17 July 2009
Aphids (possibly Uroleucon rudbeckiae)
As well as laying eggs, female aphids are able to reproduce by parthenogenesis - they give birth to smaller versions of themselves (all female) without the need for fertilization.
17-JUL-2009
Sweat bee (Agapostemon sp.)
Cathy Egan photographed this lovely green sweat bee in the Backyard Garden (BYG). These bees are nesting there, in the ground, in the same spot they nested last year.
17-JUL-2009
Sweat bee (Agapostemon sp.)
Another view of this pretty little metallic bee
16-JUL-2009
Red Milkweed Beetle (Tetraopes tetraopthalmus)
From Diane Lepage: "During my walk in the old field I saw this lovely Red Milkweed Beetle sitting on a Milkweed plants. Also saw a White Admiral, a few Cabbage Whites, 1 Summer Azure, European Skipper. A number of Cedar Waxwings, American Goldfinches, Eastern Kingbird, Robins were active."
15-JUL-2009
Snapping Turtle on platform
Diane photographed this snapping turtle using our turtle raft!! Hooray! Now we've had three turtles of two species using it.
14-JUL-2009
White-spotted sable (Anania funebris), #4958a
These tiny, pretty moths are common day-flyers, but since they usually land on the underside of leaves it is hard to photograph them. Fortunately, this one landed on a DSV stem
14-JUL-2009
Picture-winged fly (Callopistromyia sp.)
I thought at first I was looking at a minute jumping spider because of the way this little fly was behaving. But when I put on my glasses for a closer look at this speck, I saw it was a fly. After viewing the photo I noticed it was a Picture-winged fly, an intriguing group of flies with, in many case, beautifully patterned wings.
14-JUL-2009
Robber fly (Asilid sp.) with fly
While watching several medium-sized Sphecid wasps on some old wood, this small robber fly landed with an even smaller fly it had caught. I managed to get a few shots, but the light was very bright and the photos are not great, unfortunately. But it does give a reasonable view of this robber fly. There were quite a few insects around the garden today, several of them new for our FWG Insect list.
14-JUL-2009
Leafcutter bee (Megachile latimanus)
Later in the day, I found this really intriguing looking leafcutting bee clinging to a raspberry in the Old Field. It has extremely large front legs as you'll see in the next photo, and these very pale eyes that really stand out against the orangey colour of its body. Other hymenoptera have pale eyes, but it is the contrast that was so striking here.
14-JUL-2009
Leafcutter bee (Megachile latimanus)
Here you can see the enlarged front legs.
14-JUL-2009
Chipmunk
These little guys are really active again now that the young are out and about too.
12-JUL-2009
Wood Duck
Diane reports: I was at the FWG and the Arboretum early Sunday morning and saw a number of Birds and insects. Cedar Waxwings, Golddfinches, Red-winged Blackbird, Song Sparrow, Cardinals, B-C Chickadees, Green Herons, Crows were busy in the FWG. I then walked over to the pond in the Arboretum and again saw a Green Heron which flew high and sat in the Willow tree. Others bird were Yellow Warbler, female Wood Duck with 4 ducklings, and female Mallard duck with its ducklings.