Forktail, Citrine Forktail (4/18), Orange Bluet (4/27), Skimming Bluet (4/28), Common Green Darner, Swamp Darner, Common Baskettail, Eastern Pondhawk (4/25), Blue Corporal (4/25), Blue Dasher (4/27), Common Whitetail, [...] Read the rest of this entry »
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Looking Back: Insects
December 31st, 2008With the closing of the year it’s perhaps time to look back and see what we’ve observed on the Explore the Wild/Catch the Wind Loop. Below, in the appropriate segments, I give totals for some of the species seen since January of last year. This past year I’ve tallied 27 species of odonates (dragonflies and [...] Read the rest of this entry »
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Autumn Meadowhawk
October 31st, 2008Right on cue, Autumn Meadowhawks have appeared on the scene (see Autumn Meadowhawks, Explore the Wild Journal, September 16-30, 2008). The first one that caught my eye was on October 19 following the rains brought in by a passing cold front. These rather small dragonflies have a red abdomen and yellowish or straw-colored legs (they [...] Read the rest of this entry »
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Locust Borer and Late Butterflies
October 15th, 2008Although mentioned in the last installment of the Explore the Wild Journal, a picture of a Two-lined Spittlebug was not displayed. More spittlebugs have been showing up and I was able to get a nice shot of one (image at right). There was a Locust Borer on the Goldenrod alongside the Wetlands (photo at left). [...] Read the rest of this entry »
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Late September Insects
September 30th, 2008Despite a general decrease in dragonfly activity, several dragonflies are still being seen in small numbers including Common Green Darner, Black Saddlebags and Wandering Glider. All three of these dragonfly species are known to move with the seasons. With the winds out of the north, mostly northeast for a good part of the period, I’m [...] Read the rest of this entry »
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Some Most Unusual Beetles and other Goodies
August 31st, 2008While watching a small Northern Water Snake stalk frogs from the Wetlands Overlook, I happened to see something wiggling amongst the dense plants in the water. A quick look through my binoculars revealed two large Predaceous Diving Beetle larvae locked in mortal combat, one had a death grip on the other. These larvae were quite [...] Read the rest of this entry »
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Buprestid Beetles appear, Cicada Killer Stakes Claim
July 15th, 2008I found a metallic woodboring beetle on the paved path in Explore the Wild. It was one of the large metallic woodborers, Chalcophora virginiensis (pictured at right). Its larvae bore into pines. One reference calls this beetle the Large Flat-headed Pine Heartwood Borer (the thoracic section of the larva or grub is flattened). I think [...] Read the rest of this entry »
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