July | 2023 | a little wild

First time ever to the Maritimes. Amazing place, loved it. It was a particularly rainy stretch of a particularly rainy summer, but so what? Part of the beauty.

Something of a challenge for photography, though. Cloudy skies can look dull; there were no shadows to add drama; and “golden hour” and “blue hour” were non-existent. Again, doesn’t matter, it was gorgeous and I hope some of that comes through in the photos.

Section 1: No Bugs!

Hopewell Rocks, Bay of Fundy

Some interesting geography behind the inclined layers?

Walton Glen and Fundy Parkway

Walton Glen: an amazing waterfall vista!

Cabot Trail

Bog Trail

So many, many pitcher plants!

Middle Head Trail, Cape Breton National Park

Freshwater Lake

Beaver dam

Green Cove

Keltic Lodge

Got up and tried to catch a sunrise. It was too cloudy for that, but that had a mood of its own.

Section 2: Bugs

Hopewell Rocks

I’ve spent about 15-20 years interested in bugs, and never managed to see a Megarhyssa wasp, even though I looked for them everywhere. I visit New Brunswick and about 100m into my first walk, there it is. Not only that, but it was kind enough to wait for me to take photos. I guess it’s true that Canadians are nicer!

Walton Glen

Araneid, need to identify. This is a Cyclosa sp., the trashline orb weavers.

Cabot Trail

Eastern Pine Sawyer, Monochamus notatus

Perhaps a carpenter bee, like Ceratina? Or Lasioglossum coeruleum? There are other possibilities too.

Keltic Lodge

Gorgeous sphecid wasp, Chlorion or Chalybion? I think Chalybion californicum is correct here. According to BugGuide, at https://bugguide.net/node/view/2010235/bgpage:

“Some of the most noticeable traits are in terms of the head. One is the presence of hairs on the temple (absent in Chlorion – though it does seem that males can have hairs on other parts of the head). The hind margins are also different. With Chalybion, there’s a narrower space behind the eyes (and ocelli) to the back of the head, and the edges have a fairly strong curve when viewed from above. It’s also thinner when viewed from the side. This makes for a bit more of an “inflated disc” shape to the head. Chlorion have a fairly broad space behind the eyes (and ocelli), and the edges are more squared off as viewed from above. It’s also thicker as viewed from the side. This gives for a more thickly-rounded, almost stereotypical alien appearance.”

And on https://bugguide.net/node/view/8606:

One of two genera in our area notable for their distinctively metallic-blue bodies. Chlorion differs from the superficially similar Chalybion as follows:
Head and thorax sparsely hairy, the vertex of the head particularly lacking dense setae
Antennae inserted lower, well below the halfway point of the eye.
The head is more produced at the temples and vertex (different head shape)
Mandibles are dentate rather than simple and sickle-shaped
Pronotum not as strongly notched
Tarsal rake present (females only)
Wing with the hind margin of the third sub-marginal cell meeting the marginal cell at nearly the same point as the fore margin, resulting in a strongly triangular cell rather than a rhombic cell
Propodeum with U-shaped dorsal enclosure defined at least posteriorly by a semicircular sulcus/furrow (Chalybion has at most a median sulcus or pit)
Generally larger

What does that mean for this individual? I can see hairs on top of the head, and the head shape looks flatter, so Chalybion, I think.

Assuming this is correct, here’s what Wikipedia has to say:

“Females can build their own nests, but often refurbish nests abandoned by other wasps and bees,^[4] particularly those of Sceliphron caementarium,^[5] removing any spiders captured by S. caementarium and the larva, replacing it with an egg of its own and freshly caught spiders.”

Which is interesting, because there are photos of Sceliphron caementarium further down below.

Earwig

Middle Head trail

Salticid spiderling, Pelegrina or something? If it’s actually Maevia inclemens, I will be embarrassed.

Weevil, need to identify. Best guess is “Timothy billbug”, Sphenophorus cf zeae, https://bugguide.net/node/view/776934

Freshwater Lake

Damselfly, in Enallagma aka bluets.

Broad nosed weevil, Entiminae? Polydrusus cervinus is a possibility but not sure at all.

Asilidae, something like Dioctria hyalipennis?

I can’t find an exact match for this wasp, and even when I do find photos in BugGuide, it doesn’t get any finer than tribe level. I think this might be in Ichneumonini, but even that is tricky. I’ve seen Vulgichneumon and Orgichneumon as names proffered for broadly similar looking wasps.

I think this is a black and yellow mud dauber, Sceliphron caementarium. They were wallowing in the puddle collecting mud to build their homes. They will later bring spiders to provision the nests for their babies.

Note that the Chalybion wasps later re-use the nests for their own spiders for their own babies.

Green Cove

Gorgeous green eyes, but usually not a lot of fun to get close to. This could be a female horsefly, Tabanidae. (The separation between the eyes is the sign that it’s a female.) I think genus Tabanus is likely.

From the trailhead on Billings Street. Purely through wetland area. Also spent a lot of time at one dead log busy with a lot of activity, especially some Ichneumonidae wasps who were ovipositing.

I’m still in the process of trying to identify a lot of these, so this is a work in progress. Please bear with me!

Diptera

I think a Dolichopodid, but I really have no idea which.

And another:

I missed the focus on this, so let’s call it an interesting study of leaf texture, okay?

Didn’t miss the focus on this one:

Caught these two flying while mating:

Muscidae?

Crane fly, Tipulidae

Is this a Limoniid crane fly? Bugguide on Limoniid fly identification:

“Identification

terminal (fourth) segment of maxillary palpus short or subequal to third segment (elongate, longer than first three segments combined in Tipulidae)

antennae usually with 14 or 16 segments (13 in Tipulidae)

(per Chen Young’s comment)

Interpretation of the wing venation can be difficult, especially on the subcostal and radial fields. See Alexander (1927, 1929-1930)(4)”

Chironomus cf ochreatus?

wing pattern:

Perhaps Platypalpus in Hybotidae

Very low confidence in identifications. But I’ll say that the root-maggot fly, Anthomyia oculifera, looks very similar to this.

I dunno. Anthomyiidae?

Psychodidae, Pericoma? Pericoma cf signata? Wait, is Pericoma being re-categorized to Pneumia, so Pneumia cf signata?

Interestingly, there’s only one record of Pericoma in BugGuide, and two in iNaturalist, although of course Tom Murray has a record of it in his book.

Why is this crane fly so white? Is it…tenebrous?

Coleoptera

A dead buprestid?

Cantharidae, something like Rhagonycha

Podabrus?

And another:

Lampyridae, firefly. Photinus. Some advice on distinguishing different genera:

“Photinus is small and will often have the elytra outlined. Pronota will be more rounded

Pyractomena generally have their pronota shaped triangular or shovel shaped

Photuris are larger species and legs will look very “spidery.” But they’ll usually have faint lines on their elytra, like stripes. They will also be more “hump backed.@

I think Pyractomena stand out very easily from the previous two. But you can usually separate the two based on perceived size and other characteristics.”

Elateridae:

EDIT: I found a *lot* of wasps nearby that seem like a very good fit to Arotes amoenus. BugGuide says that their host is Melandrya striata (“false darkling beetle”, Melandryidae), which actually seems pretty close to this. I think I might need to change my mind on this.

ORIGINAL: Maybe Tenebrionidae, Capnochroa cf fuliginosa? Maybe Androchirus instead? Capnochroa is “comb-footed”, but I don’t have enough details on the feet.

These beetles were everywhere. I’ve seen them before and I seem to have a tough time identifying them, even to family.

EDIT: Wait, it could be Isomira cf sericea, in Tenebrionidae! I’m excited that there’s a reasonable candidate for this beetle, now.

Elateridae:

A crime scene? Not sure why there are a dead ant and a dead beetle right next to each other. Any good detective will tell you they don’t believe in coincidences!

Looks to be Elonus, in Aderidae, the “ant-like leaf beetles”.

Trichoptera

Caddisflies:

Lepidoptera

Is this a grass veneer? Immaculate grass veneer does not seem to fit exactly.

Tortricidae –> Olethreutes? I think Banded Olethreutes.

Not even sure this is Lepidoptera:

And I don’t know if this is Lepidoptera:

Hymenoptera

Ichneumonidae –> Pimplinae?

Here’s the ichneumonid, . Please forgive me for so many photos, but I was very excited to finally get photos of ovipositing!

There were several of these females. They were flying and walking all over, flicking antennae, looking for someone in the dead wood to lay their eggs in.

Which ichneumonid?

Acaenitinae –> Arotes? Arotes cf amoenus?

A group of boldly-patterned, medium-sized ichneumonid wasp. See photos.

Black and yellow coloration, long ovipositor, dorsoventrally depressed abdomen with apical portion laterally compressed, the first tergite narrowed anteriorly and broadened posteriorly and apical dark wing spots.