Elderberry Borer – Cerambycidae – Desmocerus palliatus

Members of WGNSS Entomology and Nature Photography Groups met on June 24th, 2017 to see what interesting insects could be found.  In this post I am sharing a few of the more interesting that I was able to get photographs of during the day.  The find of the day had to be the Cerambycid pictured above that was, by no surprise, found by Ted MacRae.

Delta Flower Scarab

We found that blooms were a great way to find beetles.  It is easy to see how the delta flower scarab (Trigonopeltastes delta) got its name.

Flower Longhorn

Cerambicids like this flower longhorn can readily be found on blooms.

Banded Netwing

The banded netwing beetle (Calopteron reticulatum) are easy to find, often located in the open atop vegetation.  They rely on aposematic coloration to advertise that they carry aboard chemical compounds that make them a distasteful meal.

Agapostemon sp

The Hymenoptera were well represented on blooms of wild hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens), Queen Ann’s lace (Daucus carota) and as pictured above, fragrant sumac (Rhus aromatica).  I find the native bees to be tricky to identify by photographs, but I believe this can be placed in the genus  Agopostemon.  These bees nest in the ground and to promote them, leave patches of soil exposed somewhere in your yard.

Cuckoo-leaf-cutter Bee – Megachilidae – Coelioxys sp

This cleptoparasitic Coelioxys exclusively parasitizes the nests of bees in the Megachile genus.

Scaly Bee Fly – Bombyliidae – Lepidophora lepidocera 

Besides being a bizarre little pollinator, this scaly bee fly is a cleptoparasite of cabronid wasps.

Double-toothed Prominent – Notodontidae – Nerice bidentata

Not to leave out the Leps, this double-toothed prominent moth larvae was found.  These guys have developed very effective camouflage that allows them to blend in and resemble the toothed, wavy margins of their elm (Ulmus) host plants.