Pearl Crescent Butterfly Party
Location: Lake Erie Coast, Toledo-area.
August 22, 2010 1:02 pm
Hello! I went on a walk along the Lake Erie shore today, and found many interesting things. One of my favorites was this group of butterflies (which I’m fairly sure are Pearl Crescents, but I’m no expert) either feasting on something or just having a good time together. Who knows! Hope you enjoy.
Katy
Pearl Crescent Puddle Party
Hi Katy,
We believe you have correctly identified these butterflies as Pearl Crescents, Phyciodes tharos, which is represented on BugGuide, though BugGuide does indicate that there are several other species in the genus that look quite similar. In similar looking butterflies, often actual examination of the specimen by an expert is required for conclusive identification and DNA analysis is a recent, albeit expensive new tool. Though we do not believe your specimen is a Mimic Crescent, the description of the species on BugGuide includes this information: “Mimic Crescent is a recently described species that is similar to the common and widespread Pearl Crescent (P. tharos) and the Northern Crescent (P. cocyta) of the northern US/Canada. It is dubbed “Mimic” because its appearance mimics the Northern Crescent, while the mitochondrial DNA is more similar to that of Pearl Crescent. On average, they are slightly larger and have a higher, stronger flight than typical Pearl Crescent. Probably indistinguishable from Northern Crescent in the field, though Northern Crescent is not known to occur in the range of Mimic Crescent.” It is interesting to us that you called the activity in your photograph a party, because the butterflies are puddling, and a gathering like this is frequently called a puddle party. Butterflies gather at damp places and other locations to drink in fluids. The Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History website indicates: “scientists don’t fully understand the function of puddling but it does appear that there are chemical ingredients that are essential for some butterfly species before they can reproduce. Research has shown that sodium is probably one of the most important ingredients but other chemicals are important too. Although mud puddles, urine, and feces seem to be the most common attractants, even carrion may be used by male butterflies; some species are attracted to specific substances while others are more generalists. … Those butterflies that participate in this behavior are the newly emerged males; females and older males do not puddle. Apparently, only those species that patrol territories, like the sulphurs and swallowtails, are the ones that puddle. It’s interesting that what probably appears to be a straight-forward behavior is not all that clear to entomologists.“ The detail of your photographs clearly shows several specimens with their proboscises uncoiled and “drinking”.
Pearl Crescents Puddling
mean green bug
Location: kentucky
August 22, 2010 5:32 pm
hello…i was travleing out of greenbo lake state park in kentucky …on the road was a app. 6” lime green..possible catapilar..it had horns down its back and on it’s head…ive never seen anything like this…hope to be able to send you a photo…..
James Kinney
Hickory Horned Devil
Hi James,
The Hickory Horned Devil is the largest caterpillar in North America.
You all are great….. I just recently got me a laptop and i have tried some different sights for different things (games,screensvares .etc) they ALL seem to have some kind of catch…..you’re sight gave me exactly what i wanted with NO hidden agenda….I really appreciate this and when i can i will help in any way i can, again, thank you. P.S. That bug was awesome,my whole family loved it 
We do have an agenda James, but it is not hidden. We abhor Unnecessary Carnage and we strive to promote tolerance of the lower beasts. We believe everyone should read “On the Origin of Species” before making an opinion about it.
Black insect with thin yellow stripes and ?stinging and/or biting capabilities
Location: Palo Alto, CA
August 22, 2010 4:41 pm
Dear What’s That Bug,
I had a most unfortunate experience last night and this morning, and I was wondering if you could help me identify *what* it was. A few times during the night I awoke to a buzzing sound in my ear, though I couldn’t find the source. Shortly after I woke up, I felt a sharp pain on my wrist, then a bit later a few more on my back. These became 3 mm tall welts with a sunken poke mark in the middle.
Eventually, I found the source: a black insect with four thin yellow stripes on the last segment. It has something that looks like a short and thin stinger at the end and a pair of pinchers on the head (please excuse my terminology — I have some botanical training, but not entomological!). It also has narrow wings that it usually keeps folded on its body such that it’s hard to see them. Oh, but the insect does fly! There might even be a second, smaller pair of wings under the first, but it’s hard for me to see.
Could you please tell me what this is? I’ve seen these around before, but had never been assaulted by one!
Much thanks,
Bitten and/or stung
Leaf Cutting Bee
Dear Bitten and/or stung,
We suspect you were probably stung, though we are not certain if the sting of a Leaf Cutting Bee in the genus Megachile brings certain death as it does in a Honey Bee worker. The jaws of a Leaf Cutting Bee are quite pronounced, and perhaps the bite may have caused the reaction you describe. According to BugGuide: “Most nest in pre-existent holes in wood. Female typically cuts neat, more-or-less round pieces out of leaves to serve as separators between cells of nest“ and the young feed on a variety of pollens. Sadly, we fished a drowning Leaf Cutting Bee from our birdbath yesterday and it died. According to Charles Hogue in Insects of the Los Angeles Basin: “”Neatly cut semicircular notches in the leaf edges of one’s rose bushes indicate the presence of these solitary bees in the neighborhood.”
Leaf Cutting Bee
¶ Posted 22 August 2010 § Bees ‡ ° Possible Pine Devil
Location: Central Virginia
August 22, 2010 6:38 am
Hi,
Scoured the site and found something similar to this – could this be a Pine Devil? We are located in Central Virginia and my husband found the critter crawling along the stone driveway. There is a large pine tree near where he found it, as well as several dogwoods and other trees.
I have more then the one picture but was unable to send more then one at a time.
Thanks for a great site!!
Mrs. L. Owen
Pine Devil
Dear Mrs. Owen,
This is most certainly a Pine Devil Caterpillar, Citheronia supulcralis, a close relative of the Hickory Horned Devil, a caterpillar we see much more frequently than the Pine Devil. We are currently having problems posting your photo, and we hope that we are able to post your letter now, knowing we will have to attach the photo at a later time. BugGuide describes the adult moth as being: “body chocolate brown with long thick abdomen; forewing dull brownish-violet with small rose basal spot and obscure blackish PM line and reniform spot; hindwing rose at base; median line and discal spot blackish; faint rose outlines of veins on forewing and hindwing.“
Great Spangled Fritillary
Location: Cumberland Plateau, rural southeast Tennessee
August 21, 2010 11:13 am
Hi Daniel,
It looks like a great year for butterflies. We saw this beauty this morning, and think it is a Great Spangled Fritillary.
Thanks for all your work!
Bob Kieffer
Great Spangled Fritillary
Hi Bob,
We are very happy to be able to post your wonderful image of a Great Spangled Fritillary.
1
Ant in Luxor Egypt
Location: Luxor Egypt
August 19, 2010 6:24 pm
My wife and I were walking around the Karnak temple in Luxor Egypt and kept running into these vicious looking ants. They seemed to have rather long legs and liked to keep their abdomen up in the air, looking more like a little scorpion than an ant at first sight. Couldn’t get a really good look at what it was trying to pull up from the ground there, but it was engaged in a mighty struggle to wrestle it from the ground. Please let us know what species of ant this might. Many thanks!
p.s. we saw the same ant near the pyramids in Giza as well.
horizon hunters
Unknown Ant
Dear horizon hunters,
We are posting your image prior to securing an identification and we are hoping our readership may be able to assist. Though we are running late and cannot browse at the moment, we suspect the Ants of Egypt website may contain the answer.
1
Leaf hopper love.
Location: Staten Island, NY
August 21, 2010 9:17 am
I thought you might be interested in these pics of mating leaf hoppers
Spuds
Mating Sharpshooters
Hi Spuds,
We believe this may be our first photo of mating Leafhoppers. Your Leafhoppers are Sharpshooters in the genus Graphocephala. They look like they might be Rhododendron Leafhoppers, Graphocephala fennahi, based on photos posted on BugGuide.
Bee Id Help
Location: Gainsville, Ga
August 20, 2010 2:05 pm
Picture taken Gainsville Ga.
August 19, 2010.
Is this a bumblebee or carpenter bee?
Yellow color but shiny abdomen?
Thank you,
J Serences
Common Eastern Bumble Bee
Hi J,
In our opinion, this is a Common Eastern Bumble Bee, Bombus impatiens. You can see BugGuide for additional information.
I like This
