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Identification Challenge #6

Posted on December 7, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

Now that Alex Wild has posted about my identification challenges (among others), I feel obligated to do another one.

October 8, 2009 | Twelvestones, Roswell, GA, USA

Here’s a closeup of a rather distinctive part of an easily recognized critter. Can you name it?

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Identification Challenge #4 Reveal

Posted on November 18, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

As Ted C. MacRae correctly guessed, the chrysalis in the latest identification challenge yielded a specimen of Papilio glaucus, an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail.

April 25, 2010 | Twelvestones, Roswell, GA, USA

The blue on the upperside of the hindwings indicates this is a female. Here’s the underside of the wings:

Underside of wings

If I’d had some daylight, I’d have tried to get something other than a black background. I saw she had emerged after arriving home one evening though, so I took these shots in my home office before releasing her.

Being a fresh specimen, I thought I’d try for some closeups of the wing scales. read more

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Identification Challenge #4

Posted on November 13, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

October 8, 2009

Twelvestones, Roswell, GA, USA

I spotted this chrysalis on a tree trunk (looks like some sort of cherry). You can see in the first photo that it blends in pretty well. I took it home to see what would emerge. Something did, late the following April. Any ideas what it was?

This probably won’t help, but I couldn’t resist posting a closeup.

Closeup of spiracles

Posted in Identification Challenges | 2 Comments

Gold Moth Caterpillar on Wingstem

Posted on November 12, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

October 8, 2009 | Twelvestones, Roswell, GA, USA

I found this caterpillar last fall. It was munching away on the flowers of what I believe to be wingstem. The plant was growing beside a walking trail at a forest edge.

Here are a couple of other views.

Head

Dorsal View

I’m basing the identification on similar photos of Basilodes pepita on BugGuide and in Wagner.

I like the bold colors. Wagner states that the combination of colors, behavior and foodplant suggest it might be unpalatable.

Reference:
[book:0691121443]

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Identification Challenge #3 Reveal

Posted on November 5, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

Chris Grinter agrees with me that this photo is of a sawfly in the genus Dimorphopteryx.

June 6, 2010 | Twelvestones, Roswell, GA, USA

I first saw some photos of similar sawflies in this book:

[book:1552979008]

I then found some images on BugGuide.

It really is an odd looking critter. If I’d instead shown this view, it would have been more obvious, I think, that it’s a sawfly.

Side view

Here you can see the horns just behind the head.

Closeup of head

Marshall reports that the “tubercle behind the head is eversible, and sticks out like a snake’s tongue when the insect is disturbed.” Cool. I wish I’d known that when I encountered it. I would have tried to coax it into displaying that behavior. read more

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Mottled Tortoise Beetle

Posted on October 24, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

October 10, 2010 | Twelvestones, Roswell, GA, USA

A few weeks ago I found this tortoise beetle, Deloyala guttata, on the underside of a sycamore leaf in a nearby park. Most of the time you only see tortoise beetles safely tucked away inside their “shell” (hence their name). I waited for this one to start moving around so I could get this shot.

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Identification Challenge #3

Posted on October 17, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

June 6, 2010 | Twelvestones, Roswell, GA, USA

I believe I’ve identified this to genus. Can you do the same?

Posted in Identification Challenges | 3 Comments

Identification Challenge #2 Reveal

Posted on October 16, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

What was this?

September 5, 2010 | Twelvestones, Roswell, GA, USA

As revealed in the comments, it is the rear end of a saddleback caterpillar, Sibine stimulea.

I neglected to take a good dorsolateral shot, but here’s a couple more shots of this individual.

More complete view

Front view -- head is tucked underneath

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Globular Stink Bug Invasive

Posted on September 26, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

This post’s featured creature is Megacopta Cribraria.

August 5, 2010 | Twelvestones, Roswell, GA, USA | ~5mm

Just outside the entrance to my subdivision, there’s a stand of kudzu, Pueraria montana var. lobata, at the border of a city park. If you’re not familiar with kudzu, it’s a major invasive here in the Southeast that pretty much takes over wherever it manages to take root. Many of the volunteer outings with the local nature conservancy are focused on eliminating this invasive from conservancy lands. Here are a few photos of the area to give you an idea. read more

Posted in Featured Creatures | 7 Comments

Late Summer Luna Moth

Posted on September 14, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

Twelvestones, Roswell, GA, USA | August 22, 2010

I spotted this luna moth while returning from a walk in a nearby park. It was at the base of some landscape timbers, maybe having just eclosed. I coaxed it onto a finger and brought it home. I picked these grass blades as a perch and took a variety of photos.

After dark I found a spot where I could get the nearly full moon in the photo. There’s no way to get both the moth and the moon in focus at the same time, so I simply took one photo with the moon in focus and another with the moth in focus, and then combined them digitally. read more

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