a little wild   (a small slice of wildlife)

Ammophila. Evolution bought the WÄSP kit from Ikea, got drunk, and decided she didn’t need to read the directions.

I don’t really know this wasp. Ichneumonidae?

Unidentified Lepidopteran.

Hymenoptera

This is a bee, Hylaeus, aka the masked bees. The front view is very distinctive.

One of the stars of the show: a cuckoo wasp, Chrysididae. This particular one is in genus Chrysis. I’ve gotten photos of them before, but they were the type you wouldn’t show anyone else, because they would silently pity you.

I haven’t been able to narrow down the identification. The gorgeous combination of iridescent green and iridescent blue over the thorax should stand out, but I haven’t found a match yet.

The reason I was able to get some decent photos this time (ahem, besides my outstanding skill and perseverance) was that it seemed to have found an area to investigate and stayed there for a while. I can only presume that that area was a nest for some other wasp, but it didn’t seem to be so to my own eyes.

The iridescence (?) on the antennae is something that shows up in several of my photos. Not sure whether it’s a reflection of her body or something else.

Further investigation of the purported nest:

Side view

My best guess for this next wasp is Ichneumonidae –> Cryptinae

Lepidoptera

I have no idea what this one is. Which is no surprise because I don’t know my Lepidoptera at all.

EDIT: identified for me as a silver-spotted skipper.

“Epargyreus clarus, the silver-spotted skipper, is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae.”

Ephemeroptera

This mayfly was swinging its (his?) cerci all over the place. I presume that it was trying to smell a mate?

Hemiptera

Coreidae (aka leaf-footed bug) nymph

I wish I had taken the time to get a better photo of this bug:

Arachnida

Agelenids always look spectacular in their webs, especially after the rain

I really really tried hard to get a good image of this presumed Acariform. Compare with Erythraeus. Wikipedia: “These are large red mites with two pairs of eyes and long legs (the first and fourth pairs are often longer than the body).”

This spider spent quite a bit of time hauling its prey up. I’m guessing Parasteatoda. It’s weird seeing them actually in nature, outside a house or garage.

It looks like a mite on the left side of the cephalothorax.

Another star of the show! I’ve been trying for so, so, so long to get photographs of a mama Lycosid (wolf spider) with all of her many spiderlings on her back. It was exciting finally getting them!

Pardosa sp., in Lycosidae, aka wolf spiders. The main genus that could be confusing is Arctosa. Two points of difference are the legs spines and the shape of the face: “[Pardosa have a ] narrow cephalic area. Arctosa have a chunky face”

Other

I just liked this very prominent layer in the rock. Not sure what geological transition it corresponds to. Although, could it just be an intrusion joining together two pieces?

Haploa clymene, the Clymene moth, in our backyard. Quite stunning!

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.

Here’s some ovipositing!

Wing venation:

Pimplinae?

Spiders

Spider seen but not photographed: dark morph of Maevia inclemens.

I think Theridiidae, not sure which:

Theridion cf frondeum, perhaps, as T. albidum is rarer, but could be that too. Male.

Philodromidae, Philodromus marxi

Uloborus glomosus. Whenever you display one of these, it is mandatory to mention that Uloboridae is the only spider family lacking in venom.

So gorgeous!

Theridiidae –> Euryopis, perhaps E. funebris? Looks okay-ish, but the opisthosoma is supposed to be teardrop shaped. Maybe gravid?

Castianeira:

Zygoballus rufipes, hammer-jawed jumping spider?

Eustala

Theridiosoma gemmosum, Theridiosomidae egg sac

Not a spider, some sort of mite. Just possibly Anystis, in Anystidae?

Not a spider, a woodlouse:

No bugs

Probably crown-tipped coral, Artomyces pyxidatus, suggested to me.

A very rainy day, with a walk in the evening after the rain tailed off. Not too many bugs, but the ones we did see were a little more docile and accepting of being photographed, I think. Except for the Dolichopods, they never stand still, ever.

A fly:

This is a wing venation diagram for an Asilid at https://bugguide.net/node/view/1344358 (specifically for Dioctria hyalipennis), and it seems to fit extremely well. Does that mean the ID is right? Compare with https://bugguide.net/node/view/2155448/bgimage. Right now, Dioctria hyalipennis would be my best guess.

Here is a very poorly photographed isopod:

And a very poorly photographed hemipteran. A female scale insect? Compare with https://bugguide.net/node/view/1986121, which was tentatively identified as Pulvinaria. Also compare with https://ag.umass.edu/landscape/publications-resources/insect-mite-guide/neopulvinaria-innumerabilis-formerly-pulvinaria-innumerabilis-or-pulvinaria.

A caddisfly, Trichoptera. I always have a tough time identifying Trichopterans to genus.

Araneus diadematus? Mangora placida. Took me longer to find the identification than it should have :-).

An unusual angle for a Leucauge venusta:

Philodromidae. In fact, all the similar Philodromids were classified as Philodromus, so there’s a strong chance this one is too.

Molorchus bimaculatus Cyrtophorus verrucosus, in Cerambycidae, I think. This one fooled me the first time I found it, as it seems very atypical for Cerambycidae, and it fooled me again this time. Took a long time scrolling through Staphylinidae and Cleridae to finally get the answer.

Tarpela micans (Tenebrionidae) displaying its typical rainbow coloration, appropriate for Pride month:

The star of the show! A Luna moth. He (male, look at the antennae) has been through a lot, as seen by his wings. I hope he had a good life and reproduced!

Nymph, tough to ID, Myridae?

Dolichopodidae?

Ectobius pallidus, ‘based on the dark dots on thorax and lack of “helmet” shape on pronotum.’

Weevils, man. Weevils. So tough to ID. Anthribus nebulosus was suggested and looks very correct.

Sawflies? Pergidae –> Acordulecera was suggested.

Reflections

Braconidae? Don’t know how to distinguish from Ichneumonidae from this photo, given lack of wing venation.

My best guess for this one is family Ichneumonidae, perhaps Cryptinae. Will need to look further to see it I can find a fit. Note the large ovipositor as a clue.

Lycosidae (wolf spiders) –> maybe Schizocosa sp.?

Looks like a hammerjawed jumping spiders, Salticidae –> Zygoballus cf. rufipes. Genus looks solid, but being confident of species level identification may be tricky.

a blurry view, but you can see the eponymous jaws:

This is probably a Melandrya cf striata, in Melandryidae (false darkling beetles). Not too many instances of them in the US, so something of a nice sighting!

Lovely mayfly, and for once, it’s actually May!

Maybe Xylophagidae? If this turns out to be Rachicerus genus, it would be a state first for Massachusetts.

Some sort of Trichoptera (caddisfly). Best guess, something like Chimarra? There aren’t that many reports of adult Chimarra in Massachusetts.

Northwest Trail

Perhaps the latest start to the bugwatching season I’ve had for a long time! The weather was cold-ish (14 C/57 F approximately) so not a lot of insects, but the ones I could see were fairly low-energy, allowing me to take some very close up photos.

For some reason, there were dozens of march flies (Bibionidae). I’ve never seen that many in one walk.

Diptera

As promised, tons of Bibionids. The large eyes belong to the males. But which ones?

https://bugguide.net/node/view/3834 says:

Genera can be distinguished by wing veins:

Rs forked, R2+3 at sharp angle, R4+5 nearly straight (Southeast): Plecia

Rs forked, R2+3 at sharp angle, R4+5 distinctly curved (North): Hesperinus brevifrons

Rs forked, R2+3 parallel to wing: Penthetria heteroptera

Rs unforked, partially merged with M: Bibioides

Rs unforked, basal section of Rs much shorter than R-M crossvein: Dilophus

Rs unforked, R-M crossvein shorter than or similar in length to basal section of Rs: Bibio

The last two also have strong protibial spurs.

Key to CA spp. (adults) in(4)

This photo of the veins of Bibio is from the link, apparently in public domain:

Also, this link has wing venation for Penthetria: https://bugguide.net/node/view/1899560/bgimage.

And honestly, I don’t know which one is a good fit with the images below. My best guess is Bibio ‘Boston’ species, nr. lanigerus, compare with https://bugguide.net/node/view/182418.

First, here are some views with the wing patterns.

This one is a female.

Tachinidae, I think. I believe that’s the diagnostic large post-scutellum at the end of the thorax.

Hemiptera

Leafhopper, I think Erythridula. Tom Murray in Insects of New England calls this Arboridia plena, but I think that’s a deprecated name.

Coleoptera

I think this is Pedilus lugubris, in Pyrochroidae (“Fire-colored beetles”). EDIT: Actually, I guess Silis in sub-family Silinae, family Cantharidae is just as likely.

Hymenoptera

Ichneumonidae –> Ophioninae –> Ophion sp. perhaps

I’ve seen this before, and I don’t have an explanation: the head of an ant, partially buried in the soil. Caused by some sort of parasite?

Spiders

As always, Leucauge venusta all over the place. They’re the first spiders I see in spring (along with Cyclosa conica) and the last ones I see in fall.

Landscape

First set of photos at the vernal pool; then photos from the boardwalk.

Very happy with the fairy shrimp photos from the vernal pool, those creatures are so picturesque!

As an introduction for anyone encountering them for the first time: fairy shrimp are freshwater crustaceans. They are obligate dwellers of vernal pools — they are found nowhere else. They tend to swim upside down, and they have some very nice wavy appendages that are used for swimming and for wafting food to their mouthparts. I have photos of the mouthparts, which is something I haven’t done before, and also some extremely shaky video.

I believe these are fatty globules rather than eggs, but am not sure.

I’m sharing multiple edits of this photo, as it was a challenge. It’s a tough photo to process, getting the globules to look good while at the same time bringing out detail in the rest of the shrimp wasn’t easy. In addition, there’s plenty of noise and at the same time lots of subtle detail, so tough to balance those two issues. What do you think?

The first two were processed in GIMP using the curves feature.

Adding a couple of my RawTherapee edits of the same photo so I can stare at them and compare.

A view down the feeding maw:

Sorry this is so shaky. It’s not easy, you know!

Collembola on the surface:

And another:

Copepod:

And another. You can see why they are known as “cyclops”, they look like they have one eye.

Chironomid midge larva writhing around:

I was recording a midge to show its writhing behavior, when a fairy shrimp photobombed. It was that kind of day.

Ostracods, so many of them:

I don’t know what this is. EDIT: perhaps Psychodidae larvae (“drain fly”)

And I have no idea what I’m looking at here. EDIT: probably Atherix, which would make it the first sighting in Massachusetts for the genus (as always, I actually mean the first record in BugGuide and iNaturalist). These are gill-like terminal appendages. I saw the rest of the creature, and it does look like Atherix larvae, but couldn’t get a photo.

Some photos without exoskeletons now.

What a cluster of bubbles looks like under the lights of the lens: