8-31

8-31
This green beetle on a Chicory blossom makes an appealing picture. The beetle is a Northern Corn Rustworm Borer, an agricultural pest.
Spotted Lady Beetles hunt aphids, in this case on goldenrod.
And a nymphal stage of what is probably a Spined Soldier Bug consumes the liquified innards of an earwig.
John

Northern Corn Rustworm Borer

Spotted Lady Beetle

Spined Soldier Bug 'eating' an Earwig

8-30

8-30
Unimaginatively named Black Blister Beetles can be found on Goldenrods.
Sand Jointweed's tiny white flowers haze sandy barren spots. Sand Jointweed has only a few obscure threadlike leaves and at first glance would not seem alive enough to flower.
And a female Rainbow Scarab beetle works mightily to move a chunk of dog feces which, when buried, will feed her young. Male Rainbow Scarabs have a prominent 'horn' on the top of their head.
John

Black Blister Beetle

Sand Jointweed

Rainbow Scarab Beetle and feces

8-29

8-29
Nodding Ladies Tresses - an orchid species - light up wet meadows and river banks.
And a Giant Ichneumon female spent several minutes exploring my shirt. The long thread-like tail is her ovipositor. Giant Ichneumons insert their ovipositor into wood that is infested with the grubs of Pigeon Horntails and lay their eggs. When the eggs hatch the Ichneumon larvae parasitize the Horntail larvae.

John

Nodding Ladies Tresses

Giant Ichneumon

8-29

8-29
A square stem, clusters of tiny blue flowers in the leaf axils and a strong scent of oil of pennyroyal when its leaves are crushed make American Pennyroyal easy to identify.
However, this all-black, hairy caterpillar doesn't look as we would expect. It's a Woolly Bear, the larva of an Isabella Tiger moth, a species familiar to all of us. Most Woolly Bears are brown on each end and black in the middle but they can be wholly blond, brown, rust, tan or black.
John

American Pennyroyal

caterpillar

8-27

8-27
Bats cluster against the ridgepole of my barn.
John

8-26

8-26
The bold black and yellow patterns on this Locust Tree Borer help it mimic a dangerous bee or wasp. But the bold yellow W marks it as a harmless beetle. The grubs of this beetle chew tunnels through locust trees.
And Red Bartsia, an odd little alien plant of sandy places, is in flower down among the grasses and weeds.
John

Red Bartsia

Locust Tree Borer

8-25

8-25
Several impressive blue-black Blister Beetles fed on the leaves of Virgin's Bower this morning. Blister beetles are parasitic on the larva of solitary bees. Beetle larvae hatch from the egg as agile "triangulins" that climb a flower stalk, attach themselves to a female bee and ride to the bee's burrow. The larva then molts into a sedentary form that eats the bee's stored pollen, nectar and its larvae.
The oddly kinked antennae of adult male beetles are used to grasp females during mating.
If squeezed the adult beetles exude skin blistering irritants.
There are about 410 species of Blister Beetle in North America. This one is possibly Meloe impressus.
John

Blister Beetle possibly Meloe impressus

8-23

8-23
An early instar (subadult phase) of a common Green Stinkbug is coated in yellows, blacks and reds. With each subsequent molt it will be more and more green.
John

8-20

8-20
Shining as if varnished a Brown-hooded Owlet Moth caterpillar works at one job: eating and growing. As its name implies, the Brown-headed Owlet moth itself is an undistinguished streaky brown.
Hundreds of mustard yellow aphids cluster on a milkweed leaf. Aphids reproduce asexually, females produce generations of females without mating (parthenogenesis). All of the aphids on the milkweed are probably female and direct descendants of other females on the leaf.
And an immature Bald Eagle circling over Bunker Farm this morning caused great concern to - and generated a lot of noise from - a chicken. The eagle went off hungry.
John

Brown-hooded Owlet Moth caterpillar

Aphids

Aphids

immature Bald Eagle

8-19

8-19
Dense cylindrical flower spikes and creamy white reticulations on blue-green leaves mark Downy Rattlesnake Plantain, a common late summer woodland species. Rattlesnake Plantains are orchids. There are tow other Rattlesnake Plantains that can be found in this area - Checkered and Dwarf.
John

Rattlesnake Plantain's flowers

Rattlesnake Plantain's leaves

8-18

8-18
Hairy Willow-herb, a big bushy plant up to 6 feet tall, lifts its showy rose-purple flowers along ditches and streamsides and in swamps. Four deeply notched petals and pistils with 4 branched stigma along with sharply toothed leaves and a hairy stem make this species easy to identify.
John

Hairy Willow-herb

Hairy Willow-herb

8-16

8-16
Badly worn hawk feathers are molted and new ones grown before the fall migration.
The three petaled flowers of Common Arrowhead grace the still waters of ponds and set-backs.
And Beech Blight Aphids lift posteriors covered in waxy secretions into the air and wave them in unison to warn off predators thus earning them the much better common name of Boogie-Woogie Aphids!
John

hawk feather

Common Arrowhead flower

Arrowhead leaf

Beech Blight Aphid

8-15

8-15
In pine and oak woods the fleshy tan flowers of Pinesaps lift above the ground litter. Pinesaps are saprophytic, feeding on decaying organic matter.
The pale spheres of Globe-thistle, and introduced species, seem to hover above thickets.
And one of the Willow Herbs (perhaps Purple-leaved) tints wet ditches and swampy places with its tiny pink flowers.

John

Pinesap

Globe Thistle

Willow-herb

8-14

8-14
The namesake flowers of Dutchman's Pipe are forming. This escape twines its large heart-shaped leaves over thickets in rich woods and along streams.
And the sticky-hairy stems of One-sided Bur Cucumber drape over moist thickets and snake along river banks. The leaves of bur cucumber are broad and 5 lobed and could easily be mistaken for grape leaves.
John

Dutchman's Pipe

Bur Cucumber

8-13

8-13
Partridge Pea's showy yellow flowers are brightening sandy fields and waste places. Of the flowers ten stamens, 4 will have yellow anthers and 6 will have purple.
John

Partridge Pea

8-12

8-12
Acting like an extremely mobile bit of Cottonwood fluff, the larvae of a Green Lacewing scuttles across a leaf. Lacewing larvae prey on aphids and pile the sucked dry aphid carcasses - and other debris - on their spiny backs. This serves as an effective disguise, protecting them from ants that guard aphids in exchange for aphid excretion called honeydew. There are 84 species of Green Lacewing known in North America.
John

Green Lacewing larva

8-11

8-11
The blunt, drab little flowers of Carpenter's Square AKA Maryland Figwort can be seen along roadsides and open woods.
Wild Cucumber's flowers drape over wee patches and thickets especially near water.
The orange, black and white shaving brush hair tufts of Milkweed Tussock Moth caterpillars make them easy to identify. All plants in the milkweed family are host to this species.
And gray, hairy delicate Cycnia Moth caterpillars hang like lumps of animated gray old on Indian Hemp, their favored host plant.
John

Maryland Figwort

Wild Cucumber

Milkweed Tussock Moth caterpillar

Cycnia Moth caterpillar

8-10

8-10
The three seeds that give Three-seeded Mercury its name nestle in lobed bracts in the leaf axils of the plant.
Spiny wing edges identify the fruits of Bitter Dock.
And Red Oak mast seems bountiful in local woodlots.
John

Three-seeded Mercury

Bitter Dock fruits

Red Oak mast

8-7

8-7
The little, yellow Evening Primrose relative fittingly called Small Sundrops lives up to its name.
John

Small Sundrops

8-6

8-6
The sticky-to-the-touch alien escape Sweet William Catchfly is in flower.
As is the tiny yellow Buttercup relative Creeping Spearwort which has narrow spear like leaves not shown in this picture.
Ans Sumac Flea Beetles, so called because sumac is their larval host and because they have the very un-beetle-like habit of jumping when threatened, are having their day. The larvae of this species coat themselves in their own feces which, due to their all sumac diet, is toxic to predators. And, I might add, not a very attractive choice of wardrobe.

John

Sweet William Catchfly

Creeping Spearwort

Sumac Flea Beetle

8-5

8-5
The paired berries of Hairy Solomon's Seal dangle below its arching stem. When ripe they will be dark blue or blackish.
Star-flowered Solomon's Seal holds its black striped berries aloft.
And the long stalked umbels of Bristly Sarsaparilla berries - which will turn dark purple - are lifted well above the plant.
John

Hairy Solomon's Seal berries

Star-flowered Solomon's Seal berries

Bristly Sarsaparilla berries

8-4

8-4
A pair of small terrestrial snails has a slo-mo tryst on a milkweed leaf. Snails are hermaphroditic, both should leave the leaf pregnant.
Minuscule translucent Ram's Horn type snails litter an oft flooded farm lane.
And the rather sculptural seed pods and softly furred heart-shaped leaves of Velvet Leaf make it easy to identify even when not in flower. Velvet leaf can reach pest status on cultivated land.
John

mating snails

small Ram's Horn Snail

Velvet Leaf seed pod

Velvet Leaf leaf