I’ve never sliced open an oak apple gall but the North Park walkers did while Dianne Machesney took photographs.
It was red and juicy inside. Hmmm!
We don’t know which bug made this gall and the bug died in the slicing so …
Can any of you identify this gall and the insect that made it? It was found in North Park, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania in mid August.
(photos by Dianne Machesney)
This scary looking caterpillar is actually harmless — unless you’re a hickory leaf. What a face! What horns! Such an enormous size!
Last weekend Marcy Cunkelman showed us this fifth and final instar of the hickory horned devil.
In his earlier instars he was smaller and brown and hid in the trees while feasting on hickory, white walnut, sweetgum, persimmon and sumac leaves.
In this last phase he started off green and ate voraciously. Now he’s almost ready to pupate so he’s turning turquoise and will stop eating. Then he’ll expel his gut(!), walk down the host plant, burrow 5-6 inches into the soil, and form a chrysalis.
He’ll emerge next June as a regal (or royal walnut) moth (Citheronia regalis), the largest moth, by mass, in the U.S.
Seven years ago Marcy documented the transformation of a similar hickory horned devil. On Throw Back Thursday, watch a slideshow of the ‘devil’ turning into a moth in this vintage article: Metamorphosis
(photos by Kate St. John)
21 August 2018
Watch out! This alien insect is poised to take over Pennsylvania but we stand a chance if we find and report it early. Here’s what to do.
The spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) is an invasive planthopper native to China and Vietnam whose favorite food is Ailanthus, the Tree-of-Heaven. Ailanthus is a noxious weed in Pennsylvania. This bug is even worse.
Spotted lanternflies would be OK if they only ate Ailanthus, but they don’t. Their sharp mouth parts pierce the stems and suck the sap of grapevines, hops, apple trees, peaches and hardwoods including oaks and cherries. The bugs then excrete a sticky “honeydew” that coats everything below their infestation.
First discovered in North America in Berks County, PA in August 2014, the spotted lanternfly has now spread to 13 counties in southeastern PA, three in New Jersey, and one in Virginia. Quarantine and eradication programs are underway in many of these locations.
From July through November look for inch-long spotted adults, shown above and below.
The adults are boring when perched but flash red when they open their wings.
In spring and early summer you’ll see more nymphs than adults. The younger ones are black with white spots. The oldest — the last instar — is red with white spots. The group below was photographed in Berks County last month.
In autumn the females lay egg masses on trees trunks, rocks and outdoor structures then cover the eggs with a mudlike substance. The photos below show egg masses at various sites.
In the slideshow did you notice the nymph on the car tire? These bugs lay eggs on the undersides of cars so we spread them unwittingly on long distance trips! They probably got to Winchester, Virginia via Interstate 81. Check your car before you come home from southeastern PA.
Look for this bug. If you find it, report it online here or call 1-888-4BAD-FLY (1-888-422-3359)
Don’t let spotted lanternflies get out of hand like they did in Berks County. Eeeww!
For more information see:
(photos from Bugwood.org and Wikimedia Commons. Click on the captions to see the originals)
I usually have a hard time photographing butterflies with my point-and-shoot camera. However some of them posed for me this month.
Can you tell me their names?
UPDATE: Thank you, Bob Machesney, for identifying them! I’ve updated the captions.
(photos by Kate St. John)
Dragon or damsel? What’s in a name?
I know dragonflies are carnivorous but the name “damselfly” sounds too delicate for that. Not so.
This damselfly in Newfoundland is eating a mayfly for lunch.
The mayfly — not the damsel — is in distress.
Thanks to David Trently for showing us this wonder of nature and Bill Anderson for photographing it.
(photo by Bill Anderson)
This phantom lives in freshwater wetlands from the Atlantic coast to the Rocky Mountains. Gliding on the shady edge of dense vegetation he usually goes unseen. It takes practice to notice a phantom crane fly.
I first learned about phantom crane flies (Bittacomorpha clavipes) in Newfoundland when our guide David Trently pointed one out. “There it is.”
I couldn’t see it. “Where is it? How big is it? What should I look for?” I was so frustrated! The bug was flying right in front of me but he was invisible.
The phantom landed and Bill Anderson took his picture. I followed Bill’s camera lens and found the fly. Aha!
When the phantom took off, I followed him with my eyes as he floated among the shadows. Here’s a video that shows what that’s like. (Note: If you don’t like snakes turn off the video before the 2:20 mark to avoid seeing one.)
Phantom crane flies can move like this because they’re very lightweight, their long legs are hollow, and their tarsomere (foot segments) are swollen and filled with air. They spread their legs to catch the breeze and barely flap their wings.
Their long crane-like legs make them phantoms in the air.
Read more about phantom crane flies in this article by the BugLady at University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.
(photo by Bill Anderson; click on the caption to see the original. video by Chromatophone Productions on YouTube)
Birds are hard to find in summer’s heat so if you want to take nature photos in late July, what do you do?
Bob Kroeger, Dana Nesiti and Steve Gosser focused on insects. Here are six of their amazing closeups.
Wow! Bug eyes.
(photos by Bob Kroeger, Dana Nesiti and Steve Gosser)
Eleven people joined me on Sunday July 29 for a walk in Schenley Park. The outing started from the Westinghouse monument and began with a surprise: a juvenile great blue heron was fishing in the ornamental pond.
Those who came early found the heron perched on top of the monument. (Sorry I missed that!) He caught and ate a small frog, then flew away.
There were still plenty of frogs left. Here’s one of many adult bullfrogs.
As the day warmed up the butterflies and moths came out. A silver spotted skipper landed on my hat and stayed so long that I tried to photograph it — but couldn’t. These photos are by Peter Bell.
We saw squirrels, chipmunks and young rabbits … and, yes, there were birds. Of the 19 species we saw/heard, we voted these the Best: (Click here for the complete checklist.)
At the end of the walk we stood by the pond and pondered the frogs.
(photos by Kate St. John, Peter Bell and Anne Marie Bosnyak)
Skunks smell bad, they can make you smell bad, they’re at high risk for rabies(*), and they eat bees and eggs causing problems for beekeepers and chicken farmers.
However, they have one benefit: They eat yellowjacket wasps.
This spring Marcy Cunkelman remarked that a skunk keeps her yard free of yellowjackets and grubs. The skunk leaves holes but that’s better than stepping on a yellowjacket nest!
The video above shows a skunk digging for grubs.
The video below shows a skunk eating a yellow jacket nest. (Warning: It has music that sticks in your head all day! It also has subtitles so you don’t need the sound on. But you might be curious. What song is it?)
(videos embedded from YouTube. click on the videos to see the originals)
(*Rabies) Skunks are at high risk for catching rabies and are therefore called a “rabies vector species.”
In all mammals — humans as well as skunks — rabies does not make the animal feel and look sick until the rabies infection has reached the fatal stage. If you are bitten by a wild animal you cannot tell if it has rabies. The hidden illness is sometimes described as “carrying rabies.”
On Throw Back Thursday:
Eight years ago Chris Colaianni went on a fishing trip in the Canadian Rockies and came back with this amazing story.
Their guide, Captain Ray, used a fish to attract a bird. But why does he have the fish in his mouth? Click here to find out in this vintage article: WHAT Is He Doing?
(photo by Chris Colaianni)
