northeast-flora-and-fauna

Here's an American Goldfinch (presumably) trying to hide from the local paparazzi (me). As you can see, her efforts were only partially successful as she hid behind an old flowerhead.  I suspect that goldfinches would still have their breeding plumage this time of the year (they are late-season breeders), and the plumage doesn't look bright/vibrant enough to be a male. Goldfinches are still around here in the winter, but it's a little hard to recognize them in their winter disguise (winter plumage). If you saw any of these guys this winter, you were seeing American Goldfinches. (There were a few of the much larger female Northern Cardinals in the video too.) Incidentally, flowers like these (some of them were Purple Coneflowers (aka Echinacea)) are popular with small seed-eating birds like goldfinches. Those flowerheads have (or maybe had) seeds in them that can provide a convenient food source for birds. September 14, 2021 at Duke Farms Photo 168281140, (c) jpviolette,

Here's an Eastern Tailed-Blue butterfly that's gray (aka grey ). Is this butterfly diseased? Is it a mutant ? With superpowers ? Does it have chameleon -like abilities? No, no, none we know about, and no. This is a female Eastern Tailed-Blue, and all of them are gray. For good or ill, we name many species based on their appearance even when sexual dimorphism occurs. This typically means we name a species after the appearance of the more eye-catching of the sexes, which (especially in birds) usually means they're named after the male. (It's possible that some misogyny also influenced this naming convention.) September 14, 2021 at Duke Farms Photo 168279967, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Here is, I believe, a Marbled Orbweaver . If this is true, this is presumably a male since the females have a very round abdomen. Though you'd probably consider this to be a small spider, there are quite a few smaller spiders kicking around. (I suspect that when arthropods get much smaller than this, they mostly go under our radar. But that doesn't mean they're not kicking around out there.) The large round female abdomen is no doubt important in their ability to lay "several hundred" spider eggs. In the fall a female will create an egg sac with these eggs, and in the following spring pitter-patter X 4 of little spiderling feet will be heard (if you have extremely sensitive hearing) as they emerge. September 8, 2020 at Fairview Farm Photo 94667782, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

This seems to be a Western Conifer Seed Bug , and from the name you can probably guess that it's not from around here. While many invasive species are from other continents, the Western Conifer Seed Bug invaded us from closer to home: the western US. Similar to its native relative, the Leaf-footed Pine Seed Bug (aka Pine Leaf-footed Bug aka Leaf-footed Pine Bug) hinders seed production of conifers. It sounds like the WCSB may harm seed production more than the LFPSB, perhaps because as an invader it's less likely to be bothered by predators or parasites, resulting in larger and healthier populations of WCSBs. These bugs won't damage your home, but they will try and spend the winter indoors with you. It also sounds like they can be smelly if you squish them; some places suggest vacuuming them up instead. Despite this similarity to other bugs like the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug , they aren't closely related to the stink/shield bugs ; both the WCSB and the LFPSB are in th

I've shown Large Milkweed Bugs before , though usually they were single individuals or small groups. But it's not usual to see a sizeable number of these bugs together, like in the picture below. I'm not exactly sure why this happens. I'm told that females usually lay around 30 eggs on/near a milkweed's seed pods; perhaps more than 1 female laid eggs near here. Or maybe this seed pod is a social hub where a maturing Large Milkweed Bug can find romance. This picture was from mid-September; I'm not sure if they mate that late in the season, or if they delay breeding until after migration. Yes, these guys migrate! While they enjoy eating our milkweeds and our summer temperatures, they wouldn't survive our winters. They migrate south in the winter and then start spreading north in the spring, much like some bird species, presumably lagging a little behind the new growth of milkweed plants that time of year. (You don't want to migrate ahead of your food sour

I don't want you to miss any pictures of my area's photogenic vultures, so here are more pictures of vultures who have embraced wireless technology. I've shown similar pictures before, though this time both species of vulture ( Turkey Vulture and Black Vulture ) were on the scene. And vultures are pretty cool. Note that I'm pretty sure this is a wireless communications tower that's either on or just over the border of Washington Valley Park. If it turns out to be for a death ray ... my bad. With no more ado, here are my vulture neighbors, with the Black Vulture on the left and the Turkey Vulture on the right. September 8, 2021 at Washington Valley Park Photo 167830214, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) September 8, 2021 at Washington Valley Park Photo 167830200, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Here are a pair of Wood Ducks . A couple months earlier I would see a female accompanied by several juveniles ; as the summer goes on I see fewer but larger ducks. I wouldn't be surprised if these are 2 of the surviving juveniles from earlier in the season. (It may be too early to distinguish males from females by plumage; juveniles of both sexes resemble adult females.) Though it's possible that other juveniles survived but have dispersed, I'm sure the mortality rate among juvenile ducks is pretty high. Surviving to adulthood for a duck isn't as rare as winning the lottery, but it's no sure thing either. September 8, 2021 at the Washington Valley Reservoir Photo 167829829, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Late last summer at the Washington Valley Reservoir I encountered 2 fishermen using very different fishing tactics.  The first guy was walking along, slowly and quietly in shallow water. His tactic was to see/hear a fish get close to him, at which point he'd try and grab it out of the water. Great Blue Heron September 7, 2021 at the Washington Valley Reservoir Photo 167829616, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) The  second guy  was out in the deeper part of the reservoir, and his tactic is to swim under the water after a fish.  Double-crested Cormorant September 7, 2021 at the Washington Valley Reservoir These 2 fishermen are both skilled enough to live off the fish they catch, but their tactics are very different.

Late last summer I was finding quite a few Pickerel Frogs at the Washington Valley Reservoir. I guess you could say that things were really hopping down at the ole reservoir.  These frogs are a little smaller than the other frogs I typically run across ( American Bullfrogs , Green Frogs , Leopard Frogs ) but are fairly noticeable and distinctive looking. They're not like those Spring Peepers , who you can hear a bunch of them around you and still not find a frog. And these Pickerel Frogs were found a little way away from water; many frogs escape my camera by simply jumping in the water. The 2nd frog did try and hide in the local vegetation though. September 7, 2021 at the Washington Valley Reservoir Photo 167829440, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) September 7, 2021 at the Washington Valley Reservoir Photo 167829767, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Though this picture was taken late last summer, here's someone you can see year-round: a House Sparrow . I suspect that this is a juvenile; it sort of looks like it might still have some of the fluffy down feathers I'd associate with an immature bird. I'm sure it had enough flight feathers to fly, though perhaps not as good as a mature bird. I don't know what it was eating. Maybe nothing particularly good; kids are always putting weird stuff in their mouths. September 2, 2021 at Mt Pleasant Villas Photo 167478507, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

I believe this is an Appalachian Brown butterfly, though a slightly more northern species, the Eyed Brown , is also a possibility. This identification would have been more reliable if the butterfly had its wings up; they both have a prominent line seen there, but on the Eyed Brown that line is quite a bit more jagged. In this particular picture, the forewing has a couple of very small eyespots on the forewing; in an Eyed Brown all those forewing eyespots should be approximately the same size. Both these species are in the same genus ( Satyrodes ), eat basically the same food ( sedges ) as caterpillars, look similar, and have some range overlap. They're clearly related, which always makes me wonder if they ever hybridize. One of my guides says they never visit flowers for nectar, mostly drinking sap from trees and maybe drinking fluids from rotting fruit. I tend to wonder whether we've followed these butterflies around long enough and under enough diverse conditions to conclusi

Some caterpillars are usually seen in large numbers (like Armyworm Moth caterpillars and Eastern Tent Caterpillars ), while most are more solitary. The Milkweed Tussock Moth caterpillars (more about them are here ) seem to be slightly social. I'll sometimes see them alone, but more often I'll see them in groups of 2-9 members. In the 1st picture below, you can see there is a clear size difference in some of these individuals. I'm almost certain the little one in the middle is in an earlier instar than the others (though they lack the colorful tufts of fuzz in their earliest instars). August 31, 2021 at Washington Valley Park Photo 167477945, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) In the picture below, it's clear that these caterpillars don't require a lot of personal space. August 31, 2021 at Washington Valley Park Photo 167477979, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Here's a Virginia Creeper Sphinx moth. These guys are considered small sphinx moths, which includes other moths I've talked about: the Hummingbird Clearwing and Snowberry Clearwing . The Virginia Creeper Sphinx is probably one of the least colorful moths in this subfamily. (Sorry I don't have a gaudier, flashier moth for you today.) You may have guessed from the name that as caterpillars they'll eat Virginia Creepers , but they're not single-mindedly committed to that plant. They'll also feed on other plants in the grape family . As adults they'll drink both nectar and fluids from rotting fruit. August 20, 2021 at Duke Farms Photo 157770863, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

We don't know if arthropods feel love, but they do have sex. Since some females potentially eat males after sex (some mantises and spiders), it seems unlikely there's a loving relationship there. And most of the time male and female arthropods come together for a fairly short amount of time, suggesting they don't really know each other very well, let alone feel affection for one another. On this Valentine's Day, here are a couple breeding Peck's Skippers . (More about them are here .) Lepidopterans (like a fair number of other insects) breed facing away from each other with the tips of their abdomens touching. September 7, 2021 at Washington Valley Park Photo 167829670, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

The Arcigera Flower Moth is a small but distinctive looking owlet moth . Like most lepidopterans, they're nectar drinkers as adults. As caterpillars they're known to eat a few of our asters. I don't know who their closest relative is, but they look similar to and are in the same genus as the Ragweed Flower Moth . I'm thinking that at a glance the AFM can be distinguished from the RFM by looking more colorful/vibrant. I don't see them much, but am told both these species can be active during the day. August 20, 2021 at Duke Farms Photo 157770829, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Here's another moth I met at the Duke Farms mothing program, the Yellow-collared Scape Moth . At the risk of being ridiculed, when told the name of this moth I actually confused it with the Golden-backed Snipe Fly . ( Lepidopterists and and dipterologists are laughing at me even if you're not.) Apparently these guys are active during the day but (as in this case) will check out lights during the night. You may be able to spot them doing regular pollinator stuff, hanging out around flowers looking to score some nectar. As caterpillars they'll eat grasses and sedges (plants that sort of look like grasses but aren't). They can be mistaken for the Virginia Ctenucha , a moth in a different genus but in the same subtribe so they are fairly close relatives. The main difference is that the Virginia Ctenucha has a yellow or orange head in addition to the collar. August 20, 2021 at Duke Farms Photo 157559099, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Here's someone I forgot to mention when talking about the insects of milkweeds and dogbanes ; it's the Delicate Cycnia Moth (aka Dogbane Tiger Moth). It appears that "cycnia" is pronounced like SICK-knee-uh. If that's something you're not going to remember, there's always the Dogbane Tiger Moth name available to you. Though I don't see these guys a lot in the day, I'll sometimes see them. In flight you might be fooled into thinking they're the far more common Cabbage White butterfly, but if they sit still for you, you should be able to tell the difference. The Delicate Cycnia lacks the little black smudge marks on the wings, and has a slightly yellowish color on the wing edges. As one of their names suggests, as caterpillars these moths eat dogbanes and sometimes milkweeds. This makes them poisonous, or at least foul-tasting. This provides them protection from bats, who would normally love to snack on a moth. Their relationship with bats has

Here's another moth I met at the Duke Farms mothing event: the Ailanthus Webworm Moth . Despite the nighttime event where this fella showed up, you can frequently see them in broad daylight too. In fact, that's when I usually see them. There are (at least) 2 interesting things about these moths. First, they don't look much like moths. With their wings held close to their bodies, they could easily pass for some sort of beetle. You might think they look more like moths when they fly, but I'm told they look more like wasps when in flight. The 2nd interesting thing about them is the Ailanthus Webworm Moth wasn't originally from around here; they were originally from southern Florida to Costa Rica where they would (as caterpillars) eat Paradise Trees (or a related tree that will remain nameless ). Because this was where their food was, this is where these moths would hang out. In 1784 though something happened that would eventually (though not immediately) allow them to

Here's someone I don't know that I could ID all on my own; it's fairly nondescript. It's a True Armyworm Moth . I got this picture when Duke Farms had their semi-annual mothing event last August. (Duke Farms pays a guy who lights up large sheets that attract the moths.) Similar to Goldenrod Soldier Beetles , True Armyworm Moths have no actual military training. They do have a bad reputation in the agricultural community since as caterpillars they voraciously devour crops (grains and other grasses) and then "march" in lines to the next plant; the marching is responsible for the "army" part of their name. Their other name is the White-speck Moth, getting this name from those little white specks in the middle of their wings. These moths are migratory. They head south to avoid our winters, and head north to avoid the worst heat of the summers. Apparently if you're a True Armyworm Moth, your worst nightmare is being approached by birds like the Boboli

Here's another invader insect, the European Paper Wasp . Despite the name, its home range really extends from Europe to North Africa to China. It somehow invaded the US in the 1980s and is growing in numbers since then. These guys are true paper wasps , another sibling group to the yellowjackets and hornets . Technically the term paper wasp is misleading since other types of wasps (like those yellowjackets and hornets) make papery nests, but that remains their common name. Unlike many other paper wasps, it doesn't rely on caterpillars as food for their larvae; their larvae will eat other (chewed up) insects as well. Being a non-fussy eater is very helpful if you're suddenly living in a new part of the planet without familiar food sources. I suspect that's part of the reason it's been successful here. Despite growing in numbers, I don't (yet) see them a lot. Or maybe I do; they're pretty easy to mistake for our yellowjackets. I'm told to look for orangis

Last summer I encountered a small group of Goldenrod Soldier Beetles (aka Pennsylvania Leatherwings). These beetles are a double benefit to a garden. Early in their lives when they hatch from their eggs, the larvae head into the soil where they eat eggs/larvae of some garden pests like grasshoppers. And as adults they are usually pollinators, helping plant reproduction, though they could take an insect snack here and there too. The soldier beetles got their name from their bright, neat wings/ elytra , which reminded people of military uniforms. (AFAIK they have little or no soldiering skills. Deploying them to Ukraine is very unlikely to deter a Russian invasion.) This particular soldier beetle got its "leatherwing" name because the elytra is softer and more leathery than the hard elytra of most beetles. One relative of theirs that I've shown you before is the Margined Leatherwing Beetle . (You'll probably notice a family connection; although coloring and patterns a

Here's a native wildflower with a simple name derived from a simple trait: the Cup Plant . They get their name because, similar to a cup, the leaves near the stem are shaped in a way that they can hold water. After a rain it's likely that your Cup Plant will have a little reservoir of water contained in these leaves. Like many of our wildflowers, Cup Plants are in the aster aka daisy aka sunflower aka composite family of plants. And like many other plants in this family, they're popular both with pollinators as a nectar/pollen source but are also beneficial to seed-eating animals like some of our birds.  And like many wildflowers, these guys can get big and can crowd out smaller, wimpier flowers. You may not want to plant them near showier, wimpier garden flowers. Having said that, as native plants that are prone to being eaten, I've never seen them form a monoculture in any field/meadow. August 16, 2021 at Duke Farms Photo 152591927, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserv

From last summer, here are a couple Eastern Painted Turtles . I suspect they were out catching some rays, basking in the sun. If you get a good look at the carapace , these turtles are pretty easy to identify by the way the scutes on the carapace create almost straight lines from side to side. I have occasionally seen turtles that look very similar but with scutes that don't align; I'm suspicious that they might be Midland Painted Turtles . These 2 turtles with similar names are actually subspecies of the same Painted Turtle species. Since they are subspecies, I suspect they can and do interbreed at times. All that green in the water may not bother these turtles; in fact they probably eat it. I'm not sure of its composition but Painted Turtles are known to eat a fair amount of "duckweed and algae".  August 19, 2021 at Duke Farms Photo 152592365, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

This appears to be the cocoon of a Cecropia Moth , the winter home that bridges its 2021 caterpillar life and its 2022 adult moth life. I believe this partly because of the raw size of of the cocoon; a large cocoon is necessary for a moth that could have a 7" wingspan. These guys are considered giant silk moths , and are North America's largest lepidopteran (moth/butterfly). Cecropia is pronounced like SEE-cro-pee-uh. I don't know how the moth got its name, though the word cecropia apparently means Athenian, and derived Cecrops  [1], the 1st king of Athens. Unlike some lepidopterans that take in nutrients by drinking nectar or other fluids, Cecropia Moths don't consume anything as adults. And for this reason, their adult lives are short. They can supposedly last for up to 2 weeks before dying. With no nutritional needs their adult lives are about 2 things: Breeding. Avoiding predators long enough to breed. January 14, 2022 at Duke Farms Photo 176184377, (c) jpviolette,

Here are a couple predators, one of whom I've talked about before. The first is clearly a Red-footed Cannibalfly ; I believe (but haven't gotten iNaturalist confirmation) that the second is another species of robber fly. The robber flies are the fly order's answer to the odonates (dragonflies and damselflies). They're fast, sometimes (relatively) large predatory insects willing to attack any arthropod of an appropriate size. There are even reports of the Red-footed Cannibalfly attacking hummingbirds though they're probably a little undersized for that. And as you might guess with a name like "cannibalfly", they will eat other robber flies. Here's the Red-footed Cannibalfly, perhaps our most visible robber fly. They're fairly large by insect standards and while not common, I'll run across at least a couple of them each year. August 19, 2021 at Duke Farms Photo 152593356, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) My impression is that th

New Jersey has quite a few invasive mantises (in number of individuals more than number of species), and this is one of them. This species, the European Mantis , is intermediate in size between the small native Carolina Mantis and the large invasive Chinese Mantis (and its relative the Narrow-winged Mantis). Size isn't sufficient for identification though, since a Chinese Mantis that hasn't molted to its full size could be the size of an adult European Mantis. The best "tell" is on the inside of its front legs; you can see part of a black-and-white spot near the top of the leg. This is something you shouldn't see in any other NJ mantis. It's a little controversial how we should react to these mantises. Historically farmers and gardeners like mantises because they are predators that eat other insects, and the invasive mantises will certainly do that. But they do disrupt our native ecosystems, at least partly because of their larger size. They may eat smaller