July of last summer that is.
First up is an unsavory looking fly. I well remember being puzzled when I first saw one of these mosquito-sized insects. But the hunched thorax and long proboscis of this nectar feeding fly gives away the family (Bombyliidae), and leads to its ID which is the scaly bee fly (
Lepidophora lepidocera).
Scaly bee fly by
Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr
This Scarabeid beetle is some sort of ‘chafer’, and a look in BugGuide entries for my state quickly tells me that it is the oriental beetle,
Anomala orientalis. It is yet another invasive species that is a bit of a pest, but it is not nearly as destructive as the related Japanese beetle.
Oriental beetle by
Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr
Next up is a quick picture of the viceroy butterfly,
Limenitis watsoni.
Viceroy butterfly by
Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr
An inchworm caterpillar. It might be the larva of the common grey (
Anavitrinella pampinaria), but that might not be right.
Inchworm by
Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr
And finally, here is the larva of the Eastern tiger swallowtail,
Papilio glaucus. One of my earliest memories of anything in this life was coming across one of these under a tree in our front yard. Each time I see one, I think of that.
Tiger swallowtail caterpillar by
Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr
Thanks for looking!
Another fine set with a couple I'd never seen. Thanks!
Thanks for sharing your wonderful finds and educational narratives for I truly enjoy seeing and reading them.
Your inchworm is like a dachshund of the caterpillar world. All nicely shot of course.
Nice photos, very informative, thanks for sharing.
lovely well shot images, like the sparkles on the scaly bee fly's proboscis.........
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