Top Photo: Tent caterpillar “tent.” Tent caterpillars are actively building “tents” in our cherry trees. They construct the silken, protective predator barrier in the crotch of the tree. Traveling out of the tent to feed on the fresh young leaves of the cherry they retreat back into the tent while resting, enlarging the tent as they grow. Fragile fork tails are tiny, delicate little damselflies. Early each spring they crawl out of their larval freshwater homes, find a grass stemRead more
Posts filed in: Butterflies
Swallowtail, Azure, and Orangetip
Top Photo: Eastern tiger swallowtail. Three butterflies known for early season flights have been seen this past week. There are two flight periods when eastern tiger swallowtails can reliably be seen, now, and late summer to fall. There are two separate broods. The butterflies you see now, in spring, have overwintered as pupae and are smaller than the individuals that you’ll see in summer. As caterpillars, they fed on late season, less nutritious foliage in late summer and fall beforeRead more
Nest Box Update 3.21.26
Top Photo: Male eastern bluebird. Our 6 box Bluebird Trail has seen positive activity this past week. We have seven eggs, five bluebird and two chickadee eggs. Additions have been made to another of our chickadee nests, but still no eggs in that one. The Cow Pasture nest box remains empty with no birds showing interest at that site. Explore the Wild is spotless with not a beakful of moss, or grass stems in the case of bluebirds. The sailboatRead more
From Muscadines to Silk Moths
Top Photo: Muscadine grapes ripening on the vine. Muscadine grapes are native to the southeast and are a common and welcomed plant here at the museum. Many birds and mammals including cardinals, robins, and turkeys, groundhogs, gray fox, and humans eat the fruit. There are many vines throughout the museum grounds. If you can reach the grapes as they grow on the vine, it’s worth it to grab a few for yourself before they’re all gone. Cardinal flower is bloomingRead more
Colors
Top Photo: Snowberry clearwing hovers at butterfly bush flower spike in Butterfly House Outdoor Garden. Snowberry clearwing moths are a type of strong flying sphinx moth commonly seen hovering at flowers to sip nectar. They’re diurnal moths and resemble small hummingbirds or bees as they visit the flowers seeking nourishment. They are responsible for pollinating a large number of flowers, especially deep tubular flowers through the action of their long, sturdy, probing proboscis and hairy body which transfers pollen fromRead more
Basking Turtles, Mating Anoles, and Pupating Moths
Top Photo: It’s carapace to carapace as sliders enjoy the warm sunshine. After days of either brutally hot temps or pouring rain the wetland’s sliders were out with the sun on a rather cool (relatively speaking) dry day. it was double digit turtles on the floating platforms placed in the pond specifically for that purpose. Both platforms were utilized. Green anoles were taking advantage of the change in the weather to mate. This pair was on a wooden bench inRead more
Larva
Top Photo: Larva of unknown insect on fence at Red Wolf Enclosure. I was at the red wolf enclosure when I noticed a couple of summer campers intently watching an insect crawling along the wire fence which keeps the wolves in and the people out of the enclosure. I felt the need to investigate. The insect was about 3/8” to 1/2” and mostly yellow with black-tipped yellow spines over most of its dorsal surface. To my eye, it was reminiscentRead more
The End of July
Top Photo: Male eastern tiger swallowtail seeks nectar from buttonbush flowers alongside Floating Walkway in wetlands. Eastern tiger swallowtails have essentially two flights here in the Piedmont of North Carolina. I see them in spring, centered around April, then again in July and August. The spring brood or flight is made up of smaller individuals than the summer flight. This may be due, at least in part, to environmental factors. The spring butterflies had been feeding, as larvae, from earlyRead more
More Summer Stuff
Top Photo: Painted lady butterfly on purple coneflower. Just a brief look at a few sights out on the Explore the Wild and Catch the Wind loop. Asiatic dayflower grows throughout the Piedmont area. It’s a non-native, but it attracts various creatures to itself for a variety of reasons, shelter and food standing out in the case of the two creatures that were found on a stand of dayflower in Catch the Wind the past week. The six-spotted neolema isRead more