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Silver Argiope with Wasp Prey

Posted on November 20, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

January 27, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil

This spider was on an exposed ridge overlooking the sanctuary. She appears to have caught a nice sized wasp.

This species often creates an X-shaped design (stabilimentum) in their web, and you can just see a hint of one extending to the lower right.

The common name Silver Argiope is consistent with the scientific name (argentata = silvery). Even the common name in Portuguese, Aranha-de-prata, translates as Silver Spider. It is indeed silvery.

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Immature Stink Bugs

Posted on November 15, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

January 26, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil

The nymphs of some stinkbug species will stick together, as shown here.

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Gold Moth Caterpillar on Wingstem

Posted on November 12, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

October 8, 2009 | Twelvestones, Roswell, GA, USA

I found this caterpillar last fall. It was munching away on the flowers of what I believe to be wingstem. The plant was growing beside a walking trail at a forest edge.

Here are a couple of other views.

Head

Dorsal View

I’m basing the identification on similar photos of Basilodes pepita on BugGuide and in Wagner.

I like the bold colors. Wagner states that the combination of colors, behavior and foodplant suggest it might be unpalatable.

Reference:
[book:0691121443]

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Identification Challenge #3 Reveal

Posted on November 5, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

Chris Grinter agrees with me that this photo is of a sawfly in the genus Dimorphopteryx.

June 6, 2010 | Twelvestones, Roswell, GA, USA

I first saw some photos of similar sawflies in this book:

[book:1552979008]

I then found some images on BugGuide.

It really is an odd looking critter. If I’d instead shown this view, it would have been more obvious, I think, that it’s a sawfly.

Side view

Here you can see the horns just behind the head.

Closeup of head

Marshall reports that the “tubercle behind the head is eversible, and sticks out like a snake’s tongue when the insect is disturbed.” Cool. I wish I’d known that when I encountered it. I would have tried to coax it into displaying that behavior. read more

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Mating Wasp Mimics

Posted on October 26, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

January 28, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Normal disclaimers apply (flies are difficult to identify), but these mating flies might be a Systropus species.

Did you think they might be wasps? They are almost certainly wasp mimics.

Don’t be fooled by what appears to be an extra wing on the one to the right. That’s just a trick of the camera.

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Glasswing Butterfly

Posted on October 20, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

January 28, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Glasswing butterflies lack scales on parts of their wings, leaving those parts transparent.

Though similar looking, this is not the species (Greta oto) commonly found in many of the butterfly houses I’ve visited. That one’s range doesn’t extend into South America. This is probably a closely related species. I was surprised there are so many that look very much alike. Check out this Florida Museum of Natural History page on the tribe Godyridini to get an idea.

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Pentatomid

Posted on October 15, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

January 27, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil

I really like the flashy colors on this large stink bug.

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Globular Stink Bug Invasive

Posted on September 26, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

This post’s featured creature is Megacopta Cribraria.

August 5, 2010 | Twelvestones, Roswell, GA, USA | ~5mm

Just outside the entrance to my subdivision, there’s a stand of kudzu, Pueraria montana var. lobata, at the border of a city park. If you’re not familiar with kudzu, it’s a major invasive here in the Southeast that pretty much takes over wherever it manages to take root. Many of the volunteer outings with the local nature conservancy are focused on eliminating this invasive from conservancy lands. Here are a few photos of the area to give you an idea. read more

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Spittlebugs sans Spittle

Posted on September 15, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

January 26, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Isn’t it cool to see these normally hidden spittlebugs exposed like this?

These spittlebugs surprised me by having no bubbles present to camouflage them. I have a few theories about what’s going on here, but it’s all speculation.

Their orange color suggests they might be unappetizing in some way. Or maybe that sap flow itself is poisonous. Of course, they drink it, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t evolved an immunity and that the toxin isn’t broken down once ingested. read more

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Patterns in Beech Leaves

Posted on September 12, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

Looking up from a forest trail at a nearby nature center, I saw the leaves of a beech tree backlit by the afternoon sun. I picked off a few of the interesting ones and held them by hand so as to take some closeups. I find the patterns interesting in the same way ink blots are interesting.

What do you see in these abstract images?

Flames? | Twelvestones, Roswell, GA, USA | September 5, 2010

Mandelbrot Fractal Set?

Stained glass window?

Leaf within a leaf?

What do you see?

Can anyone explain what’s going on here? Is this how leaves start to turn in the fall? A disease of some sort?

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