8-30

8-30
Today this bumblebee size Tachinid Fly (Belvosia sp.) nectared on hardhack. Larvae of this robust fly are parasitoids - they kill their host - and their hosts are caterpillars including our native Giant Silkworm species.
John

Tachinid Fly

8-29

8-29
Today Ants were preparing for mating flight. They will swarm, mate, fall to earth and lose their wings … all in one night.
And this rather handsome Tiger Beetle stayed a few steps ahead of me as I walked the bike trail. Unfortunately I was unable to precisely identify it.
John

Swarming ants

Tiger Beetle

8-27

8-27
Yesterday between 6 and 7 pm I counted 132 Nighthawks over nearby fields.
Today a Western Conifer Seed Bug (commonly called a Leaf-footed Bug) strolled along the fender of my car.
And Carrion Beetles (Nicrophorus tomentous) buried a dead Shrew in my yard. The shrew will serve as food for the beetle's larvae.
John

Carrion Beetle on Shrew

Western Conifer Seed Bug

8-26

8-26
Last night, as clouds moved in from the West, Nighthawks were on the move. Between 6 and 7 pm forty seven went over my house all moving due East.
Today a few raptors went south over Putney Mountain, three Osprey and one Northern Harrier.
And on the edge of an old beaver pond, Leafy-bracted Beggar-ticks are in flower.
John

Leafy-bracted Beggar-tick

8-25

8-25
Today Closed Gentians are in flower. As the name implies these flowers never open. Bumblebees force their way into the flowers seeking nectar and pollination occurs.
Sand Jointweed is also in flower. This species is noticeable for its apparent lack of leaves.
And a very colorful sub-adult insect - a nymphal stage of the Green Stink Bug - posed nicely for this picture. In its adult form it will be a leaf-green shield-shaped insect!
John

Closed Gentian

Sand Jointweed

Green Stink Bug - nymphal stage

8-23

8-23
One-seeded Bur-cucumber is in flower. Bur-cucumber flowers are 5 pointed. The flowers of the common wild cucumber are 6 pointed.
And Red Milkweed Beetles dot milkweed leaves.
John

Bur-cucumber

Red Milkweed Beetle

8-22

8-22
Today Slender Gerardia - a new species for me - is in flower. Slender Gerardia is unusual in several ways: it is partially parasitic on the roots of other plants, and bees, the plant's pollinators, have to enter the flower tube upside down while hanging from the stamens!
Whatever works, I guess!
John

Slender Gerardia

8-21

8-21
Today I found Sneezewort (Achillea ptarmica) along the West River. Sneezewort is a non-native species gone wild. These might be a cultivar called "Pearl."
The beetle is possibly one of the many Shining Leaf Chafers in the Anomala family. Possibly.
Later as I mowed my lawn, a Long-horned Beetle - probably a Northeastern Sawyer - landed on the grass. Conifers, especially pines, are larval hosts for this species.
John

Shining Leaf Chafer on Sneezewort

Northeastern Sawyer Beetle

8-20

8-20
Today this wasp-mimicking Locust Borer fed on Goldenrod behind my barn. The W pattern on this insect's back betrays its identity. Locust Borers lay their eggs in slits they make in locust bark. Feeding larvae bore in the heartwood of the trees to the detriment of any lumber milled from infested logs.
And an insect looking much like a moth or a butterfly, but in all likelihood a Caddisfly or maybe an Owlfly posed nicely, yet its identity remains a mystery!

John

Mystery insect - Caddisfly? Owlfly?

Locust Borer

8-18

8-18
Today Ground-Nut with its "distinctive, sweetish odor" is running rampant over thickets and weed patches.
A Great Black Wasp nectared on Virgin's Bower.
And a Black-rimmed Prominent moth waited out the daylight hours hanging on a scrap of lumber.
The season grows short for many insect species.
John

Black-rimmed Prominent moth

Great Black Wasp

Ground-Nut

8-16

8-16
The trailing vines and pale lavender flowers of Hog Peanut drape rank upright roadside weeds.
And a Hickory Tussock Moth perches on the tightly clustered flowers of Tear Thumb - so named for its skin lacerating downcurved spines and tough ungiving stem.
John

Tear Thumb's spines

Hickory Tussock Moth on Tear Thumb flowers

Hog Peanut flowers

8-14

8-14
Today was brightened by the metallic sheen of a female Rainbow Scarab Beetle. Males of the species have a long back-curving horn on top of their head.
Scarabs are dung beetles; they dig burrows and stock the burrows with dung on which they lay their eggs. When the eggs hatch the larvae feed on the dung.
This species coats its dung brood ball with clay and then abandons it. Other species groom the dung ball to remove molds and fungi.
I would guess this beetle to be about one inch long!
John

Rainbow Scarab Beetle

8-12

8-12
Today the bright red, leathery-skinned, pulpy fruits of Trillium blaze in the
understory. Inside the fruits are the rock hard, ant-dispersed trillium seeds. Each seed has an external fatty deposit called the eliasome craved by foraging ants which carry the seeds back to the colony. Once the fatty eliasome is consumed the seed is discarded. Two years later it germinates in the ant's trash heap. As many as three years after that the new plant may flower for the first time.
John

Fruit of the Trillium

8-11

8-11
Today in dry roadside thickets Hemp Nettle is in flower as is Common Nightshade
In a moister location Musk Mallow is in all its alien glory.
And last night a moth called the Small Bird-dropping Moth was flying. When at rest Bird-dropping moths resemble their namesake to a remarkable degree.
John

Small Bird-dropping Moth

Musk Mallow

Common Nightshade

Hemp Nettle

8-10

8-10
Today, Sundrops, petite day-blooming members of the Evening Primrose clan, are in flower.
And on the river cobble a freshly emerged Red Admiral butterfly diligently explored a rock - perhaps for moisture?
John

Red Admiral butterfly

Sundrops

8-8

8-8
Today Great Golden Digger Wasps (Sphex ichneumoneus) are flying.
Females of this species dig branching brood tunnels which they stock with anesthetized crickets and grasshoppers. One egg is laid on each helpless victim and when the larva hatches from the egg it eats the provided - and still live - prey.
Adult wasps feed on pollen and nectar. This one was on a Wild MInt.
John

Great Golden Digger Wasp

8-7

8-7
Today Narrow-leaved Mountain Mint is in flower. This mint favors dry locations.
Marsh Skullcap decorates wetter sites.
And on Goldenrods, Ambush bugs were lurking. Ambush bugs sit and wait until insect prey wanders too close and then they clamp their sickle-shaped front legs onto the hapless prey, inject digestive juices and feed on the victims liquified remains.
There are at least 22 Ambush bug species in North America.
John

Narrow-leaved Mountain Mint

Ambush bug

Marsh Skullcap

8-6

8-6
Today Bluecurl, with its arching blue stamens and spotted lower lobes, started to flower.
Boneset, a close relative of Joe-Pye Weed and White Snakeroot, opened multiple clusters of fuzzy white flowers. Bonesets wrinkled opposite leaves are perfoliate, they unite around the stem.
And, a planthopper, one of the myriad (there are approximately 1400 species in North America) chose a poor place to feed, but a good place to have its picture taken!
John

Bluecurl

Boneset

Planthopper

8-5

8-5
Today Spotted Coral-root is in flower. Coral-roots are saprophytic orchid family members; they draw nutrients from decaying matter and therefore colonize deeply shaded areas.
John

Spotted Coral-root

8-4

8-4
Today White Snakeroot is starting to flower along roadsides and in thickets.
On Milkweeds, Monarch Caterpillars and Milkweed Tussock Caterpillars were busily eating. It is thought that Monarch caterpillars may favor new tender leaves while Milkweed Tussock caterpillars will feed on older, tougher growth.
And in the woods, newly fledged Broad-winged Hawks begged to be fed. Five or six weeks from now those currently helpless youngsters will be making a migration … to Central or possibly South America!
John

Monarch caterpillar

Milkweed Tussock caterpillar

White Snakeroot

8-3

8-3
Nymphal husks shed by one of the smallish Stonefly species pepper rocks in the West River.
Hobblebush berries, now brilliant red, will be nearly black when ripe.
And Wild Mint is in flower in ditches and wet meadows.
John

Stonefly nymphal husks

Hobblebush

Wild Mint

8-1

8-1
Today Teasel - doing its best to look like a thistle - is capped with faintly lilac florettes.
And among the moths flying last night was a Pink-spotted Dart. The caterpillar of this moth feeds on a variety of plants including Maple, Birch and Clover.
John

Teasel

Pink-spotted Dart