A few miscellaneous arthropods from 2023.
Arthropod Miscellany – 2023
Tag: insects
WGNSS Goes to the Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House
In February, the Webster Groves nature Study Society’s Nature Photography Group headed to the Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House in Chesterfield. We paid for after-hours access and were delighted with the opportunities presented to us. Many thanks to Casey Galvin, group leader for the Nature Photography Group, for organizing this visit, and to Chris Hartley from the Butterfly House for being a lovely host. Chris patiently dealt with our needs, requests and questions, while wrangling our subjects for us. He and the Butterfly House provided us a wonderful experience of photographing some remarkable arthropods from around the world. Here are some of my favorite photos from the evening.
(Phalacrognathus muelleri) F. Lucanidae. This beetle is found in northern Australia and New Guinea. The mites that can be seen on this beetle do no harm to it. They tag along to pick up a free meal from their sloppy host.
Beetles (Asbolus verrucosus) F. Tenebrionidae. Found in the desert southwest U.S., these beetles feign death when harassed. After a minute or two they right themselves and continue on their business.
(Eurycantha calcaratta) F. Lonchodidae. These giant phasmids are endemic to humid rainforests in Australasia.
That’s all from this outing. Interested in joining in one one of these WGNSS outings? Feel free to contact me or check us out at http://www.wgnss.org to learn more.
-OZB
A Trio of Hoppers
Here are a few handsome Orthopterans from the 2023 season.
Caterpillars of 2023 – The Rest
Today I’m finishing up with the remaining cats of late summer and autumn hunting trips of 2023 from an assortment of families.
Walnut Sphinx Moth (Amorpha juglandis) Sphingidae, Hodges#7287
These are among my favorites. Not only are they quite handsome when viewed up close, but they are one of the few caterpillars with a voice! Be prepared if you handle or otherwise disturb them; they will let out a surprising squeak when they feel threatened.
Curve-lined Angle (Diagrammia continuata) Geometridae, Hodges#6362
Casey and I observed that the juniper hairstreaks (Callophrys gryneus) had a bumper year this year while hiking in glades early in the season. We thought this might be the year to finally find the fantastic larvae of this species. We spent several hours beat-sheeting the red cedars in these areas in late summer and early fall. No luck in finding that species, but we did find another inconspicuous cat that uses this plant as its host. You can probably see that, like the hairstreak, the caterpillars of this moth species would be next to impossible to find without the use of a beat-sheet.
Undescribed Flower Moth (Schinia nr-jaguarina) Noctuidae, Hodges#11132.01
I shared photos of this yet to be described species before. These are photos of the cats we found at a new location, Horn’s Prairie Grove LWR, in central Illinois.
Red-lined Panopoda (Panopoda rufimargo) Erebidae, Hodges#8587
An interesting cat we found while beet-sheeting a hickory thicket on a friend’s property in St. Francois County.
Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) Papilionoidea
Conspicuous and distasteful due to the absorbed secondary chemicals of their pipevine host, it seems like we always find these guys in low-light situations, making the use of supplemental light a necessity.
Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes) Papilionoidea
My favorite swallowtail species. It was a real treat finding this final instar cat back in September.
Caterpillars of 2023 – The Noctuidae
Here are a few of the members of the Noctuidae family of moth caterpillars we found in 2023. Commonly know as “owlet moths,” this is a very diverse clade that is still continuing to be revised and divided. Until recently, this was the largest lepidopteran family. A number of economically important members are found in this family, such as armyworm and cutworm species.
American Dagger Moth (Acronicta americana) Noctuidae, Hodges#9200
Rarely a day on the hunt goes by without finding one or more of these little beauties. This guy was not perturbed at all by us stopping to watch. It continued to chow on the leaf as I photographed it.
Speared Dagger Moth (Acronicta hasta) Noctuidae, Hodges#9229
Although I have found these cats on oak, they seem to highly prefer to feed on black cherry (Prunus serotina). They are quite small, but when in the right habitat, you can almost always find one when looking over lower limbs of black cherry.
Eclipsed Oak Dagger (Acronicta increta) Noctuidae, Hodges#9249
Not that I keep great records but I am pretty certain that this one is by far the most abundant caterpillar we come across while looking on oaks. I probably find five of these to one of other species on oaks. There are a few similar species. The second one may be a different species of Acronicta.
Noctuidae (Acronicta sp.)
This is what I get for not taking photos of some of these from multiple angles. Not even the experts on iNaturalist could get this guy to species using this one image. It was a gorgeous and large caterpillar.
Gold Moth (Basilodes pepita) Noctuidae, Hodges#9781
Finally – I am sharing a cat that does not feed on woody plants. Also, a rare case of a moth that is gorgeous in both adult and larval forms. Unfortunately, this was a pretty early instar and does not show the bright and contrasting colors of older caterpillars. The gold moth feeds exclusively on Verbina species (wingstems, crownbeards).
Have a good one!
-OZB
Black-lighting night – August 2023
I got a whole one night of black-lighting in this season, when Miguel and I headed to Engelmann Woods Natural Area in Franklin County, Mo in early August. For only a few hours in a single night, our results were pretty fun. Here are some of what I have gotten around to processing so far.
Clouded Underwing (Catocala nebulosa) Erebidae, Hodges#8796
This one wouldn’t open up his wings to show the pink tones that are hiding on the dorsal side of its hind wings. Nonetheless, the pattern and warm tones make this a very handsome species. Now I just need to find the beautiful larvae!
Owlfly (Ululodes sp.) Ascalaphidae
These guys show up to the lights from time to time and it’s always a nice treat to find them.
Eastern Hercules Beetle (Dynastes tityus) Scarabaeidae
It’s a party when one of these shows up. This is the third individual I’ve been able to find and they were all females. I want to find a male badly!
Heitzman’s Dagger Moth (Acronicta heitzmani) Noctuidae, Hodges#9241.1
Not only is this a very attractive dagger moth (a group I’m becoming much more interested in), but is a really special species for Missouri and a real privilege to find and photograph. Missouri is a stronghold in the range of this species and the type specimen was collected at Truman State Park. It was named for the late lepidopterist, Richard Heitzman – author of the “Butterflies and Moths of Missouri” books published by the MDC. To my knowledge, the larvae of this species has yet to be found or photographed.
Small engrailed (Ectropis crepuscularia) Geometridae. Hodges#6597
We also found some time to do a little caterpillar hunting. The larvae of this Geometrid are known by the name of saddleback looper. This one was found on persimmon (Diospyros virginiana).
Skiff moth (Prolimacodes badia) Limacodidae, Hodges#4671
Limacodid, or “slug” moths are known to be some of the first and most abundant moths attracted to lights and I always feel a bit guilty to see them trapped against the sheets while black-lighting. Even on the slowest evenings, you can usually count on a skiff moth or several to make an appearance.
These are the highlights from black-lighting in 2023. I hope to get out for this a few more times next year.
Thanks for visiting!
OZB
Osmia taurus – Taurus Mason Bee
Casey and I found these mason bees in mid April this year at Hughes Mountain N.A. I had no clue what these were but was intrigued to “discover” a new-for-me bee so early in the season. Unfortunately, I was to find out it is yet another introduced species. Apparently these were first found in Maryland in the 1970’s and have spread west since then.
A Lizard Beetle
The Languria bicolor (Erotylidae) is placed in the tribe Languriini (lizard beetles). Larvae of lizard beetles develop within the stems of plants and adults feed on the tissues and pollen of the same or nearby plants. This individual was found in July 2021 at the Beaumont Scout Reservation, St. Louis County, Missouri.
Swamp Metalmark (Calephelis muticum) – Larvae
I previously shared photos of adult of swamp metalmark (Calephelis muticum). This spring, after a couple or three years of looking for them on their host plant, Cirsium muticum (swamp thistle), I finally found the caterpillar of this vulnerable species of conservation concern.
Tachinus fimbriatus (crab-like rove beetle)
This Tachinus fimbriatus, a member of the rove beetle family, Staphylinidae, was found and photographed in September, 2020 at Babler State Park in St. Louis Co, MO. Some consider the Staphylinidae the largest family of animals in North America with close to 5,000 species described in more than 500 genera. Most rove beetles are carnivorous and feed primarily upon invertebrates. However, many feed on decaying vegetation, especially as larvae. This adorable beetle is believed to feed primarily on rotting mushrooms.
A Thousand Acres of Silphiums 