Top Photo: Female rhinoceros beetle. Yesterday, I found a rhinoceros beetle in Into the Mist. The last time I came upon one of these scarab beetles with a horn on its head was in 2012, towards the end of August. The earliest I’ve come across one was July, the latest, October. This particular rhino beetle seemed to be in trouble. It kept walking in tight circles. Rhino beetles are not speedsters by any means but the circular track seemed to indicate an injury.Read more
Green Heron poses for Photogs
Our resident green heron posed for pictures this past weekend. Local photogs enjoyed and appreciated the bird’s cooperation. Come on out and get a few pictures for yourself! Read more
A Sphinx in Need, Busy Sulphurs, and a Tiger In-between
The large green object that the smaller white objects are attached to in the above photo is a caterpillar, a hornworm, a rustic sphinx moth larva. The white objects are the pupae of a tiny parasitic wasp, a brachonid wasp, which lays its eggs under the skin of its host (like the unfortunate caterpillar above). The larvae that later hatch eat the caterpillar from within until ready to pupate. They then drill themselves out through the skin and form aRead more
Another Sphinx, an Odd-named Butterfly and a Homegrown Mantid
Top Photo: Male zabulon skipper. While walking through Catch the Wind I noticed a bit of frass on the pavement. The frass (caterpillar poop) was below a volunteer sapling ash tree at the edge of the path. After a frustrating five or ten minutes of searching I found the originator of the frass. I had already suspected who the culprit was, having seen one at this very location, on this very same tree, a year ago. A few days back, I posted about aRead more
Fall Happenings
My calendar reads fall. Most of the growth that trees will be doing this year has been done, caterpillars are becoming more noticeable, and orb weaver spider webs are beginning to appear in the morning mist. There’s no turning back now, the season is changing. What have I been seeing on my walks around the outdoor exhibits? Continue reading and you shall see. One morning as I ventured into Explore the Wild, Animal Keeper Katie pointed out to me a largeRead more
Visiting Sumac
Dwarf sumac was in bloom this past week along the north side of the Wetlands. There were many insects visiting the tiny greenish flowers. Here, in the photos below, are a handful of those visitors. Carpenter bees drill holes in trees, or the wood facia or siding of your house, creating separate chambers within the tunnels, and stocking each chamber with pollen and nectar. They lay an egg in each chamber and seal it off. The young thatRead more
The Struggle for Survival
My pace was quick for a hot August morning, but the scene before me stopped me in my tracks as I rounded the curve in the path in front of the Sailboat Pond in Catch the Wind. It was a clash of two mighty predators, a classic battle for survival, which has played out over and over again since the beginning of time, or at least since animals have roamed the earth. In front of me were a female northern cardinal and aRead more
Emeralds, Tigers, Titans, and Nymphs
Top Photo: Male eastern tiger swallowtail. The flowers in the photo are black-eyed Susan. But, notice where the arrow points. It’s pointing at what appears to be debris on the disc of one of the flowers. The debris is actually a caterpillar, a camouflaged looper, the larva of a small moth. Still doesn’t look like a caterpillar? These small caterpillars attach flower and plant parts to themselves in order to disappear into the flower. In truth, I’m notRead more
Orchids, Trumpets, Passion Fruit, Sawflies, and Oakworms
Thanks to Richard Stickney (Butterfly House Conservatory) I was able to get a look at, and a few photos of, an orchid growing here at the Museum. Richard spotted the leaves of the orchid last winter and had been waiting for the flowers to appear. It’s now in bloom. The orchid is a crane-fly orchid (Tipularia discolor). These orchids show leaves on the forest floor in fall and winter. The leaves disappear as the flowers emerge the following summer. It’s not aRead more