Top Photo: Cicada caught in orb weaver’s web. It’s fall, and orb weavers are becoming more and more conspicuous on trails and paths, around gardens, back porches and decks. The other morning while I walked the outdoor loop here at the museum, I noticed a cicada struggling mightily about twenty feet above the path near the entrance to the boardwalk. It had gotten itself caught in the web of an orb weaver. Sticky stuff, those webs. The cicada was flappingRead more
Posts tagged: #Annual Cicada
August Has Gone By
August is over and we’re sliding into fall. Here’s a small sampling of sights I witnessed this past month above and beyond what I’ve previously posted. At the top and below are pictures of Bembix wasps. The various, rather gentle, non-aggressive wasp species in the Bembix genus burrow into sand to house and feed their young. They feed the larvae flies. They’re often called sand wasps. The picture above is of a Bembix wasp standing at the entrance to itsRead more
Yellow Jacket and it’s Prey!
I took the above photo a few weeks ago. I was about to enter my vehicle when I spotted the large insect on the ground directly in front of my van door. The large insect is an Annual Cicada (Cicadidae). The cicada has a wasp attached to it. “That’s a mighty small Cicada Killer,” I thought out loud. Of course, I knew the wasp wasn’t a cicada killer (Sphecius speciosus), they’re nearly the same size as a cicada (about 2-2.5Read more
First Cicada Killer, Milkweed Leaf Beetles, and some Leps
The Annual Cicadas have come into full song. Not surprising, the first Cicada Killer of the season was seen on July 8th while I Explored the Wild with a group of Museum Summer Campers. The large wasp was spotted on the rocks just outside the entrance to the Lemur House and was in the same location as one of its kind last year at this time (see Cicada Killer, July 1-15, 2008). These wasps are intimidating for their large size,Read more
Summer Starts to Buzz
The First-of-the-Year Great Blue Skimmer appeared on the 27th of June, perhaps adding to the confusion of novice oders (oders = dragonfly watchers). There are now 3 species of dragonfly cruising the Wetlands in which the mature males are overall blue in coloration. They differ in size as well as in several less obvious characteristics, but to the beginner it can be a tad confusing to sort them out, especially if they’re not perched next to one another. While leadingRead more