Fake Eyes, a Lady with a White Spot, and a Skipper with a Silver Spot.

Top Photo: Eyed click beetle prepares to take flight. Fake Eyes Eyed click beetles (Alaus oculatus), or eyed elaters (elators), are large beetles in the click beetle family (Elateridae). Click beetles can launch themselves into the air via a spring-loaded latch and hinge mechanism between their abdomen and thorax. If you place the beetle on its back, and it still has plenty of energy stored in its body, it will flip several inches straight up into the air accompanied byRead more

A Little Bit of Blue

Top Photo: Larva on crownbeard. I was expecting to find larvae of silvery checkerspot as I bent down to look at the usually tall, broad-leafed herbaceous plant with misshaped yellow flowers, crownbeard. I always associate crownbeard with that orange and black butterfly, though I’ve never recorded one here at the museum in my 14 some years of walking past these flowers, it does no harm to look. When I see this plant along the Eno River, or other wet areas,Read more

Leps on Viburnum

The viburnum here at the Museum is in bloom and when it is I scan the blossoms for early season leps (butterflies). Looking back on my records I’ve photo’d Juniper Hairstreaks on the viburnum in Catch the Wind on April 10, 2010, April 7, 2011, April 3, 2012, and the 22nd of April this year. They were a bit late this year. I think we all know the reason for that, persistent cool weather. These small butterflies with green scalesRead more

It’s all out there, heat or not.

We are not experiencing record heat, in fact it’s hotter today (7/19) in Boston than it is here, high 90s to low 90s, respectively. But it’s still hot. No one could convince me otherwise. So why was there a bullfrog sitting on the pavement today in Explore the Wild? True, the frog in the above photo is in the shade. And, that particular patch of pavement is in shade most of the day, but is it really cooler than a niceRead more

A Hitchhiker, a Dainty Visitor from the South, and Built like a Tank

Little did they know that while out for a fine, fall stroll the other day, Exec. Assistant, Leslie Pepple and Dev. Associate, Alicia Heacock would pick up a hitchhiker. After briefly talking to them as they passed through the Cafe Plaza here at the Museum I noticed a large insect clinging to Leslie as she turned to walk away. Chinese Mantids are not native to North America but they are certainly well established here. They were brought in to thisRead more