Started at the trailhead on Lakeview St. and walked to Mansfield St., past Metacomet’s Rock (still like the name better than King Philip’s Rock).
The first part of the walk was a fairly short grass meadow, followed by wet marshy areas, and woodlands.
I have a slight problem with designing and making way too many flash diffusers for macro photography. This was the initial test for the latest version, which is probably Mark X.
The results were mixed. When it worked, it was absolutely amazing. Best diffusion I’ve worked with. However, it was bulky and made it difficult to get photos in tight spaces, and insects are almost always in tight spaces.
Hymenoptera
The meadow area had paper wasps, Polistes. Very active, tough to get photos of, but pretty friendly and chill. Hey, check out the flash diffusion in this photo.
Polistes fuscatus
I think this is Lasioglossum in Halictidae. Perhaps sub-genus Dialictus?
Diptera
Perhaps fungus gnats, Sciaroidea, but tough to go any further. Mycetophilidae? Sciaridae? I don’t know.
Just like the rove beetles, the fungus gnats seemed interested in the beetle larvae holes in the dead wood.
And another
Spiders
Dolomedes tenebrosus, in Pisauridae. A male. Note that the W pattern on the abdomen isn’t all white.
Schizocosa, in Lycosidae.
And Schizocosa again:
And another Schozocosa:
Leucauge venusta:
Linyphiidae. Probably Neriene radiata.
Coleoptera
This is Histeridae, aka the clown beetles, for good reason. I think it’s Platysoma leconti, in particular.
Such a cute little weevil. I think it’s Lechriops. Alternatively, Conotrachelus?
Staphylinidae, aka Rove beetles. For some reason, I think this one was especially interested in the holes in the dead wood that beetle grubs had tunneled out of. Not sure why, what in them was so interesting.
Very tough to pin down. Maybe Cafius cf. aguayoi, but that seems less common. Maybe Homaeotarsus?
A dark horse candidate is Atheta coriaria, perhaps classified as Dalotia coriaria. That’s been introduced and sold for pest control purposes, has it established in the wild?
Here’s one of them poking its head into a beetle grub hole.
Fungi and Slime molds
Some fungus.
A polypore fungus.
Closeup of fungus
I think this is a slime mold. Perhaps something like Metatrichia? Lindbladia? Neither of these really fits perfectly.
EDIT: “ascomycete” was a suggestion. Another was “probably pyrenomycetous fungi. Maybe Rosellinia sp”
Other
a little wild 
Leave a Reply