Critters Big and Small Volume #4

Sunny outside, found me a Fiery Skipper Butterfly (Hylephila phyleus

Description - The Fiery Skipper belongs to the Family: HESPERIIDAE (Skippers) - subfamily Herperiinae, or Grass Skippers. Generally distinguishable by their large bodies relative to their wings, Skippers are also characterized (as their name suggests) by their rapid, darting flight. The Fiery Skipper is sometimes called the Lawn Skipper.

Distinguishable by its very short antennae, the Fiery Skipper is moth-like in appearance. Its wingspan runs about 1 1/8 - 1 1/4 inches in length. Males are a fiery yellowish-orange with black, toothed margins. A wide black stigma (a gland that releases pheromones to attract females) is visible on the upper forewing. Females are yellowish-brown with small, dusky, dark spots.

I believe mine is a female.

Hand-held, super fast shutter speed.

Hack

This message was edited Jun 29, 2010 10:07 AM

Another look at the Skipper.

Hack

This teeny moth was on the outside of my back door window this morning. It stayed in place for several hours. I thought it may have been dead, but when I touched it, it flew off to another part of the window.

The body was about 4 mm long and the wingspan about 8-9 mm wide.

It is a Yellow-spotted Webworm Moth (Anageshna primordialis).

Hack

This message was edited Jun 28, 2010 4:51 PM

Hack, very nice, and great info.
What a treat to see a fawn Marna. It's so sweet looking.
Love seeing your deers Nanny and Burd.
I'm still waiting to see a Moose or coyotes.
DH is always in the right place at the right time, and I'm never with him, when he sees them.
This is GD holding a crab.

And now holding a Hermit Crab.

Hey burn, the little lady (I'm guessing she's a she) in the background of the 1st pic, is she another GD? Is she frightened of the crab? I'm assuming GD means grand-daughter.

Hack

This message was edited Jun 28, 2010 8:28 PM

You are right on all counts , Hack. she was afraid to hold the crab. :)

Wow Hack...that is excellent macro work!! And you give very nice description's!

Not shots Burn!! As a boy me and my brother's would catch crawdad/crayfish/crawfish whatever one wants to call them...we would fill up a couple of coffee can's with them then cook and eat them. Oh yeah and chase the girls with them...lol

Well how about an encounter between a Yellow Jacket and a Hornet since that's all I got today.
Set of 3 picture's.

Both insects would try to get the other off the feeder...

This round goes to the Hornet but it also went the other way a couple of times.

Edited to say...shot at 560mm from 9 feet away...manually focused.

This message was edited Jun 29, 2010 12:33 AM

Burd, how, neat! I'd love to see two Hymenopterans doing battle. Great series.

Hack

This message was edited Jun 29, 2010 1:41 AM

Thanks Hack. I was surprised that the Hornet was interested in the sugar water...I thought he would be hunting spider's but...

one more pic since I had them.

Nice snaps, Burd. I'm surprised you didn't play around with the shutter speed to stop the wings. I saw on the last thread where you had to go with 1/3200.

Hack

My Gd's had Hermit Crabs for pets a few years back.... they are kind of interesting I guess.

Neat series Hack & Burd!

This doe was over at the apple tree this morning...unfortunately a car came by and she was gone. So just got the one shot.

For anyone who doesn't visit the bird forum... This is a Barred Owl that was in my yard last night. Turned out there were 5 more in the front of the house flying around my yard and the neighbors!! VERY COOL!

This message was edited Jun 29, 2010 4:52 PM

Did you feel like you were in a Harry Potter movie? Were they dropping envelopes on you?

Came across a Box Turtle today.

Hack

Wow, Nanny, all those owls flying around. What a hoot.

Burd, I just love you micro-drama between the wasp and the hornet.

Nice turtle, Hack. Well named.

Harry Potter is exactly what I thought of!! No dropping envelopes put they were sure coming down and getting something. Especially in the second house down from us!
They were back again tonight and went staright to that yard...so must be lots of mice or voles down there. We are all having a mole invasion right now too. YUCK!!!

That weird hiss/succking sound they make freaks me out!

Well time to go walk Bud....

I have photographed another green bottle fly. This one is likely a green bottle fly named Lucilia sericata. There are MANY species of green bottle flies - some are so similar that it takes a microscope to tell them apart..

This one, Lucilla sericata, is an important species to forensic entomologists (any CSI enthusiasts out there?). Like most Calliphorids (Its biological family is name Calliphoridae), this insect has been heavily studied and its life cycle and habits are well documented. Due to this, the stage of the insect’s development on a corpse is used to calculate a minimum period of colonization, so that it can used to aid in determining the time of death of the victim.

Neat huh.

Hack

Up close - I know it's just a blow-fly, but ain't it pretty.

God is in the details.

Hack

Nice shots Nanny! I just know having those Owls around has to be very exciting!

Nice ones Hack!...and yes that is neat about how they use the blow-flies. Kool Turtle!

Ok here's another butterfly..2 shot's, if ya have an idea what kind please feel free to Id.

shot No. 2

and I'll throw in a Dragonfly..

Hey Burd, your butterfly is a Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)

http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/pictures/Vanessa_atalanta.html

Hack

Oh, and I think your dragonfly is a Red Skimmer.

http://fostersfocus.com/p364249633/h331FB0B4#h331fb0b4

Hack

Love that dragonfly, Burd.

Thanks for the links Hack. Some of the butterfly names are very kool! I,m usually on the hunt for bird's but if a insect cooperates I'll take a shot or 2.
Thanks Margaret. The red coloring suckered me into a shot, almost all other dragonfly's Ive seen (this year) were black, blue, green or yellow.

I'm sure enjoying macro photography. I just sit outside by my flowers and shoot away.

This is a male Hover Fly

Hover Flies (or Flower Flies, if you're American) belong to a big family of small to big flies. In summer, the majority is seen in sometimes great numbers mixing with butterflies, bees, bumble bees and other flower adorers. They are capable of strikingly swift flight and of standing still on flight. Many species are very colorful as well and often mimic hymenopterans (bees and wasps) for protection from predators.

In order to be sure the animal you are looking at is a hover fly, you have to look at the veins in the wing. Like all flies hover flies only have two wings. In hover flies, a great part of the wing's edge is without veins (mine shows this trait). Another feature of hover flies is the so-called 'floating vein'. This vein just ends nowhere. (If you look at the middle of the wing in mine, you'll see a vein that kinda fades away.) In other flies, and hymenopteran, veins usually end either at the edge of the wing, or in another vein. Both these features are have hover fly traits.

It's always easy to tell males and females apart. Like all flies, the males have much bigger eyes, which almost touch each other in the middle. Females have much smaller eyes, placed farther apart. Mine is a male - large eyes, touching.

Hack

Side profile of my Hover Fly.

Hack

Side profile of my Hover Fly. At a glance, you'd think it was a bee. But it is a fly and will not hurt you.

Hack

Now, this really is a wasp. It will sting you - big time.

It is a Northern Paper Wasp. I think it is pretty.

You've probably seen their nest. The nests are usually suspended from a single, central stalk and have the shape of an upside-down umbrella. Plant and wood fibers are collected by the wasps, mixed with saliva, and chewed into a paper mache-like material that is formed into the thin cells of the nest. The nests are constructed in protected places, such as under the eaves of buildings or in dense vegetation. Normally a colony of several to several dozen paper wasps inhabit the nest.

Most paper wasps measure about 2 cm (0.75 in) long and are black, brown, or reddish in color with yellow markings. Paper wasps will defend their nest if attacked. Adults forage for nectar, their source of energy, and for caterpillars to feed the larvae (young). The good new is that they are natural enemies of many garden insect pests.

Hack

Another look at this attractive wasp.

Hack

Today I got another pic of a Bee Fly. Look at the wing veins and you'll see that is certainly is not a Hover Fly.

Hack

Great pics ...and you sure know your subjects!!


Hummingbird Moth...

Here's a new one from me for this Wildlife thread. Its a pic of a Long-legged Fly (suunto ID'd it for me on the Insect ID Forum). I wish I could have been closer, but it wouldn't sit still very long. I snapped the pic in a hurry - and it was farther away from me than I would have liked.

The Long-legged Fly Family (Dolichopodidae) is so enormous and the species are so similar that it's hard to identify to genus level, much less to species - so I just know it is a Long-legged Fly. The family contains around 230 genera worldwide, which include over 7,000 species, so no matter where you are, you have some.

I found out that all adult Long-legged Flies are predators of other small animals. That probably explains why my fly sought sunlight to bask in, and darted away frequently, maybe to checkout any tiny creature that flew by - and there were a lot of other insects around my flowers. Come to think of it, with their smallness and gentile hues, you'd think Long-legged Flies were delicate and vulnerable, but their diversity of habitats and sheer numbers would indicate that they're tough little rascals.

I only was able to get this one pic.

Hack