2011 Buggy Highlights And A Letter to Lepidoptera

As the last hour of 2011 begins I wanted to look back on the all the epicness that was 2011. And not just "ordinary epicness" I mean stuff that has been unusual:

July 8th 2011:

Pieris rapae mating fest and a appearance by my beloved Painted Ladies

I will never forget this for as long as I live. I thank you and I'll be sure to thank your grandchildren next year too by spoiling them rotten.

July 22nd 2011

Halysidota harrisii Tree Raid!! 5 in one day on one tree. E.P.I.C.!

July 26th 2011

First Lucanus capreolus sighting!! I honestly didn't think I'd ever see any type of stag beetle ever. Thank you!!

July 28th 2011

Account of 3 sightings of Hemaris thysbe!! *Don't remember actual dates....will edit later ^^

August 1st onward

CICADA MANIAAAAAA!!!!!

October 8th 2011

First visit to the NHM Butterfly exhibit I don't need to say any more on how E.P.I.C. this was. ♥

November 5th 2011

Second visit to my precious exhibit......♥

November 8th 2011

The last EPIC bughunt of the year Thank you to all my little friends thank you!!

December 24th 2011

Third visit to my precious.......♥

And earlier in the year (dates are escaping me atm) there were the wasp invasions. Those were thrilling!!

A Letter To Lepidoptera:

To my Fluttering diurnal & nocturnal friends:

You have been exceptional this year. As I sit here writing this while listening to your Anthem I'm extremely thankful for your presence this year. From the Pieris rapae mating fest and my holding Vanessa cardui again after all those years at a time where I needed the most to the mystery moths coming through and Monarchs and Cloudless sulphers popping up in all the strangest places.

To the Eastern Comma mass that came this spring....to the gorgeous black female tiger swallowtail that had me running through the fields trying to get a better look.......to the caterpillars.....Ohhhh the fuzzy and green bundles of adorableness.....to the mysteries of the Celastrina and the Hemaris thysbes and last but not least finally laying my eyes on Actias Luna *Nostalgic warm happy fuzzy sigh* I love you and want to thank you from the bottom of my heart.

You have been wonderful. I look forward to seeing you again next year. I'll be waiting! God bless



10-08-11

THANK YOU!

A Field Guide To The Insects of Morningside Park Part 2

What I believe to possibly be a female (?) of a Pachydiplax longipennis but I don't recall them having orange stigmata or orange spots on their abdomens (above obviously). Can anyone confirm?


Continued from this entry.

Butterflies & Moths Lepidoptera:

56. 'Leaf Miners' *Various families and or species Larva observed suspending itself from silk from a crabapple tree (Malus sp.) 11-08-11

Flies Diptera

57. Dronefly (Eristalis tenax)
58. Hoverfly (Allograpta sp.) * More then likely more then one species occurs here too. Very difficult to ID to species.....need micro camaras/lenses

Beetles Coleoptera:

59. Red-ish Brown Stag Beetle (Lucanus capreolus)
60. Scarites subterraneus *Possibly S. quadriceps or S. vicinus

Spiders

61. Jumping Spider (Phiddipus audax)? * Or something similar?

Miscellaneous:

62. Woodlice (Porcellio spinicornis)
63. Slugs *Will try and ID to species Expect an edit
64. Springtails

Once again the list will change/get updated.

Mystery Danaid Butterfly Danaus vulgaris?

The spots were light blue obviously. ^^;; Lighting is all wonky on this one. Sorries. ^^;;;

Ok what is this? I've just been reminded that there's a thousand and one butterflies with in Danainae under different genera that are like this. Commonly called "Blue Tigers" "Glassy Wings" etc.

Cyren had suggested this could also be a Blue Glassywing (Danaus vulgaris) after I had thought it was Tirumala limniace but looking now again I don't think so....unless T. limniace is sexually dimorphic as they're photos of similarly patterned specimens listed with that name.

I'm confused. Yet another group of butterflies that needs a freaking identification guide. Any volunteers? Aaah yes you there! Get cracking!! :P

But seriously?! Here's a video of one among Julias (Dryas iula) and other assorted epicness:



Does this help with ID?

Observations:

Quite a few of these. Made me quite happy to see them. One landed on my head. Yes I have pics but I'm shy. ^^;; Maybe later. I had asked which of the Blue Tigers this was and was told "Common Tiger" or something of the sort.

I'm still stumped. Also searching various species (within different genera REMEMBER this for later entries) I have to wonder how the hell do they tell them apart let alone the gender?!! 0_0

Yes I'm very very confused......Help! >_<

Heliconius erato.......Which one?

Heliconius (Tithonia) terrancina or H. hecale & Heliconius erato.........? *something*

Can anyone tell me which erato this is? It's the blue white and red one (the wings are metallic blue). When I asked the staff had told me it was Heliconius erato. No one knew anything beyond that.

If anyone knows please tell me. I love this one. It's the color of the American flag........me likey! I didn't see too many of these.....I think there was only one.

Will be asking around. Someone. Needs. To. Write. A. Book.!

The staff had suggested (when I complained on the apparent lack of literature on the Heliconiidae) that I should write said book. OMG! I'm flattered. And if the opportunity presents itself I would do it in a heart beat.

Problem is though is that I'm not "authorized" to do such a thing. I mean don't you have to have permits and certain "credentials"? Plus education and said proof of education?

I don't have that. I never went to go make this insanely advance hobby of mine "official" because I wouldn't know where to begin to look around here. But like I said.......if the opportunity came knocking......

곤충학!

나비목:

네발나비과 Nymphalidae
뱀눈나비과 Satyridae
부전나비과 Lycaenidae
뿔나비과 Libytheidae
팔랑나비과 Hesperiidae
호랑나비과 Papilionidae
흰나비과 Pieridae
표방나비과/표방나비아과 Heliconiidae/Heliconiinae

*Note the suffixes: -dae (과) -nae (아과)

왕나비아과 Danainae
줄나비아과 Limenitidinae
모르포나비아과 Morphinae

FUN! 어떤 재미~~~^^♥

NHM Butterflies: Ulysses/Blue Mountain Swallowtail (Papilio ulysses)

Papilio ulysses.......this one's wings are a lighter shade of blue.....variation or subspecies?

After my last observation of this species (it was dead poor thing) I had hope that I would get to see a live one on one of my next visits. I didn't think it would be the next visit that I got my wish but it was. =)

And let me tell you something. I must stress that pictures DO NOT do these butterflies justice no matter how breathtaking the photo it's 1,000,000,000,000 times better in person to see them. I thank God for such wonderful exhibits containing such epicness.

Observations:

Everyone was chasing after this thing like Moby Dick. I cannot stress to you how happy I was to see this fluttering around (they're FAST) the place as if saying "Look at me look at me!" "Try and catch me suckers! Mwahahahaha!" I had tried getting pictures of it but it was impossible.

This beauty must've had Lepidopteran ADHD because it would not stay still for too long. Any disturbance and it was off fluttering like mad looking gorgeous doing so. It's also a very good hide and go seek player because after a while it "disappeared".



B.e.a.u.t.i.f.u.l!

And why in the world does my voice sound higher on camera? >_< Anywho. It had also landed on my hand for a few seconds before it took off again. It's beautiful.......beyond beautiful.

I look forward to going back......♥

Merry Christmas!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I hope you all have a great one. Mine was absolutely perfect. It makes me happy to know I brought joy to people I love.

God bless you all. ♥

A Very Lepidoptery Christmas

Tirumala limniace? Need confirmation......similar looking species within different genera.....ouch headache! >_<

I went again today as a Christmas present to myself. *^^* And once again had epic observations of epic specimens. I took tons of photos/videos and I think I may have a possible answer to my mystery Mechanitis butterfly.

I had also tried to go to their research library to do obvious research but they're closed on Sundays. :( Must find out exactly when they're open as no one told me about it being closed on Sunday........WTF?!

And Donna (one of the staff who told me the name of my Memphis butterfly) is in on Mondays I think we all know when my next visit will be.....^^♥ And the Saturniids start coming in in January! *.* So January & March get the most visits then apparently?

I'm dying to lay my eyes on my Actias luna again......♥

New Additions:

1. Autumn Leafwing (Doleschallia bisaltide)
2. Indian Leafwing (Kallima paralekta)
3. Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes)
4. Magnificent Owl (Caligo atreus)
5. Heliconius (Tithonia) terracina
6. Heliconius erato *New form/hybrid/subspecies
7. Ulysses, Blue Mountain Swallowtail (Papilio ulysses) *Landed on me for a few seconds
8. Mechanitis polymnia
9. Cruiser (Vindula dejone)
10. Blue Tiger (Tirumala limniace)?
11. Clearwing *Species/Genus unknown

I think there were more but right now I can't remember. ^^;; Observations will be posted later along with some epic videos.

Yay!

Random Photos

Love the colors. Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes) 12-24-11 NHM Butterfly Exhibit



Female Hypolimnas bolina (I think) and Papilio aegus (Female) 10-08-11 NHM Butterfly



Parides sp. 11-05-11Lots of these (different ones) on all 3 visits. I wonder if it's possible to narrow this one down to species? Will ask around.

A faster way for me to share photos. *^^* More will be coming!

*Speechless*

"I might leave very soon I might soar through the air weave a golden cocoon hung with silk fine and fair I might leave this behind all this glitter and shine and go far from the star of the show...."

You see this? I'm.......I'm speechless right now. This is the cocoon of Urodus parvula The Bumelia Webworm Moth....This oozes sentimentality right now. I'm getting all warm and fuzzy right now. It's the most gorgeous.....no it's beyond......holy shit I can't think right now. I'm on a Lepidopteran high.

Unfortunately once again nothing is known on the biology of these moths but I will be researching them and Webworms in general (I now understand where their name comes from. I wonder if other species make such gorgeous cocoons?).

For those wondering about the quote at the beginning of the post.....they're lyrics to one of my most favorite songs in the world. It's from "Star of The Show" from the soundtrack to A Bug's Life I'm listening to it right now....It's got my childhood (I'm 19 so technically I'm still a "child" :P) memories of my lepidopteran friends plus the movie all over it.

It makes me feel peaceful and during my research when I stumbled upon the photo I was rendered speechless. That photo practically depicts the entire song (which if you haven't guessed by now is about a moth :P)!

To quote it again:

"Safe and warm I was born in a beige colored coat that I traded for wings built to dazzle and float...."

Sweet Jesus........I'm all Idk how to describe it. Peaceful would be best. God bless you Lepidoptera God bless you.......ɛïɜ

Books! (Lepidoptery Buggy Goodness) ♥

Marpesia sp. I think.....^^;;

Working on expanding my collection. Amazon has epicness in droves and it shall all be mine! I'm thinking Belated Xmas/Early B-day gifties for sure.

Note that this is just so I can have a more organized (Emma would faint if she saw this ^^;; I'm least organized person in the world :P) view of sorts of what I'm saving up for. Hell even my Amazon wish list is a mess. ^_________^

Just got done making a new one for all my butterfly necklaces (yes I ♥ them so much I want them in my jewelry too). Now on with it!!

Lepidopteran Goodies:

The Butterflies of Costa Rica Philip J. Devries

The Butterflies of Costa Rica and Their Natural History Vol 1: Papilionidae, Pieridae, Nymphalidae ISBN-10: 0691024030 ISBN-13: 978-0691024035

The Butterflies of Costa Rica and Their Natural History Vol 2: Riodinidae ISBN-10: 0691028907 ISBN-13: 978-0691028903

↑ I could've sworn there was a third one........>_<

Butterflies in General

The Butterflies of the Malay Peninsula A. Steven Corbet, H.M. Pendlebury ISBN-10: 9839681052 ISBN-13: 978-9839681055

The Butterflies of Hong Kong (A Volume in the AP Natural World Series) M.J. Bascombe ISBN-10: 0120802902 ISBN-13: 978-0120802906

Field Guide To The Butterflies of South Africa Steve Woodhall ISBN-10: 1868727246 ISBN-13: 978-1868727247

Living Butterflies of South Africa Vol 1 Stephen F. Henning ISBN-10: 1919766030 ISBN-13: 978-1919766034

↑ Amazon AFAIK doesn't seem to have the second volume. Damn. I'll keep my eyes open obviously.

The Book of Indian Butterflies Isaac Kehimkar ISBN-10: 0195696204 ISBN-13: 978-0195696202

Butterflies of The World: Over 5000 Butterflies in Full Color H.L. Lewis ISBN-10: 0517481650 ISBN-13: 978-0517481653

The Butterflies of North America: A Natural History & Field Guide James A. Scott ISBN-10: 0804712050 ISBN-13: 978-0804712057

↑ Do you know tempted I am to get this right now? Nooo I have to restrain myself. Must. Save. Up. More. Money......

Ok I have to stop listing now.....I'm getting itchy to buy......gotta wait until I have more money saved up only a few more days if my plans come into play.......ooooh damn it I want them nooow!

Toodles!

The Jumping Cockroach: Saltoblattella montistabularis

Hell it even look like a cricket/immature grasshopper!

Ladies and Gentleman,

They can run, they can fly, some are pest, and back in prehistoric times they could also jump. Well guess what? They're baaaack! Yes the jumping cockroaches have apparently "resurfaced".........in South Africa to be exact.

They were discovered earlier this year in Capetown, Table Mountain National Park in the grasses with an apparent taste in grasshopper poop among other things. I wonder if they get there super jumping powers from eating grasshopper poop.

This just gets better and better. I love it when they discover new things. Makes me happy. Now on to business. The info! First a video so you can get a lovely image of these things in action:



Female Saltoblattella montistabularis Definitely thinking they're getting something eating that grasshopper poop. ^^ Original Youtube linky: Clicky here!
Said Youtube link also provides tons of info from 2 articles in the description box. There's also:

The Huff Post
National Geographic

They never cease to amaze me insects.......♥ Will be researching these further later. I have posts to fill in!

Nesting Behavior of Abispa ephippium

For Azudo, I hope this clears something up.

I had come across the same article I had linked to on this entry which is broken now so I found it again (they must've moved the article at some point) and did a brief read through of it. The article mentions that the entire genus of Abispa (6 species total) is restricted to Australia and New Guinea.

Said article that mentions this is here. The article article also mentions another wasp Pseudabispa paragioides that they:

In morphology, coloration, and size, Pseudabispa wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Eumeninae) closely resemble mason wasps in the genus Abispa, and their distributions overlap. Although these two genera are among the largest solitary wasps in Australia, the biology of Pseudabispa was not previously known. Field observations from near Katherine, Northern Territory, strongly suggest that P. paragioides (Meade-Waldo) females attack and kill female A. ephippium (Fabricius) and usurp their nests, then appropriate cells, mass provision them with caterpillars acquired by theft from still other nests, and close them with mud taken from the host nest.

Taken from here when a brief "Google raid" was done on them for information also. I will do even more research on these (because they're both fascinating as hell) and give both articles a proper read through at a saner time (It's 1:30AM as I type this).

Apparently Pseudabispa paragioides also occurs in Australia and overlaps with A. ephippium. So Azudo it is possible that you also might be seeing P. paragioides. Idk I would need a picture. To quote you:

"So where did you find this info. i,ve been researching these creatures for days now and i can't find much on them. the reason is that these creatures are not supposed to live in southern vistoria yet i have one nesting in my front yard and she 's about 3 inches long. any info would be appreciated"

-Azudo

What makes you think that these (Abispa ephippium) are not "supposed" to occur where you live? Is there a reference that also mentions them not occuring there?

Southern Victoria is in Australia. Nothing I have found mentions them not being there. They just mention both Abispa and Pseudabispa occurring in Australia and that Pseudabispa will overlap with Abispa. So far I have seen nothing mentioning exactly where in Australia these wasp occur.

Will need more info and if possible anything you've found during your three days of research. =)



Pseudabispa paragioides (top) and Abispa ephippium They look so much alike except for coloring and size. Startling that P. paragioides goes only for A. ephippium nests exclusively.....

Photo is from the first article. This is used elsewhere too. Don't blame them. It's impressive. Apparently (according to the first article I linked to) the A. ephippium being attacked by The Evil Twin (as I'm now calling P. paragioides) died shortly after.

Poor baby......=(



Pseudabispa paragioides

Will read about these more in depth later. Must get some rest. I hope that this has helped somewhat. I'll try and see if I can pinpoint exactly where in Australia both of these wasps naturally occur and if they're prone to stray.

Could use more of your in point on this too if you don't mind. =)

Scarites subterraneus

The very unique defensive posture of Scarites subterraneus Photo from Bugguide.

This took a bloody century to positively ID based on sheer photographic memory. Mind you I had never seen anything like this before that I can remember. It's very distinctive indeed. I had gone back and forth between several genera of ground beetles (Scarites ironically being the first choice but the angle of the photo had given me doubts and led me to search elsewhere) i.e Pasimachus.

Must've searched pretty much all my books on North American Insects until I wanted to pull my hair out. XD But then looking at another photo of Scarites subterraneus in another one of my books I properly decided to search (more like violate) the internet and found more photos thus "securing" my ID on the little bugger...........

.........that is until Bugguide had so kindly came up with yet another species (Scarites quadriceps) that's insanely similar to S. subterraneus that the only way to tell them apart other then by size is to look at the antennomeres for the difference between the 2.......

Are. you. freaking. kidding. me.?

Oohhh hooo it gets better. Just now after a brief perusal of Bugguide's Scarites guide page in general has led me......more like force me to consider it being one of 2 other species: S. quadriceps or S. vicinus because as stated above you can't ID these beetles with the "naked eye" so to speak.

Someone shoot me. However for now I'm sticking with Scarites subterraneus because the other have no info on them at all whatsoever. And I need info to narrow it down. At least I know definitely that S. subterraneus occurs in NY........I live in NY. *^^*

One question though that might help with narrowing down ID. Bugguide seems to be unsure of the season that S. subterraneus occurs in and lists "Summer?" underneath the season they're supposedly seen in.......

I found mine (assuming it's most definitely S. subterraneus) in November on a beautiful fall day that felt like Spring/Summer.

What's going on? Also mine had adopted said defensive posture when I picked it up....I had thought it was dead at first but then regained my common sense back ^^;;;; It was found under a rock surround by tons of leaf litter.

What's going on here? @_@

The Sesiidae Sessiions--Using Pheromones to attract Clearwings

Yellow-legged Clearwing (Synanthedon vespiformis)

Came across this today. I'm amazed right now. I had no idea you could do this. I wonder if this is doable with other moth species. While I'm not entirely sure that we have any species of Sesiidae over here (Central Park most definitely) I have seen 2 Hemaris thysbe (Sphingidae) this year which shocked me.

I wonder, should they return in larger numbers this coming year (please do so! I ♥ U *^^*) I want to experiment with this. I'm also wondering could I get pheromones of other species? Being that I have no clue what moth species reside in my beloved park I have to really do some thinking here.

Any ideas? All of this Sesiidae research has led to more epic books. See here!

Pieridae Wonders: Blue Albatross (Appias celestina)

Blue Albatross (Appias celestina) Previously Pieris celestina Boisduval 1832 *Is wondering about the 'Catophaga' in parentheses* Perhaps another taxonomic change had taken place somewhere?

These are delightful! Can't seem to find any live photos. From the few that showed up from preserved specimens I want a live photo. I mean how many blue members of Pieridae do you hear about everyday (yes there are others)?

Exactly none. It's "unheard" of. But you see I should've at least expected it being that I know of the Jezebels and their insane hindwing patterns and the other insanely colored Pieridae (will get into just how insane another time......soon). I should've expected to come across blue ones.....at least in part.

But nope. *^^* Love it when that happens. This is from my research. And there's also this. Again I want a freaking LIVE photo of one. I want to see them in their prime.

Aaaah someday hopefully someone will capture one.

♥More Butterflies♥

Various Morphos. I wonder if Morpho polyphemus luna is in here? I'll get a good look when I go back. *^^*

I'm forever grateful for this place. As you might've noticed I've been on a Lepidopteran Junkie High. It started when I first walked in on opening day (the 8th of October) and has been continuous on and off ever since.

Throughout all of this. I've fallen in love with lepidoptera "again". I've always loved them but this year.......they've been there for me in various ways when I needed them the most. They have been epic this year and I thank The Creator for them immensely.

God bless you Lepidoptera.......♥ I hope that next year will be filled, invaded, "contaminated", infested, and taken over by your breathtaking presence. It's already proving it's potential with National Moth Week and the knowledge of "Secret" Butterfly Gardens in Central Park.

Good Lord I can't wait! You shall hear even more from me as I'm researching and learning more and I still have more photos to show you. 0_0 Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Mystery Butterfly #1

Heliconiidae?

This is all I can guess. I have no idea what this is. This was one of the newly released ones.



Simply gorgeous.



Little fuzzy. *^^* If anyone knows what this is let me know. Taken at the NHM Butterfly Exhibit 11-05-2011.

NHM Butterflies: The Great Mormon (Papilio memnon)

Male Great Mormon (Papilio memnon) along with a mystery butterfly that I had not noticed until after I uploaded the photo. ^^;; Can you see it?

Yet another insanely sexually dimorphic Swallowtail. Smh......The females have numerous forms, with and without tails and mimic other poisonous Swallowtails. Someone needs to write a book on these too. All of them. Thing is there are books on Swallowtails and I'll be buying them ASAP after I get some other books out of the way......but there needs to be one solely on the sexually dimorphic Papilionidae.

They need to have like an identification guide or something for all the different forms the females of various species take, what they mimic, and how to tell the difference.

Is there anything like this already out there? Names and Authors please if so.

Now on to business!



Idk why this came out so dark.....>_< Male

Great Mormon (Papilio memnon):

Observations:

TONS of males flying and perching around this one plant (see first photo) looking stunning. I now wonder why this was so? Was this just something that happened because of being "enclosed" (it's a big place so excuse my lack of proper words) in an area or is this a natural male behavior of some sort like puddling?

The last one I remember seeing & photographing is the one that was perched on one of the feeders looking absolutely stunning. Again photos DO NOT do any of these justice as they're details that cameras sometimes don't capture unfortunately.

One day I'll look into micro cameras should I ever get the money to do so. Lottery tickets perhaps? >:)

For this there will be a part 2 since I've made some very interesting discoveries!

Out With a Bang + Crittercams!

Since today was absolutely gorgeous out I went to my beloved park and was greatly rewarded with an epic bughunt. I saw sooo many of my little friends it was shocking.

I simply am in awe. I got what I'm calling crittercams. Lookie:



Dronefly (Eristalis tenax) A new one to add to the ever growing list (expect a part 2 on that) of buggaboos in that epic park of mine. =)

Along with that gorgeous fly I saw these:

1 Cabbage White (Pieris rapae) Oh. My. God. *Speechless*
Honeybees, More Droneflies, a mix?
Earthworms
1 Mystery green "worm" RESEARCH!
Aphids (1 black aphid) in their maiden flights
1 slug
1 queen red ant *Held it and attempted to get a video but it was waayy to blurry
1 millipede
1 Scarites subterraneus * Took a bloody century to nail an ID on this one. More later
1 Springtail *first thought it was a proturan or a dipluran but I'm pretty sure now it's a Springtail of some sort
Woodlice! (Porcellio spinicornus)



Woodlice (Porcellio spinicornus) There were tons of these. When I lifted the rock they had all more or less scattered like roaches. Hilarious. ^^

Today was a masterpiece. It felt like spring......♥ It was like they were all saying bye for the year or something. So sweet. They were out much later this year. You have no idea how grateful I am for that. Butterflies and other assorted creepy crawlies in November?!

Congratulations you've set a record. Let's see if you can top it next year!! I love you! ♥