a little wild   (a small slice of wildlife)

My first time here. DEFINITELY not my last. This place was amazing for bugs. Thank you to the organizers! And as always, many people have contributed to the identifications.

I was very surprised by how different the microfauna was from what I get near my house just one hour away. I found several new life species, including ones that are otherwise very common. This means I should be traveling more — except, one of the things I love about bugwatching is that you can do it near your house, with minimal waste of time and carbon.

I guess I need to figure out a compromise.

Hymenoptera

Tons of these Bicyrtes quadrifasciatus. Fewer that were willing to pose for me.

This Great Golden Digger Wasp, Sphex ichneumoneus, had a grasshopper outside her nest. And I somehow managed to just miss a shot of it dragging it in.

Sawfly larva, I think. Notice six pairs of prolegs (I think) — most caterpillars have two to five pairs.

My best guess is Dasymutilla for this Mutillidae female, but not sure which. There were lots of males flying around and really did not give us much of a chance to photograph them.

Diptera

Since we’re going to be seeing a couple of Bombyliid flies, this seems a good time to recount some interesting info about them (mostly paraphrased from Wikipedia): the females are mostly parasitoids, looking for burrows of beetles or solitary wasps and bees to lay their eggs. Once the females find a burrow, they don’t even need to land — they flick the eggs out mid-air, aimed into the burrow (hence the name, bomber flies). They also have a special storage structure in their bodies called a sand chamber, which they fill with sand before laying (if that’s the right word with these flies!) their eggs. These sand grained are used to coat the eggs before release, perhaps for the purpose of improving their aim, slowing down dehydration, or masking the chemical scent.

I thought I had seen my first Bombylius major, but pretty sure this is instead Bombylius incanus. Still cute, though!

Bombyliidae –> Anthracinae certainly. I’m pretty sure this is Hemipenthes.

Dolichopodidae.

Coleoptera

A stunning number of tiger beetles! I think this is Cicindelididia punctulata. Among my multitudinous other shortcomings, I’ve seen very few species of Cicindelinae.

Bugguide: “slender, dark brownish-gray (in the east), with or without thin white markings; longitudinal row of pits on each elytron”

Red Milkweed Beetle, Tetraopes tetrophthalmus.

Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetraopes_tetrophthalmus, says: “When startled, the beetles make a shrill noise, while they make a ‘purring’ noise when interacting with another beetle.” Now I really want to hear it.

This weevil is a little unaware of its danger. It’s going to take a while to pin it down further, because weevils are the absolute worst to identify because they’re so specious. EDIT: Maybe Odontocorynus.

Tumbling flower beetle Mordellidae. I think tribe Mordellistenini. Not sure how to go any further.

Orthoptera

Very colorful, not sure which:

Very colorful, not sure which. (Dissosteira carolina nymph suggested, thank you!)

Very colorful, not sure which:

Blattodea

A very under-appreciated order. Let’s give them some love. Is this Parcoblatta, a wood cockroach? And I presume that’s her ootheca.

EDIT: “more likely to be Ectobius pallidus”

Hemiptera

I think this is Graphocephala fennahi, the Rhododendron leafhopper.

Spiders

I’m not sure but this might be Mecaphesa in Thomisidae. Note it’s a little hairy around the head. Anyone who wishes to chime in is welcome!

Odonata

Widow skimmer. I’m showing the photo from further away because I like it.

blue dasher Pachydiplax longipennis (thanks for the help with ID!)

And another shot, just because they’re so photogenic:

Eastern pondhawk Erythemis simplicicollis, thanks for the help with ID!

Lepidoptera

This stunning caterpillar is the camouflaged looper, the caterpillar of the Synchlora aerata, in Geometridae. Look at the camouflage!