This turned out to be a beetle larva in the ground beetles, Carabidae, perhaps genus Scarites (“big headed ground beetles”). But my initial thoughts were that it was a pupa of the dobsonfly, fishfly, alderfly, snakefly cohort. Fascinating creature, always moving, and an unexpected blessing to see on our driveway!
https://www.inaturalist.org/calendar/gaurav1729/2026/8/15
I think this is the great black wasp, Sphex ichneumoneous
Halictinae, perhaps Lasioglossum
I think a Hylaeus masked bee
And another one. This one was crawling into one nock in the rock after another, clearly looking for something. I believe she was looking for a nesting hole. Here’s what Wikipedia says:
Hylaeus nests in premade holes and prefers to nest in wood, but will nest in dead stems, rocks, and earthworm burrows.
When a suitable premade hole is found, it is then divided by transverse partitions of clear cellophane-like material. The inner most cell is the one farthest from the nest entrance, and is characterised by a round distal end in order to fit the hole. Cell volumes are more or less constant. Lateral burrows are not constructed in this genus, but cells are placed end to end in the main nest.[24]
Hylaeus lines their nest with a waterproof and contaminant proof clear cellophane substance that does not melt or dissolve with strong chemicals. They also secrete a substance that protects the nest from fungi and bacteria. This substance is secreted from the mandibles.[25]
A Crabronid:
A skipper butterfly, probably silver-spotted skipper, ,Epargyreus clarus
Some kind of Miridae?
A Tachinid, I think
Agelenopsis
Observations with better identifications here: https://www.inaturalist.org/calendar/gaurav1729/2026/8/11
Not sure, some kind of leaf roller?
According to iNat, Halysidota cf tesserallis
Tachinidae?
Cecidomyiidae, gall and forest midges
Is this Ichneumonid in Pimplinae?
Tenthrenidae, a sawfly:
Ancistrocerus potter wasp
Perhaps Cryptinae?
Maybe this is similar
Myrmica, furrowed ant
I don’t know this one, need to investigate
Acanthocephala cf terminalis in Coreidae, leaf footed bugs
Lygaeus seed bug
iNaturalist says:
Order Hemiptera
Suborder Auchenorrhyncha
Infraorder Cicadomorpha
Superfamily Membracoidea
Family Cicadellidae
Subfamily Cicadellinae
Tribe Cicadellini
Genus Draeculacephala
Aphorophora, I think, in Family Aphrophoridae, True Spittlebugs
Crab spider with orchid spider prey, I think
Mangora
Some kind of fungus, let’s stick with Agaricomycetes
Philanthus, probably P. gibbosus
Modest masked bee, Hylaeus modestus
Megachile leafcutter bee
And another
Which Ichneumonid?
A Pompilidae wasp, Priocnemis perhaps?
Lovely Sphecid wasp, Podium luctuosum?
Eristalis cf transversa
Ulidiidae I think
Gorgeous Lepidophora lutea in Bombyliidae
Order Diptera
Suborder Brachycera
Infraorder Orthorrhapha
Superfamily Asiloidea
Family Bombyliidae
Subfamily Bombyliinae
Tribe Eclimini
Genus Lepidophora
Lepidophora lutea
Acanthocephalis
Webworm moth caterpillar, Hyphantria
bluet
Agelenopsis
There were tons of these Cesonia ground spiders (Gnaphosidae) around for some reason
Castianeira in Corinnidae
Phidippus, probably P. audax
Life’s not always easy for a toad, but a garter snake has to eat and reproduce too.
I’ve never been here, but this is a really good place to go to! Lots of bugs I don’t really see a ton of in my locality.
Also, in case you’re interested (because I was): it’s a park named after a man name D. W. Field, not a park with a field named “DW”.
Observations here: https://www.inaturalist.org/calendar/gaurav1729/2026/7/26
What an absolutely stunning gorgeous beautiful Great Golden Digger Wasp, Sphex ichneumoneous.
Monarch, Danaus plexippus
Talking of stunning, this Eremnophila aureonotata, gold-marked thread-waisted wasp, Sphecidae.
And this Ceropales maculata, a kleptoparasitic spider wasp in Pompilidae:
My first sighting of this Aphilanthops in Philanthidae, which is apparently now a family. Aphilanthops captures queen ants, which to me seems a weird kind of speciality.
Apparently this is Philanthus.
And this Philanthus bee-wolf. Confusing iNaturalist puts this in Crabronidae –> Philanthinae. To be investigated further. P. gibbosus, according to people who know.
Velvet ant female in Daymutilla, I think
I think Ectemnius in Crabronidae:
EDIT: Crabro suggested
Apparently Tachytes.
I initially thought this was an ant alate, but the antennae don’t look like that now. Need to dive in a bit.
Phymata pensylvanica ambush bug, one of many species that have lost the extra ‘n’ in “Pennsylvania”.
One with prey:
I had never heard of this Mallota bautius, “bare-eyed mimic fly”, in Syrphidae.
Pachydiplax longipennis (blue dasher)
Sympetrum vicinum, autumn meadowhawk, apparently.
Calopteron in Lycidae
Broad-nosed weevil
The oddly named genus Dialysis in Xylophagidae. Note that they were all over the place in yesterday’s moth lighting, too.
Rainiera antennaepes in Micropezidae. Wasp mimic, which is why it usually keeps its front legs ahead of it, to mimic antennae. I guess I photographed it in a moment when it was tired.
Biting midge, Ceratopoginae:
Probably Neriene radiata?
Bonus Phidippus audax from home
So many moths, so many. So many that adding all the identifications took too much time, but I will be adding identifications to this post as and when I get time. In any case, you should be able to find the correct identifications here: https://www.inaturalist.org/calendar/gaurav1729/2026/7/25
I’ve never been on these trails before! What a great place to preserve.
Some views of the ensign wasp (Evaniidae) that I found. They are parasitoids on cockroach eggs — except, we know almost nothing about nearly every species in this family, so maybe a lot of them are not?
I almost never see multiple Evaniids hanging out for such a long time on a bush. Frustratingly, I only realized later that my camera was set on f/3 or so, which is why my photos were so tough to take and turned out so bad.
When it rains, it pours, and then the slime molds come out.
Until yesterday, I had never seen a slime mold, even though I desperately wanted to. Yesterday, Jef Taylor showed me two.
Today I added observations taken two days ago to iNaturalist, which naturally identified both of them as slime molds too.
This is another coral slime, Ceratomyxia, similar to Ceratomyxia porioides, Honeycomb coral slime mold.
And this is Tubifera, in Reticulariaceae, Reticulate slime mold family
A wonderful day, a joint walk with Sharon Friends of Conservation and Urban Nature Walk. Very luck to have Jef Taylor to share his knowledge.
A list of observations here: https://www.inaturalist.org/calendar/gaurav1729/2026/6/28
Sepsidae, not sure which one:
Dryomyzidae: Flies (Diptera) » “Acalyptratae” » Sciomyzoidea » Dryomyzidae
“They resemble marsh flies but have a well-developed clypeus.”
If you compare the wing venation with the photo here: https://www.bugguide.net/node/view/1303660/bgimage, I think you will find a very close fit.
From bugguide:
“Three species of Dryomyza sensu lato are found in eastern USA:
Dryomyza anilis, the common species with strongest wing markings and the anterior margin of the frons covering the lunule
Dryope decrepita (formerly Dryomyza flaveola), with weaker or absent wing markings and the lunule exposed
Dryomyza simplex, the only eastern species without prescutellar acrostichal bristles
All of our Dryomyza sensu lato are keyed in Steyksal (1957). Note that Nearctic D. flaveola are now Dryope decrepita and D. bergi is now Pseudoneuroctena senilis.”
(Also, check out: https://repository.si.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/97352a05-7509-4a47-b2b1-c7166d2e73d4/content)
Based on this, based on the list of Dryomyza species reported and identified in Massachusetts, this seems to plausibly be Dryomyza anilis?
Empididae, dance flies? BugGuide says Empidoidea is correct, at least.
The long legged flies Dolichopodidae are very common but always beautiful. Presumably Condylostylus.
I think this is Ichneumonidae –> Pimplinae
Crambus
Margined carrion beetle, Oiceoptoma noveboracense
Lucidota atra, black firefly
Apparently family Throscidae, “small false click beetles”. I can vouch for the smallness and that it looks like a click beetle.
I think Eropterus trilineatus, in Lycidae:
Photinus in Lampyridae, “rover fireflies”.
Male fragile forktail?
Bugguide: “Pale shoulder stripes resemble exclamation points—true of both sexes(1).
Males are yellow, yellow-green, or green”
Exuvium of dragonfly nymph:
Agelenenopsis.
I was so damn excited to see this Phidippus clarus. Such an exquisite Salticidae.
Check out her green chelicerae
I really wish I had taken the time to get better photos. This spider was in an orb web, but was clearly not an orb weaver. Perhaps Faiditus, but that would be a very aggressive/optimistic determination. The best I can guess is that it’s in Theridiidae, somewhere in the Argyrodes/Faiditus/Neospintharus/Rhomphaea group.
But definitely a kleptoparasite! They steal food from other spiders’ webs.
If this can be validated as Faiditus, it would be the first report in New England for this species, according to BugGuide and iNaturalist.
iNaturalist says Oxidus, a member of the family Paradoxosomatidae, “paradoxical keeled millipedes”, which is a very interesting name.
iNaturalist calls it Archaeognatha, BugGuide prefers Microcoryphia. It’s a bristletail either way.
There’s no single taxon that corresponds to slime molds. I had never seen a confirmed slime mold before today, and confirming one by myself would involve ruling out every single fungus in existence, which is well beyond my abilities. So having Jef find me two was an absolute joy.
Slime molds are some of the interesting creatures on earth. They are related to amoebae. They live much of their lives as a, well, slime. In some of them, the cell walls dissolve and they become a multi-nucleate mass.
At some point, the different constituents in the slime can decide that it’s time to differentiate. Some of them develop into fruiting bodies and are able to reproduce; how is this decided, I’m not sure.
Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa, the common coral slime:
EDIT: iNaturalist expert disagrees with the species level determination, but agrees it’s in Lycogala.
Lycogala epidendrum, wolf’s milk
Phylum Mycetozoa
Class Myxomycetes
Subclass Lucisporomycetidae
Superorder Trichiidia
Order Reticulariales
Family Reticulariaceae
Genus Lycogala
Section Lycogala
Lycogala epidendrum
a little wild 