Friday, August 31, 2007

Bug Of The Month


Creosote Bush Katydid - Insara covilleae

Identification: Pronotum is "saddle-shaped". Green or dark green with prominent white markings on the fore wings.

Range: Southern Nevada, deserts of southern California, across southern Arizona to the southwestern corner of New Mexico.

Food: Feeds on Creosote, Larrea tridentata.

IMO, this is one of the most beautiful Katydids in the USA that I've seen or heard of. So I had to make it Bug Of The Month! :)

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Two Barred Flasher


This is a beautiful butterfly indeed. I love the colors on it. Photo and info can be found here. The butterfly pictured here is a male.

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

W00T!

I went out with some friends of mine and I had a blast! I saw 2 bumble bees and I have some facts on bugs for you ( I'll edit the post later ) from a book that I read when we went to the library including a wasp that I want to learn more about. :)

Peace for now!

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Datanoides sp.


These moths are weird. What's up with the front legs and what purpose do they serve? I couldn't find anything on them except images and a site page in Japanese with photos. If I could translate it may be there could be some answers in there to my questions?

I'll get back to you on that. The moth in the photo is D. fasciatus.

Monday, August 27, 2007

Satyr Comma - Polygonia satyrus

This is a new one for me! Info below and taken from enature. Bless them!

Most anglewings look rust-orange as they flash by; the Satyr is golden. Its broods are not so strikingly different from each other as are those of the Question Mark and the Comma. The Satyr roughly replaces the Comma as the common anglewing of the West; it is not entirely clear just how the 2 species relate in eastern Canada. The Satyr Anglewing is not to be confused with the satyrs of the family Satyridae; fanciful lepidopterists dubbed them both satyrs because they inhabit woodland glades. Other mythological rustic deities are commemorated in this group of anglewings, including Faunus, Zephyr, and Oreas, as well as the nymphs, for whom the family Nymphalidae is named.

description 1 3/4-2" (44-51 mm). Wing margins ragged. Bright tawny-golden above with black blotches. HW above lacks strong dark margin, having only band of golden spots narrowly lined with brown. Beneath, male bright yellow-tan marked with tiny dots and striations; female brown, slightly violet-tinged, darker on basal half. Silver comma mark in HW below clubbed or hooked.

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Yellow Peach Moth


Adult

The orange-yellow moths have a wing span of 2.5 cm and a number of conspicuous black spots on the wings and body.

Immature stages

The eggs are small and are laid on the developing fruit or near the growing point. The entire larval stage is passed in the plant tissue. After about 3 weeks in summer larvae are mature, 2.5 cm long, greyish-green and tinged pink. They pupate on the outside of the fruit in shelters of webbed frass.

Life history

The life cycle from egg to adult takes 6 weeks in summer.

Distribution

Throughout Queensland

Host range

Yellow peach moth infests a number of other crops including citrus, cocoa, coconut, maize, mango, papaya, peach, pomegranate, sapodilla, sorghum, cotton, custard apple, lychee, macadamia, rambutan and durian.

I love the colors on this one! I found a whole bunch of moth and butterfly photos on Flickr and I'm researching all of my favorites and including the photos that I've come across ( 99% on Flickr ). YAY Lots more learning and work to do for me! Wheeeee! n_n

Saturday, August 25, 2007

Happy 200!

It's my 200th post and thought I'd let you know about some very good news. On Tuesday I'll be going to the drugstore to get some of my photos from camp developed! And I have 2 cameras worth of photos! YAAAAAAAAAAAY!

Happy 200!

Friday, August 24, 2007

Yellow Striped Clearwing


I couldn't find any info on this butterfly but I think it's beautiful!

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Glasswing Butterfly


The following information on this butterfly is finally here after what seemed like hours of searching for it:
Oleria paula is commonly known as the Thick-rimmed Clearwing Butterfly or the Glasswing Butterfly. It is in the order Lepidoptera, family Nymphalidae. The species is identified by a thick band of dark brown around the outside of the wings, a strong white medial bar on the tip of the wing, and the clear areas in the middle of the wings. This insect is fairly common and ranges from Mexico to Panama. The Glasswing butterfly has a wingspan of 56-58mm. The larvae eat the leaves of plants which include deadly nightshades, oleanders, and dogbane. From these poisonous food plants, the Glasswing larvae collect toxic alkaloids, which make them unpleasant for predators to eat.

The Glasswing butterflies have evolved large clear patches on their wings which help camouflage them while they are flying from one flower to another or while they are perched on a plant. Predators that are looking for lunch may not recognize the Glasswing as a butterfly because their transparent wings break up their outline. Glasswing butterflies feed on nectar from aster flowers. This particular flower is important to their reproduction because male Glasswings obtain a chemical from these flowers that they use in producing their pheromones, chemical scents they use to attract mates.

Ecologists use the presence of the Glasswing butterfly as an indication of high quality habitat, and its demise alerts them of ecological change. Since the international trade for butterflies is growing, Glasswing specimens are often taken from the wild, and they are also cultivated for sale on butterfly ranches. Such activities as logging, coal mining, farming with agrochemicals, and increased ranching greatly threaten Glasswing populations. The Glasswing butterflies are often viewed as delicate gems among nature.

Source: http://entweb.clemson.edu/museum/webonly/exotic/ebfly1/ebfly11.htm

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Cicada Killer -Sphecius speciosus


Oh man! I finally found a decent amount of info on the life cycle of the Cicada Killer Wasp Sphecius speciosus. And of course it's via Bugguide. :) Not that I was looking for info I just stumbled upon it while browsing the wasp section of the site looking for an interesting looking wasps to write about on here.

Well any way here you go:

Life Cycle: In 2 or 3 days after the egg laying, a wasp larva will hatch from the egg. The larvae immediately begins eating the cicada. When the larva finishes the cicada, leaving only the outer shell ( about two weeks ), it will then spin a cocoon and hibernate until the following Spring.

In the Spring the larva will leave it's cocoon and become a pupa ( resting stage ). From the pupa an adult Cicada Killer will hatch. It will dig its way out of the ground and look for a mate. Male wasps die shortly after mating. Females die after they lay all of their eggs.

Food: Adults eat very little , nectar from flowers. Larvæ eat cicadas.

Monday, August 20, 2007

Termites Are Cockroaches

WTF?! I know I just found out about this today and it's so weird. All along I thought that termites were related to Bees, Wasps, and Ants ( Hymenoptera ) but recent research has prooved that they're a type of social cockroach! And here is the link proving it:

http://www.livescience.com/animals/070420_termites_cockroaches.html

There you go! I can't believe it myself but it's true and amazing! I'm definitely going to look into this alot deeper.

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Bugs 07-21-07

Morning:
1 snout moth

Afternoon:
1 small beetle
2 mating fire flies ( wish I had my camera )
1 katydid
2 cabbage whites
1 chafer beetle
1 long legged fly
1 green bottle fly
1 red spotted purple butterfly
1 deer fly
*1 spider with egg sac

Evening:
1 moth

* The spider was some sort of wolf spider or a fishing spider carrying her eggsac with her on the side of the pool. It was awesome to watch. I made sure that she was safe while she was going where she was going. Heh typical me. I can't stand to see insects or spiders suffer. :)

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Spined Micrathena - Micrathena gracilis


I love these spiders and I've seen this particular species alot at camp. They tend to vary in color and pattern but bugguide says different:

Identification:

Females are mostly white or pale yellow mottled with black or brown. They have ten spines on the chunky abdomen. Size 8-10 mm.

Males are flat with an elongated yellowish or white abdomen. They lack all but one or two of the abdominal spines and are smaller then females averaging to 4.5mm in size.

The one in this photo is a perfect example of that. They say nothing about the color of the cephalothorax or the legs. But any way at least you know what they look like. The ones that I've seen at camp were black and had black abdomens or white on the top.

They belong to the family Uloboridae :)

Friday, August 17, 2007

More Interesting Arachnids

Found out about these today. Awesome looking spiders indeed. These belong to the family Uloboridae. And here's a Wikipedia page about one of them: Uloborus plumipes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uloborus_plumipes

Enjoy! I'll be looking for more info on these spiders as well as the Oplionidae. YAY! more research and learning for me! n_n

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Opilionidae


W00T! I've just hit the jack pot today and here's why:

All along I've known that daddy long legs weren't spiders but they were arachnids. So for quite a while I was wondering what were they then? And today I've found my answer via Arachnoboards > Google > Flickr Photo & comment! Daddy long legs belong to the family Opilionidae Or "False Spiders and I went searching for pics on Google and I've found some of the weirdest looking ones I've ever seen.

I hope that I see some of the weird ones in person someday. I'm really glad I found out about these because the post about these don't stop here. I reckon that they'll last a good while as I go chasing info on different species ( mainly the weird looking ones ) of opilionids. I'm so happy! Wheeeeeeeee! n_n Expect another post!

The one in the photo is one of the bizarre looking ones.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

सॉरी फॉर थे देले

सॉरी फॉर थे २ दय देले। थे इन्टरनेट वेंत दोवं फॉर २ देस फॉर सोमे उनक्नोवं रेअसों ऎंड ई गोट इत बैक येस्तेर्दय अत 8:00pm. ई'ल रे पोस्ट थे एन्त्रिएस फॉर थे देस ठाट वेरे मिस्सिंग सून बुत ई थौघ्त ई शौल्ड लेट यू क्नोव वहत हप्पेनेद ऎंड ठाट ई'म अल्रिघ्त। :)

Saturday, August 11, 2007

इन्सेच्त एंट्री इन हिंदी


ई देसिदेद तो राइट थिस एंट्री इन हिंदी इन्स्टाद ऑफ़ इंग्लिश। होप यू पीपुल व्हो कैन रीड इन हिंदी ऎन्जॉय थिस अलोत!

थे स्पिदेर शोवं बेलोव इस अ स्पेसिएस ऑफ़ थे गेनिउस Neosparassus sp. ओर थे हुन्त्स्मन स्पिदेर। थे स्पेसिएस शोवं अबोवे इस उनक्नोवं अप्परेंत्ल्य बेकाउसे थे सीते ठाट ई गोट थे पिक्चर फ्रॉम दिदं'त सय वहत स्पेसिएस इत वास।

Friday, August 10, 2007

Bugs In Hindi #2 बुग्स इन हिंदी पार्ट २

Stink Bug स्तिंक बग
Shield Bug शिएल्ड बग
Worm वोर्म
Mosquito मोस्कुइतो
Ground Beetle ग्रौंद बीतले
Snout Moth स्नौत मोठ
Grasshopper ग्रास्शोप्पेर
Cricket क्रिकेट
Katydid कत्य्दिद

More will be posted soon as I think of more in the mean time here are some names of arachnids in Hindi:
मोरे विल बे पोस्तेद सून अस ई थिंक ऑफ़ मोरे इन थे मैं टिम हियर अरे सोम नामेस ऑफ़ अरच्निड्स इन हिंदी:

Spider स्पिदेर
Scorpion स्कोर्पिओं
Tick टिक
Mite मिटे
Whip Scorpion व्हिप स्कोर्पिओं
Pseudo scorpion प्सयूदो स्कोर्पिओं

And some other ones:

ऎंड सोम ओथेर ओंस:
Snail स्नेल
Slug स्लुग
Insect इन्सेच्त
Millipede मिल्लिपेदे
Centipede सन्तिपेदे
Wood Louse वुड लौसे
Lice लिस

Well there you go for now. I think I covered them as far as typical insects go and not the different species of one type if you know what I mean.
वेल्ल तेरे यू गो फ़ॉर नोव। ई थिंक ई कोवेरेड थेम अस फार अस टिपिकल इन्सेक्ट्स गो ऎंड नॉट थे दिफ्फेरेंत स्पेसिएस ऑफ़ वन टाईप इफ यू क्नोव वहत ई मैं।

Thursday, August 09, 2007

Bugs In Hindi! बुग्स इन हिंदी!

Butterfly बुत्तेर्फ्ल्य
Moth मोठ
Caterpillar कातेर्पिल्लार
Ant अंत
Wasp वास्प
Bee बी
Termite तेर्मिते
Fly फ्लाई
Lace Wing लेस विंग

I'll post more soon in the mean time enjoy! I love this feature now that I found out how it works.

ई विल पोस्ट मोरे सून इन थे मैं टिम ऎन्जॉय! ई लोवे थिस फौतुरे नोव ठाट ई फौंद आउट हाउ इत वोर्क्स.

Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Mexican Two Tailed Spider - Tama mexicana

Just found out about this spider. The spinnerets are the largest of any spider I've ever seen mind you I haven't every species out there though. I Googled it when I found out about it via Arachnoboards ( I'm a member ) and then I went to post about here. There doesn't seem to be much on this spier but I'm glad to report that Bugguide has photos ( the one above ).

I like this spider! I'm going to see if there's anything else on it since Bugguide only lists the classification. Expect an update if I find anything! =)

Edit: Apparently I'm having a problem uploading pics since every time I try I get an error message. I'm contacting Blogger about it. I'll hope they can fix it soon.

Bugs 07-20-07

Morning:

3 Moths:

♥ Emerald Green
♥ A gray one
♥ A beige one

1 caddis fly
1 stone fly
1 snout moth
4 cabbage whites
2 snout moths

Afternoon:

1 katydid
1 leaf footed bug nymph
1 red spotted purple butterfly
1 shiny metallic ground beetle

Evening:

1 water strider ( at pool )

More coming soon!

Sunday, August 05, 2007

Bugs

I'm going to start listing all of the bugs I saw at camp soon. Hopefully all the pics that I have of then will turn out decent when I get them developed. Keep in mind I'm not a professional photographer. Wish I was but what wth? Can't have everything.

Hopefully some of the bugs that went home with me ( note I did not put them in there ) start coming out when all my clothes are taken out of my luggage.....=) They did last year!

Saturday, August 04, 2007

Home

I came home yesterday ( see here and here ) and I've got tons of bug photos to post once I get them developed. So hopefully that'll be done ASAP. In the mean time I'll post something on some insect or spider that I come across on the web.

In the mean time I wish all my readers well and feel free to comment and ask questions! Come on don't be shy! =)