The BugLady and her camera have been out scouring the uplands and wetlands for insects that will sit still long enough to have their portrait made. Many of today’s bugs have starred in their own BOTWs over the years, and you can find them by Googling “51���� Field Station followed by the name of the insect. Her gut continues to tell her that there simply aren’t as many insects to point her camera at as there were a decade ago. 

What did she find in April and May?

Woodland Lucy (Lucidota atra), aka the Black firefly (atra means black). If a lightning bug doesn’t light, is it still a Lightning bug? Yup. Most lightning bugs flash their species-specific light signals at females by night, but some, like the Woodland Lucy, are day flyers (the BugLady starts seeing them in swamps in May, but she usually doesn’t see a light show by their nocturnal relatives until the very end of June). It would be a waste of energy to try to produce a light that competes with the sun, so diurnal lightning bugs communicate via pheromones (perfumes). But, all fireflies make light at some point in their lives, and always as a larva (and even the adult Woodland Lucy makes a weak light for a brief time after emerging as an adult).   

Who says “lightning bug” and who says “firefly?” Lightning bug is heard most often in the South and Midwest, and firefly belongs to New England and the West (and Southeastern Wisconsin is close to the border of the two). Someone did a study and hypothesized that people who live in wildfire country prefer firefly, and people who live in thunderstorm country say lightning beetle. The BugLady likes the alternate theory – that you call them whatever your Grandmother called them.

Disonycha Beetle – isn’t this a neat beetle! The BugLady photographed another member of the genus years ago when she was photographing visitors to her pussy willow shrub. It’s in the (huge) leaf beetle family Chrysomelidae, many of whose members are pretty specific about the host plants for their larvae. This one is (probably) a member of the confusing Smartweed Disonycha bunch.  

Grouse Locusts are in the family Tetrigidae (the pygmy grasshoppers), and at a half-inch and less when full grown, pygmy they are! The BugLady usually sees them in wetlands, and some are actually known to swim. They feed on tiny diatoms and algae and aquatic vegetation at the water’s edge.

A Centipede works the boardwalk at Spruce Lake Bog in April.

Ground Beetle Larva – Ground beetles (family Carabidae) are a bunch of mainly nocturnal, sometimes-sizeable, mostly predaceous beetles. Some of the big ones have no-nonsense names like Fiery Searcher and Caterpillar Hunter, and although they are called Ground beetles, they may climb trees to find their prey. They’re long-lived, spending a year or two as larvae and then two or three more as adults. No – the BugLady was not inclined to pick this one up.   

The White-Striped Black Moth (Trichodezia albovittata) is a small (1” wingspan) day-flying moth that’s often mistaken for a butterfly. It’s found in wetlands because its caterpillar’s food is Impatiens/Jewelweed/Touch-me-not. Like other members of the moth family Geometridae, it has tympanal organs (ears) at the base of its abdomen so that it can hear the echolocation calls of bats.  Since it’s diurnal, its ears are superfluous, but it can hear ultrasound (which suggests to evolutionary biologists that its day-flying habit is a recent one). 

Chalk-Fronted Corpals are one of our earliest dragonflies – the BugLady recalls seeing recently-emerged corporals by the hundreds over a dirt road on warm, spring days.

Daddy Longlegs (aka Harvestmen) are not true spiders, though they do have eight legs. The best description that the BugLady has read is that lacking a sharp division between their two body parts (cephalothorax and abdomen), they look like Rice Krispies with legs. This one is well-camouflaged on the fertile stalk of a cinnamon fern.

The BugLady may have to have this engraved on her gravestone (oh wait, she’s being scattered) – Daddy Longlegs Do No Bite People! Also, counter to both urban and rural legend, they are NOT the most venomous animal on earth!!! The BugLady does not care what your cousin told you, or the person who claims to be allergic to their bite. They have tiny jaws, and unlike the true spiders, they do not pierce their prey and then pump in chemicals from venom glands (no venom glands) (and they have no stinging apparatus). They just sit there and chew off tiny (tiny) pieces. Got it?

The Beautify Bee Fly (Bombylius pulchellus) truly is (pulchellos means “little beauty”)! This small fly (maybe ¼”) was photographed in a wetland in mid-May. Bee fly larvae are parasitoids of a variety of insect eggs and larvae – this one targets the sweat bees, which are among our earliest pollinators (not to worry – the system is in balance).

Crane Fly – there are a number of families of crane flies, plus some near-relatives, and they are often collectively called daddy longlegs (though they’re not spiders) and mosquito hawks and skeeter-eaters (though they don’t catch or eat mosquitoes). What they do, is when they land on the other side of your window screen at night, but they’re completely harmless. The “crane” in crane fly reflects their long, long legs – they’re somewhat awkward flyers and even more awkward landers. Like the Daddy longlegs, they’re reputedly extremely venomous (and now it’s time to introduce the third member of our “daddy longlegs trio,” the cellar spider. , but, alas, cellar spiders only have very weak venom). 

How do these things get started, anyway?

Soldier Fly – it’s always a little startling to come across a lime-green fly! 

This Virginia Ctenucha Moth Caterpillar was photographed in April, but the BugLady has found them walking around on mild winter days. The cute caterpillar will morph into a  that looks butterfly-ish until it lands on a leaf and immediately crawls underneath. Despite its name, it’s a moth with more northerly affiliations. 

The (great) Minnesota Seasons website lists three defense strategies:

• Aposematism: The metallic blue color of the thorax and abdomen mimics wasps which may be noxious to predators.
• Sound production: A specialized (tymbal), corrugated region on the third section of the thorax (metathorax) produces ultrasonic sounds which interfere with (“jam”) the sonar of moth-eating bats.
• Pyrrolizidine alkaloid sequestration: Caterpillars acquire and retain naturally produced toxic chemicals (pyrrolizidine alkaloids) from the plants they eat.

Red-Spotted Purple Caterpillars are hard to distinguish from those of the very-closely-related Viceroy and White Admiral caterpillars, and their food plants overlap, too. The caterpillars overwinter in a leaf that’s still attached to the tree, rolled up and fastened with silk. 

Red-spotted Purple? The , and the .

Hobomok Skippers (once called the Northern Golden Skipper) are an early butterfly, often decorating the wild geraniums that bloom by the bushel in May. One source says that they are strong flyers that take off quickly when startled. Amen! They are a butterfly of woodland, wetland and grassland edges, where males perch in the sun and fly out to chase intruders.

“Hobomok” is a nod to an early Wampanoag chief.    

Crab Spider on White trillium – as we all know, the BugLady has a thing for crab spiders because of their ability to hide in plain sight.  This one was photographed in early May. 

Go outside – Look for Bugs!

The BugLady

The post Slices of Spring appeared first on Field Station.

This BOTW is a retread. The BugLady likes crane flies and has seen quite a variety in the past few months, and she realized that the original offering was a bit skimpy—insufficient scholarship.

Crane Flies

Etymological news first: Crane flies have collected an amazing number of (often regional) names. Because of the mistaken notion that they eat mosquitoes, they are variously called mosquito hawk (a name shared with dragonflies), mosquito wolf, and skeeter eater. They’re called “male mosquitoes” (because male mosquitoes don’t bite, either). Texans may call them gallinippers, though lists gallinipper as a large species of mosquito and adds that “Females bloodfeed day and night and are able to bite through heavy clothing.” They’re called a gollywhopper in Maine (gollywhopper is another name for the beard that hangs from a turkey’s neck and, in Maine folklore, a giant, edible chicken). The British call them Daddy-long-legs, to the utter confusion of visiting Yanks, and call the tough-skinned larvae “leather jackets” or “leatherback slugs.” The “crane” part of the name refers to the fly’s long, thin legs.

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And a true fly it is. Located, with mosquitoes, within the order Diptera (two wings) it is in the family Tipulidae. There are more than 4,000 species of crane flies worldwide (1,500 in North America). Though many look like a mosquito on steroids, there are crane flies that actually are mosquito-sized (and have been given the nickname “bobbing gnats”). They are most often seen on window screens and sides of buildings. Despite their alarming appearance, crane flies neither bite (fore end) nor sting (nether end) (though an ovipositor may look like a stinger). Adults of some species eat nectar, and adults of other species eat nothing. The BugLady is always startled by their long faces. Like the other members of the Order Diptera, the Flies, crane flies have two tiny, stemmed knobs called haltare on their thorax. Actually a vestigial second pair of wings, haltare are used for balance. And, there are wingless crane flies that occur on snow in mid-winter and are the largest land invertebrates in the Arctic!

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Giant Eastern Crane Fly

The green crane fly is about a half inch long; the body of the Giant Eastern crane fly (Pedicia albivitta), of the Frank Lloyd Wright-type wings, is 1 ½ inches long and its leg-spread is impressive. Some tropical species may more than double that. Despite the long wings, they are not strong fliers.

The crane fly larvae of the BugLady’s acquaintance are aquatic, and in fact are among her favorite aquatic critters. Aquatic larvae are gray and plump and pinkie-finger-sized, with bristly ridges ringing some of the segments. Their posteriors are decorated by tiny fleshy projections called spiracular lobes that look like tentacles and they have a face only a mother could love. Aquatic crane fly larvae eat decaying vegetation or small invertebrates and are moderately tolerant of pollution. In the Arctic, aquatic larvae are an important food for shorebirds.

But the larvae of some crane flies are terrestrial (yet others like damp-lands and even compost heaps), and these chew on the roots of grasses and tender, young field crops. The necessarily tough skin of terrestrial crane fly larvae is what has earned them the nickname “leatherjackets.”

The Texas A&M Extension reports that large numbers of adult crane flies can be a nuisance indoors, but they’re medically harmless and not generally considered a pest. But the Washington Sate University Extension is not so sanguine. They label the larvae of the Large European crane fly, unwelcome guests in this country since before 1955, as “Wanted For: Menacing Lawn Owners, Assaulting Turf” and they go on to say that “Leatherjackets are below-the-belt villains, attacking both the roots and tops of grass blades in the spring.”

Two good websites: The has a remarkable set of pictures of all manner of critters chowing down on crane flies. The in northern Virginia has a wonderful site with write-ups about a variety of organisms. The write-ups include charts showing relationships among eaters and eatees. What’s not to love about a website whose motto is “This Site is Always Under Construction!!” The BugLady trusts that alert BugFans can scroll down the list of organisms and find crane flies.

According to folklore, crane flies have some of the most potent venom in the world, but they aren’t dangerous to us because they don’t have biting mouthparts.

And finally, aquatic biologists and fly-tiers (tie-fliers) have yet another name for them—fish food.

 
The Bug Lady

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