Harvesters Eclose

The subjects of the two images at right are what greeted me as I anxiously inspected the alder this morning. I’d been out of the “office” for three days and was hoping to find both Harvester pupae intact. The first chrysalis was indeed intact, but much darkened from when I last saw it several days ago. The darkening of the chrysalis is a sure sign that the butterfly within is soon to emerge. It’s actually transparent and what you seeRead more

First Meadowhawk

Saw the first of the season Autumn Meadowhawk (Sympetrum vicinum) on October 12 in Explore the Wild. I haven’t seen another, but keep your eyes open, it’s that time of year again. Although I have seen these meadowhawks in May, their typical emergence occurs in the fall. The earliest that I see them is October, the latest, December. They like to perch in sunny areas, usually from about waist high to just inches from the ground. You very well mayRead more

A Cosmopolitan Dragonfly

I stopped by the Sail Boat Pond, as I often do on my routine hikes around the Outdoor Exhibits, and noticed a golden-hued dragonfly clinging to one of the bungee cords which holds in place the ABS tubing meant to keep the boats from ramming into the block wall of the pond. The dragonfly was a Wandering Glider (Pantala flavescens). As I walked around the pond I noticed dragonfly exuviae hanging from the inner wall of the pond. Circumnavigating theRead more

My, how they’ve grown!

A recent post to this Journal featured two caterpillars, one of those was the larva of a Cloudless Sulphur butterfly on Partridge Pea in Catch the Wind. On August 2, I noticed one of these large yellow sulphurs lay at least one egg on the plant. Fives days later I saw one, then two, caterpillars munching away on the plant’s flowers. It’s now August 15, and the caterpillars have grown considerably. They will probably crawl off to pupate within aRead more