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
Posts tagged: #carolina mantid
Some Serendipitous Sightings
Top Photo: Monarch butterfly caterpillar on butterflyweed. While searching for harvester caterpillars on alder in the Wetlands I came across an assassin bug on one of the leaves. The bug was just about 3/4 inches (the body) and mostly green with brown on the back. Assassin bugs typically station themselves at a location which is busy with insects to wait and pounce on prey. They poke the prey with their long proboscis and suck them dry. An alder with aphidsRead more
Waning Moon, Yellow Flowers, Borers, a Mantid, and a Slantface
The last five days of September were mostly days full of rain. The 28th, however, was clear, cool and dry. With a waning gibbous moon hanging low in the sky at the start of the day, it turned into perhaps the most comfortable day since sometime in May. Crownbeard and goldenrod are in bloom. Where there is goldenrod, there are insects. Locust Borers (Megacyllene robiniae) can often be found on goldenrod, especially near stands of Black Locust. In the fall, the adultRead more