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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

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Handsome Mosquito

Posted on September 20, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

January 26, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Who knew a mosquito could be so attractive? Looks like a male based on those plumose antennae.

Posted in Featured Photos | 2 Comments

Spittlebugs sans Spittle

Posted on September 15, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

January 26, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Isn’t it cool to see these normally hidden spittlebugs exposed like this?

These spittlebugs surprised me by having no bubbles present to camouflage them. I have a few theories about what’s going on here, but it’s all speculation.

Their orange color suggests they might be unappetizing in some way. Or maybe that sap flow itself is poisonous. Of course, they drink it, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t evolved an immunity and that the toxin isn’t broken down once ingested. read more

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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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Pumped Up Snout Beetle

Posted on September 13, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

January 26, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil

This one looks like it has been doing push-ups on that leaf. Check out those foreleg femurs!

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Dagger Fly with Prey

Posted on September 11, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

Awhile back, Alex Wild posted some shots of dagger flies. I commented at the time that I had recently seen and photographed the flies, but didn’t know what they were. Thanks, Alex, for saving me the effort of figuring out what I photographed here.

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

I can’t make out what it has captured, a beetle maybe?

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Identification Challenge #1 Reveal

Posted on September 8, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

Maybe I made the first identification challenge too hard. No one even ventured a guess in the comments in the two months since I posted it. Here’s the image again:

May 23, 2010 | Twelvestones, Roswell, GA, USA | ~10mm

Here’s another view that might make it a bit easier.

This is the egg mass of an eastern tent caterpillar. Next spring, I should see the distinctive webbing on the cherry tree in my backyard where I found this. There’s hundreds of eggs here, but last time I checked it, it was looking a bit worse for wear. The varnish so clearly visible here has worn and chunks of the mass are missing. Perhaps some eggs were parasitized and the parasites have since exited. read more

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Resigned Parasitized Caterpillar

Posted on September 8, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

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

This caterpillar from a nearby park with head held low seems resigned to its fate as a parasitoid host. OK, I know that’s a normal position — allow me to anthropomorphise a bit.

You can see some white eggs on its back. I assume a tachinid fly left those, placing them close enough to the head that they couldn’t be removed.

In this next image, you can see there are also some already hatched eggs, sealing this little guy’s doom.

Closeup showing hatched eggs

I know tachinid fly larvae have breathing tubes that pierce the host’s skin. Could those long fibers amongst the eggs be those breathing tubes? I wouldn’t think they would be so long. I’m more inclined to think those are just bits of debris that maybe got stuck to whatever holds the eggs in place. read more

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Assassin Bug Mimicking Bee

Posted on September 7, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

January 26, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Tropical assassin bugs come in an amazing variety of forms. This one reminds me of a bee, though I didn’t see anything on my trip that might serve as a model. Despite extensive searching of the internet, I didn’t turn up any photos of a species resembling this individual.

A couple of my books do mention assassin bugs that mimic bees and wasps, so I think that’s probably what’s going on here.

[book:0962515019]

[book:0520078497]

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Snout Beetle with Orange Bands

Posted on September 6, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

January 26, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil

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