An American Lady, a Green Lacewing, a Crane Fly with "Guests", and a Scutigera

I have gotten way behind on the blogging side of life.  I have to attribute much of that to falling under the spell of Facebook's two-toned notification alert telling me that someone is "liking" or "commenting on" some photo I posted there (like this).  I guess I have been grabbed by that instant gratification, however brief, that comes with knowing that someone has responded to a photo that I took.  That's the way we amateurs roll!

Added to this distraction was my wife's departure for the United Kingdom for a month long adventure as an instructor for a Campbell University student who was taking a British Children's Literature summer course.  More on that in a later post.

As I left the lab to pick up my American Lady and deliver her to the airport that day, I came across another American Lady.  Of course, in order to realize this, I had to search Google first for an identification.  It seemed appropriate that this butterfly presented itself on my wife's travel day.

American Lady Butterfly 

(Vanessa virginiensis)

The American Lady Butterfly (also called American Lady Painted Butterfly) is found across much of the US, but this one individual was a first for me.  The underside of the hind-wing has two large eye spots (or ocelli).  There is a large patch of orange and an overall feel of looking at a stained glass window.  The antennae have ends that remind me of cotton swabs.  The upper wings of this butterfly look much different as you can see in this (link) to Wikipedia.

I further learned from Bugguide that the caterpillars of this species feed in a weblike nest that they construct on just a few plant species which includes Pussytoes (Antennaria plantaginifolia) (link).  

Green Lacewing 

(Family: Chrysopidae)

Shortly after my wife's departure for the United Kingdom, I began taking photos of insects at night by the porch lights. One of the first photos I took was of this Green Lacewing.  Its delicate and transparent wings reveal its abdomen underneath.  So this insect might look delicate, but its larvae are voracious predators that feed on the eggs and nymphs of insects like aphids, whitefly, mealybugs, and leaf-hoppers as well as spider mites. 

(link to larva in Wikipedia)

Large Crane Fly 

(Family: Tipulidae)

Another visitor to the porch light was this individual from a species of Large Crane Fly.  As I zoomed in on the digital photo in preparation to crop it, I noticed tiny red objects around the crane fly's head and thorax.

As I zoomed in closer I could see that this crane fly was carrying at least seven mites.  I read that most of these mites are phoretic, that is, they hitch a ride on the winged insect to get to an area where their preferred meal is located and do no harm to their flying limousine service.  There are a few mite species that actually do feed on the host.

Scutigera or European House Centipede 

(Scutigera coleoptrata)

One evening I found a Scutigera scuttling about on the foundation outside.  More commonly known as the European House Centipede, this species was formerly native to areas around the Mediterranean Sea.  I have seen several of these fascinating creatures in the past couple years at the new public health laboratory where I work.  A hatchling Scutigera reaches adulthood after several molts.  By that time these centipedes have 15 pairs of legs, the rear pair resembling their antennae so that it is difficult to tell which is the front and which is the back of this arthropod. The pairs of legs are shorter at the front of the body and get progressively longer toward the back.  This enables the centipede to run swiftly without "tripping over its own 30 feet"!  I read recently on Wikipedia that these centipedes can live for three to seven years. They are ferocious insect and spider predators. I once saw a video of a Scutigera catching and eating two Brown Recluse Spiders!  

LATE APRIL - EARLY MAY INSECTS

Spring is in the air with bluebirds, chickadees, and nuthatches incubating their first nests of the season.  But for me, nature's bounty extends beyond the birds to six-legged creatures.  

SIX-SPOTTED TIGER BEETLE
(Cicindela sexguttata)

On April 20th I came across this fabulous metallic green Six-Spotted Tiger Beetle ambling over and around some dead vegetation that was strewn across large granite stones at the mouth of a retention pond that captures storm water run-off from the lab's large parking area.  Each shell-like outer wing often has three (but as many as five) white spots for a total of six (but as many as ten). This insect mostly ran along the rocks but occasionally took short low flights from spot to spot.  These guys are voracious hunters of other insects and have a magnificent set of jaws.

(link to Fairfax County Public School website)

(link to Six-spotted Tiger Beetle jaws)

(link to bugguide.net photo of jaws)

A couple weeks later I found another Six-spotted Tiger Beetle on a cloudier day, so its appearance is not quite as iridescent as the previous one.  This individual has an additional small pair of white spots toward the middle of it back.

CRANE FLY
(Tipulidae/Tipula spp)

A few days earlier I found this pair of crane flies affixed to a second floor window along the connector between the two wings of the lab.  The mated female will lay her eggs in wet soil nearby or perhaps in water.  The larval crane flies often feed on decaying plant material, but the adults do not eat and live just long enough to mate and lay eggs. Crane flies are called by many other names like; mosquito eater (skeeter eater) or mosquito hawk (they do not eat mosquitoes), giant mosquito (they are not related to mosquitoes), gallinipper (though this name actually refers to a species of mosquito), and in Europe they are called "daddy long-legs" (the name we use for the spider-like harvest-men).  I read on Bugguide.net that there are more than 1500 species of crane fly in North America.  I have no clue what species this is!

(link to Fairfax County Public School website)

One feature that all Crane Fly species share with flies, gnats and mosquitoes is a pair of "halteres" that are located behind the fore-wings.  I read that these structures are a modified set of hind wings that act as a sort of gyroscope and aid in the crane fly's balance as it flies along with its long dangly legs hanging from its light weight body.  In this enlargement of the upper crane fly you can see the spherical "knobs" of the halteres just behind the third pair of legs.  

I learned from further reading that the development of halteres in flies, gnats,and mosquitoes, is controlled by a specific gene (the Ubx gene).  If this gene in these insects is "turned off" in an experimental laboratory setting, the young fly (or gnat or mosquito) will grow a fully developed second pair of wings instead of halteres.  This is an example of how one mutation in one specific gene can make a significant change in the anatomy of a species. 

(link to wikipedia.org/wiki/Halteres)

This is another species of crane fly that I found in March. The halteres are the "straight pin" shaped structures between the second and third pairs of legs.  

EASTERN PONDHAWK
(Erythemis simplicicolis)

As I was checking the nest boxes at the lab one day in early May I noticed this green dragonfly hovering about.  It would land on vegetation and then move away from me as I got closer.  Since I did not have my long lens with me, this is the best photo I could capture.  It is a bit fuzzy from serious cropping.  From studying Bugguide.net this appears to be an Eastern Pondhawk.  It is either a female or more likely a young male based on the pair of white claspers at the tip of the tail.  I read that as a male pondhawk ages, he develops a waxy covering on the abdomen and eventually the thorax which causes his coloration to become a powdery blue.  This species of dragonflies is an aggressive hunter of other insects, not only as an aquatic larva at the bottom of ponds, but also as an adult that zooms around over ponds and habitat nearby. They are not harmful to humans.

ORANGE-PATCHED SMOKY MOTH
(Pyromorpha dimidiata)

Wednesday morning May 13th I went to check on the Bluebirds nesting in our backyard.  On the side of the nest box I found this pair of orange and black moths.  It first I thought they might be beetles, but they had feathered antennae.  I have recently join the "Moths of the Eastern United States" Facebook group, so I posted my first moth ID check.  From looking at Bugguide.net I had guessed that these might be Black and Yellow Lichen Moths (Lycomorpha pholus).  Within a few minutes I had a response that gently suggested that these were Orange-Patched Smoky Moths.  A quick visit to Bugguide.net confirmed this identification.  I read more about this moth today and discovered two items of interest.  The larvae of this moth are leaf skeletonizers.  The caterpillars eat the material between the leaf veins which leaves a skeleton of the original leaf.  Instead of feeding on live leaves like many skeletonizers, this species appears to feed mostly on leaf litter, especially oak.  The other interesting point is that the adult insect is a color mimic of a toxic orange and black beetle.  In fact, this moth is also thought to be toxic as well, actually manufacturing its own cyanide compound to ward off creatures that would attempt to dine on it.

(link to info about Smoky Moths)

GOLDEN-BACKED SNIPE FLY
(Chrysopilus thoracicus)

Later the same day as I returned to the lab's back door I came upon this beautiful fly on the concrete patio.  After consulting Bugguide.net, I learned that this is a Golden-Backed Snipe Fly.  I was able to identify this as a female fly from her thicker abdomen and the fact that her eyes do not touch each other as do the eyes of male flies.  This fly is thought to be predatory on other insects.  Though there are similar species that live in the western states of the US that bite humans, this species apparently does not.

Late April to Early July 2014 - Wonders of Nature Outside My Door

The Earth abounds with natural treasures. 

 It doesn't take long to find a few of them if we are just a little observant.

The past couple months have zoomed by with only a lengthy post (Brown-headed Nuthatches) for my friend Judy who passed away last week after battling pancreatic cancer for several months.  But I was seeing lots of other things, too.  So here is my attempt to catch up.

4-26-2014 

In a nest box in the backyard I found these six newly hatched Carolina Chickadee babies in a nest of moist green moss that was lined with soft, soft fur from perhaps a neighborhood dog.

5-1-2014

This male Crane Fly (Tipula species) was hanging out on the back door of the lab, seemingly all leggy and clumsy like I was in junior high school.  Well, now, too, except a lot fatter!

5-2-2014

The baby Carolina Chickadees are about 7 days old and are starting to get their black caps.  Maybe they are dreaming of graduating from the nest  in 10 days or so and going on to flight school.

5-2-2014

A nest of five baby Eastern Bluebirds at the lab (Box #2) are piled on top of each other and just two days from flying.

5-4-2014

I found this dried out, flattened, and tailless Ground Skink in the Bluebird nest the day after the young birds had fledged.  Later in the month I found another skink in a second bluebird nest (Box #5) on the other side of the laboratory campus.  Never thought of sweet, gentle bluebirds as reptile hunters. 
 (see link)

5-7-2014

Peggy found this Copperhead hanging out beside the house late one afternoon.  It definitely blends in with its surroundings.  It got moved down the road to a more secluded area.  Many safety precautions were taken!
(see link)

5-9-2014

The six little Carolina Chickadees are looking like adults now.  They stayed in the nest a few more days and fledged on 5-12-2014.  They're off to flight school!

5-11-2014

This little Eastern Worm Snake turned up in a pile of wheat straw.  Notice its two tone brownish gray above and pink below.  This is quite a gentle snake and never offers to bite.

But it will drag the pointy end of its tail across your hand as a defense mechanism.  It rather tickles!
(see link)

5-14-2014

A pitcher plant's mouth reminds me of Kermit the Frog.  They both eat bugs!

5-15-2014

This very small long-horned beetle showed up this morning on the back door of the State Lab.  The body is about 1/4" long and the antennae are nearly twice that.  The species name is Hyperplatys aspersa. 
(see link)

5-16-2014

I found this male Yellow-bellied Pond Slider crossing the road between the Fairgrounds and Carter-Finley Stadium. Check out his very long toenails!  I like the beautiful yellow striping and his very pretty eye!

5-27-2014

A mud dauber decided to nest in one of the bluebird nest boxes I put up at the lab.  Above it a paper wasp started her nest which hangs from the ceiling.  The mud dauber builds one chamber at a time.  It catches and paralyzes a spider which it puts in the chamber.  It lays its egg on the spider and then closes up the chamber before beginning to shape another cylinder.   

5-27-2014

In another nest box at the lab a family of Carolina Chickadees built their mossy nest.  I provided many of the boxes with peat cups to make it easier to observe the growing babies.  The female Chickadee laid five eggs but only these three hatched.

5-30-2014

Another moth visitor to the back door of the State Lab is this delicate looking Banded Tussock Moth also known as the Pale Tiger Moth.
(see link)
and
(see link to caterpillar)

5-30-2014

This Virginian Tiger Moth is difficult to distinguish from the Agreeable Tiger Moth.  The third picture in this series shows the orange markings on the top of its abdomen that are characteristic of the Virginian.

This is a view of the Virginian Tiger Moth's underside.  It is also called the Yellow Woolybear Moth.
(see Yellow Woolybear)

This view of the Virginian Tiger Moth shows the yellow-orange markings on top of its abdomen.  

(see link)

6-2-2014
It took me a while to figure out this insect.  I searched through crickets and grasshoppers and their kin, and discovered that this is an American Shieldback Katydid.  The long ovipositor indicates that this is a female.
(see link)

6-3-2014
In Box #6 at the State Lab the first two of five Eastern Bluebirds hatched this morning.  Ultimately only one more would hatch.  The three young Bluebirds flew from the nest seventeen days later on 6-20-2014.  At the State Lab we have had five Eastern Bluebird nestings and a Carolina Chickadee nesting.  At home we've had two Eastern Bluebird nestings, a Carolina Chickadee nesting, a Carolina Wren nesting, a Brown-headed Nuthatch nesting, and a failed nest of Tufted Titmice.

6-5-2014

In State Lab Box # 2 Eastern Bluebirds have laid their second clutch of five eggs.

6-5-2014

Just behind Box #2 a Killdeer has laid her four eggs right on the ground in the mulch that was piled there after clearing the ground for the State Lab.

6-5-2014 

The third Eastern Bluebird nestling has hatched in Box #6.

6-9-2014

 The four Eastern Bluebird nestlings in Box #2 have hatched.

6-9-2014 

Back to Box #6 the three Eastern Bluebird nestlings are six days old and showing their wing feather sheaths.

6-12-2014

A female Eastern Box Turtle ambled across the area behind the State Lab's loading dock.  Angela Truelove pointed her out to me, and we admired her beautiful colors.

6-13-2014

After a light sprinkling of rain, the mother Killdeer's outline can be seen in the mulch where she had left her nest for a moment to distract me with her broken wing act.

(see video of "broken wing" act)

6-23-2014

A Killdeer egg with a very pointy end.

 6-24-2014

This male Common True Katydid sat for a picture on my dusty shoe this morning.

(see link)

6-25-2014

A young Tulip Poplar sapling has leaves made lacy by a horde of hungry Japanese Beetles.  A growing flock of juvenile Starlings that have fledged from the cavities in the security lights towering above the State Lab parking lot have been seen feasting on the beetles as they chase the metallic green morsels across the grassy areas and sidewalks.  Perhaps we will be audience to a murmuration of Starlings this autumn.

(watch video of a murmuration of Starlings)

6-26-2014

The four Eastern Bluebirds in Box #2 have been dining on Wild Black Cherries as evidenced by the numerous cherry pits in the nest.  Today is their last full day in the nest as they will fledge tomorrow.

6-26-2014

In Box #5 Eastern Bluebirds have made their second nest and three of their four eggs have hatched.  The two fuzzy chicks hatched on 6-25-2014 and the "wet" one hatched today.

6-27-2014

Randall helped me identify this flower that showed up in our front yard for the first time this year.  This is a Carolina Wild Petunia.  I had never seen or heard of it before.

6-29-2014

Peggy found another treasure today and called me to take pictures.  This is probably a Cork-lid Trapdoor Spider, or a Ummidia species per BugGuide.net

 (see link)

Trapdoor spiders build an underground burrow that is lined with silk.  The spiders fit the burrow with a cork-like "trapdoor" constructed of silk, soil, and vegetation.  They lie in wait for an insect to pass by.  Click the link below to see what happens.

(see video of a trapdoor spider catching its prey)

Also interesting is that though this spider appears to have five pairs of legs (ten), the front pair are actually modified mouth-parts called pedipalps.  The size of these pedipalps indicated that this is a male spider.  The male spider uses these structures to transfer sperm from himself to his mate.

The spider's cephalothorax is shaped a bit like Darth Vader's head.  I have read that these spiders are harmless (that is, not venomous), but others say they can deliver a painful bite if handled roughly.  Fortunately, I must have been gentle enough.

7-1-2014

A male Eastern Bluebird stands guard on top of Box #2 at the State Lab.  His four young fledged a few days ago and they are in the woods nearby.  This box was home to two nests of five eggs each.  All five babies fledged from the first nesting.  Only four eggs hatched of the second clutch and all four babies fledged.

7-2-2014

A Carolina Wren has recently built her nest in an old pottery birdhouse jug from Seagrove.  She has four eggs so far and lots of plastic lining the interior of the nest.

7-2-2014

This afternoon, I heard a couple birds behind the lab making fussy chipping sounds.  I went back to the lab for my binoculars so I could see what species of bird was in distress.  To my surprise (and delight) I found it was a male Blue Grosbeak with a juvenile male which was brown like an adult female, but had blue on its head.  As I investigated to see if their nest was nearby, I discovered the source of their agitation.  What appeared to be a Black Rat Snake or the Black Racer I'd seen in the area several weeks ago, turned out to be a convincing edge of an erosion control fabric that was mostly buried at the back edge of the lab's property.  If you look closely, you can see the frayed edge near the middle of the picture.  I'm sorry I didn't have a camera that could capture a picture of the Blue Grosbeaks.

7-2-2014

I have seen two species of Hairstreak Butterflies.  This one is the Red-banded Hairstreak that I found at home.  

 (see link)

7-2-2014

I bought this carnivorous Sundew plant at the State Farmer's Market a month ago and it appears to be adding baby plants already.  Watch out insects!

7-3-2014

Though not a great picture, this leaf-like creature was lying beside a refuse container behind the lab this morning.  It looks to be a Large Maple Spanworm Moth.  Its larva is one of the inchworms or measuring worms.

(see link of adult)

(see link of inch worm)