northeast-flora-and-fauna

Tiger Bee Flies are not tigers , nor bees , but are a type of fly . (This is fairly normal species naming nomenclature; if the name consists of multiple things, look at the last name and you're most likely to get a sense of what kind of species you've got.) These guys may look like horseflies on steroids, they're much closer to being human allies than human adversaries: As adults, they are basically pollinators that don't bite humans at all. They might be of benefit to your flower or vegetable garden though. As larvae, they are considered to be the primary parasite of the Carpenter Bees . The females lay eggs in the wood cavities in which Carpenter Bees lay their eggs, and the Tiger Bee Fly larvae will attach to the Carpenter Bee larvae and eventually consume them. (The Carpenter Bees sometimes to minor damage to wooden structures.) It seems appropriate that one of my area's largest bees is parasitized by one of my area's largest flies. Based on pictures I...

This is a fairly common caterpillar, though this was the first one I saw this summer. It's a caterpillar of the Milkweed Tussock Moth , one of the numerous denizens of our local milkweed plants . As moths, they're a little on the plain side, but as caterpillars they look a little like an arts-and-crafts project made from pipe cleaners. Like most insects that use milkweed as a host plant, they're somewhere on the bad-tasting/poisonous side of the edibility spectrum. The caterpillar's unique look makes it easy for would-be predators to identify them as poisonous.  Since they're also considered to be poisonous as adult moths, I'm a little surprised they don't have a more distinctive look as adults. Instead of appearance, they apparently signal their unpalatability by making distinctive sounding ultrasonic clicking noises that bats recognize. They don't normally compete directly with Monarch butterfly caterpillars because while Monarch caterpillars prefer y...

Monarchs , the King of the Butterflies, were also attracted to this Wild Bergamot patch. This was a great spot and day for pollinators; I got almost 40 pictures in a little over 2 hours. There is a feast-or-famine aspect to nature photography, and today was definitely leaning towards feast. Though I eventually saw a bunch of Monarchs, the ones I saw this day were among the first that I was able to photograph this year. After this, I started getting pictures pretty regularly. July 18, 2021 at Scherman Hoffman Wildlife Sanctuary Photo 148188503, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

It seems like if you want to attract butterflies, you should get some Wild Bergamot ; here's yet another butterfly attracted to this wildflower: a Great Spangled Fritillary . These are one of my favorite butterflies. Their orange-and-black coloring and relatively large size make them easy to spot and fairly easy to identify. Probably the easiest butterfly (in my area) with which to mistake the Great Spangled Fritillary is the Aphrodite Fritillary , which has a black spot near the base of the forewing that the GSF lacks, and which is generally smaller. (My pictures don't show that spot, but the fritillaries I was seeing were almost the size of the Monarchs. I don't think an Aphrodite would ever get that large.) People sometimes see a Pearl Crescent and wonder if it's a baby GSF, but of course butterflies don't grow that way. They're pretty much at their full size when they emerge from their chrysalis. (I will admit that it's a little hard to see the pattern ...

These Eastern Tiger Swallowtails will never get their National Geographic moment, where they're photographed in the perfect position, with the perfect background, and in the perfect lighting. These guys have escaped some predicament or another with substantial wing damage. I don't really know what causes this damage. While I initially suspected the wings tore as they escaped from a predator, a lepidopterist felt that plant thorns were a more likely culprit. July 18, 2021 at Scherman Hoffman Wildlife Sanctuary Photo 148189056, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) July 18, 2021 at Scherman Hoffman Wildlife Sanctuary Photo 148189418, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Here's a Hummingbird Clearwing Moth drinking from a Wild Bergamot (just in case you didn't believe the Silver-spotted Skipper or the Spicebush Swallowtail when they showed how delicious the flower's nectar is). While it's hard to get familiar with a lot of moths because many are noctural, or very small, or gray/brown without obvious patterns. These moths offer none of those obstacles, flying around in broad daylight, being larger than many insects, and having a fairly distinctive appearance. I've talked about these moths before , though I like the way you can see the proboscis in this picture. That's the appendage going from the front of the head down into the flower, and it's the means by which moths, butterflies, and some other insects can drink nectar from flowers. Note this allows them to drink from some narrow tubular flowers that might be inaccessible to them otherwise. July 18, 2021 at Scherman Hoffman Wildlife Sanctuary

Here's someone I hadn't seen before, though I may be seeing more of; it's a Sculptured Resin Bee . Native to Japan and China, these invasive bees are starting to show up here in the US. Like most bee species, they are solitary bees that live off pollen/nectar. They can sting, but usually don't. There are 2 main concerns about them: They (understandably) prefer to nectar on invasive plants from Asia, which probably helps these invasive plants thrive and spread. They might hurt the our carpenter bees. Since they are tunnel nesters but can't chew through wood themselves, their best strategy might be to take over the tunnels built by local carpenter bees . They get their name because, after laying eggs in their tunnel nests, these bees close the tunnel with resin. They are considered leafcutter bees , though the classic leafcutter bee closes its tunnel with leaves that it has cut. July 18, 2021 at Scherman Hoffman Wildlife Sanctuary Photo 148188333, (c) jpviolette, some...