Panthea Returns

I saw a caterpillar last week (there are many caterpillars moving about at this time of year) that I hadn’t seen here at the Museum in two years time. At first, I was stumped, couldn’t figure out just what this caterpillar was. I searched through Caterpillars of Eastern North America several times, looking at every one of the 593 photographs of caterpillars in the book each time, and still came up empty.     Recalling that caterpillars of some species can beRead more

A Weasel in Our Midst

This past Saturday, I was standing at the northwest corner of the Wetlands gazing out through the shrubs, trees, and grass between the edge of the water and myself. Something moved in the brush, a mammal. It was deep, dark brown in color. At first I thought it a muskrat. I’ve seen muskrat in the Wetlands before, rarely, but muskrat was the safest bet for a small dark mammal plying the Wetlands during daylight. As it moved closer I realized it wasRead more

Tussock Moth Caterpillar and a Tiny Wasp

I recently posted about a rustic sphinx moth caterpillar which had attached to it’s body dozens of tiny pupae of a parasitic wasp called a brachonid wasp. These tiny wasps (anywhere from 2 mm to 15 mm) lay their eggs into the bodies of caterpillars. The larvae eat the caterpillar from within and pupate inside tiny white cocoons on the outside of the caterpillar’s body, hanging there like so many banderillas on the back of a bull in the arena, it’s painful and will eventuallyRead more

Hideaway

As many of you know, Hideaway Woods, our newest exhibit and playscape, opens very soon. You’ll be able to climb up and into treehouses, explore a Sweetgum Thicket, wade through a woodland stream, stimulate your senses along a piedmont woodland nature trail, and share many other adventures with family and friends. But, you know what else is in Hideaway Woods? Hammocks! Seven of them! Along the Nature Trail! I tested them out a few days ago.     Ahhhhh!Read more
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Cow Killer and Wandering Gliders

Top Image: Cow Killer or velvet ant, a flightless female parasitic wasp. A cow killer (Dasymutilla occidentalis) is a wasp. The females are flightless. If you’ve seen one, you’ve surely remembered it for its velvety, bright red or orange and black coloration. It was probably racing around your backyard, a sandy patch of soil with sparse vegetation, or across the hiking trail you were trekking down.     If you were wondering what the insect was doing, dashing around as it was,Read more

Ravens!

At about 1 PM today (9/15) I heard what sounded like a raven calling. The sound was distant and I couldn’t pin down a direction. Finally, I looked straight up. There, directly overhead, were two ravens soaring, at times kiting, in the light air far above.     Ravens are seen here at the Museum about once per year, usually in fall or winter. I didn’t see one last year, but I do recall hearing one at one point during the past winter. It’s usually theirRead more

Rough Green

I was just about to enter Catch the Wind from Explore the Wild on the back side of the outdoor loop trail when I spotted something stretched out on the path fifty feet or so ahead of me. It was either a snake or a twig that had fallen from a nearby tree. If a snake, it was a thin one. I increased my pace. As I sped up, two mourning doves that were also in the path, thinking I wasRead more
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Strictly For the Record

It’s September and if we’re going to see a solitary sandpaper, or any shorebirds here at the Museum, there’s a good chance it’s going to be in September. And so it was on 8 September. It was closing time and I was making the rounds. I spotted a small white object perched on a rock in the Wetlands. It had to be a shorebird, either spotted or solitary sandpiper. I took out my camera, had a look through the viewfinder and zoomed in. Sure enough,Read more