Neuroptera for all!

Neuroptera are nerve-winged insects: owl flies, antlions, lacewings, and mantis flies fall into that category and all of the above have been present at the lights this summer/fall:

As usual, apologies for the horrid quality of the images, but google should be able to give you a better idea of what these photogenic creatures look like in more ideal situations!

Owl fly - Note the suuuper long, butterfly-like antennae:

Antlion - a larger than average individual:

Lower left is the lacewing - somehow it was never cornered for a solo portrait session:

Mantis fly video link:

http://youtu.be/JTznQl_QiyY

^^ the mantis fly was filmed in Tarrant Co, everything else was Alpine, Brewster Co. So many good bugs out there, so many amazingly excellent bugs... 

* video to be embedded at some point!

Edit: more [bad] photos! 

Mantis fly from 10 Aug 2014, Tarrant Co. 

And a super blurry green lacewing from the same sheet:

A bug in the hand is worth...

...an unknown number of bugs in the bush?

This is just a handful (heh... heh...) of the moths that turned up at the lights last night. High humidity and outward facing walls in a canyon of mixed high desert scrub and oaks... well, the results far surpassed my highest expectations and I did a pretty sad job of documenting things (photo quality being the least of my feeble documentation problems, unfortunately).

Really, I just wanted to play with them.

Ye olde, familiar White-lined Sphinx, Hyles lineata. I stopped counting at eight.

A stripey comparison with a solitary Vine Sphinx, Eumorpha vitis:

Five-spotted Hawkmoth, is that you? Manduca quinquemaculatus! Easily five were still present this morning.

Falcon Sphinx! Xylophanes falco -- these gems are wrapped in the night sky as caterpillars and that's not much of a metaphor. Two were present.

Pint-sized would be an overstatement for the Walnut Sphinx, Amorpha jugulandis. Population for the night: one.

Now let's jump from our small sphinx to our big silkmoth, Walnut Sphinx, meet Oculea Silkmoth! While some sphinxes can be large, none are quite so bat-like as any of the silkmoths tend to be.

This one, lone, lovely lass was most definitely the highlight of the night - and morning:

Oculea Silkmoth, Antheraea oculea, also called the Western Polyphemus Moth.

iNaturalist has some interesting folks out there, this is most definitely NOT a buckeye!

Never turn your back on Hubbard's Small Silkmoth, they are fiesty! I just wanted to get that deep watermelon pink of the hindwing somewhere in the post...

A bit less showy here, Hubbard's Small Silkmoth, Sphingicampa hubbardi or Syssphinx hubbardi, depending on how technical you want to get. At least four made it to the lights.

Cobubatha spp, for kicks. ID suggestions welcomed! Two or three present overnight.

This has been uber-blogged here before, but one never resists the wiles of Halysidota davisii, Davis's Tussock Moth. There were easily six on the wall!* (and by that, I do include chairs, the ground, and things near the light)

If not terribly mistaken, this tiny Bigfoot is Euclea incisa - only one was around last night, but two weeks ago the numbers ranged nearly to double digits. It really needs a good common name. Saddleblanket Moth seems a bit unwieldy though. But it is wearing a green blanket...

...and darn it if I didn't have this identified a month ago and have magically lost my brain. Black wings, striped butt, nice pants - should be an easy one. Will update with an ID when I get a chance!

*** Nick Block wins the internet for reminding me that Texas Wasp Moth should not be so hard to remember! Horama panthalon even has pants in the name! Now I feel that I should have included pics of the Yellow-collared Scape Moths because at least I knew what they were when I saw them (they look like 'love bugs' in moth form).

* Many thanks to Sky Stevens for permission and encouragement with the blacklighting at her place just west of Alpine! Brewster County does snag a few Jeff Davis Co species here!

House Guests

The big puppy has not been feeling well, so the back door has been propped open - day and night - to ease his discomfort. Unfortunately, cone-nosed beetles, mosquitoes and a few other guests have invited themselves in... 

Like this female rhinoceros beetle. 

Pipevine at Post Park

Post Road and Post Park were quite birdy (hat-tip to Bill Sain for another excellent adventure), but the highlight was simply being outside on a fantastic day. Admittedly, I did sigh that there were no leps around and a Queen, Pipevine Swallowtail, and a mystery skipper decided to cooperate. Not that any of them are earth shattering, but it seems to have been a quiet spring for butterflies, perhaps due to lack of moisture.

Pipevine Swallowtail, Battus philenor. Post Park, Marathon/Brewster Co, TX. 27 May 2014.

Bird list for Post Road here and bird list for Post Park here.

March Moth Madness

We generally have a very slow start to mothing season - and this year we haven't even technically blacklighted at all - but this morning shocked my socks off!

In January we'd helped a neighbor on the north side of town with some yard work, clearing dead vegetation and shuffling it over to the burn pile. A lump of cocoon had caught my eye (it was in a tangle of chile pequin and unidentifiable vegetation) and I'd tucked it aside for further study. It may or may not have been toted around in the bed of the truck for about a week before I remembered it!

With no suitable place to put it around the house, I propped it in the branches of our pine tree, out of puppy-reach in the yard.

This is what greeted me this morning: Antheraea oculea, the Oculea Silkmoth, apparently also called Western Polyphemus? Check out its range. They feed on oaks and walnuts, neither of which are terribly abundant in these parts.

The circle of life, or something.

To add some scale...

My what fuzzy antennae and large eye spots you have! Chestnut tones for the male...

The male, right, is showing a bit of wear.

Fresh wings, small antennae, this is the female.

Pardon the lack of privacy, but WOW those are nice antennae!

Female, rumply-fresh.

Such symmetry!

With the variability among individuals, I was surprised to see just how much markings differ (see Bugguide link way at the top) and even with these two, the richness of color from above was strikingly different between them... at least, for looking like clones from below. Amazing how one cocoon can completely derail a morning!

nothing to see here...

It is not often in this life when we find a kindred spirit. Oh, but when kindred spirits meet... we've swapped photos of moths, plants, roadkill, birds of course, and general oddities in life. For example, this little pebble with legs. It is caliche colored. It is caliche sized. And wouldn't you know, it's perfect. As are Klem and Tom, our dear neighbors, kindred spirits, finders of these living gems.

Check it out: a toad lubber. A grasshopper with all the charisma of a charismatic pebble.

© Tom Lehr, 10 March 2014

Excellent camouflage, rolly-jumpy movement (reminiscent of a toad, as the name implies), these lumplets of grasshoppers actually do have wings - check out this photo from bugguide (also from Brewster Co!) where you can see a bit of wing peeking out. Pretty variable, if not outright pretty.

© Tom Lehr, 10 March 2014

Nope, nothing to see here at all. Just a sunset.

Until further notice, tentative ID is Robust Toad Lubber, Phrynotettix robustus.

Small Checkered Skipper

...and we thought spring was going to wait until March or April... guess we need to bust out the black lights because things really ARE moving! Apologies for the incredibly low photo quality here; this was a VERY fresh Small Checkered Skipper (Pyrgus scriptura) taken at the ponds SW of Marathon yesterday (16 Feb 2014), digital zoom makes it look oddly, unfortunately blocky.

Small Checkered Skipper (Pyrgus scriptura), 16 February 2014, Brewster Co, TX

I recall Small Checkered Skippers being much smaller than this individual seemed (more like Western Pygmy Blues than Common/White Checkered Skippers), and later in the morning we did see a Common/White Checkered Skipper at Post Park - and it really did seem about the same size. Confusing, especially since many early flying leps are smaller than their later-season counterparts.

That said, Post Park and the water crossings on Post Road were FILLED with Mourning Cloaks. Wonderful early fliers, and able to stay aloft in the breeze. Post Road also had a gaggle of pronghorn antelope; they have been absent for some time.

Texas Powdered Skipper

Finally a sign of spring that is not a Sleepy Orange, Reakirt's Blue, or Checkered White! Or 80+ degree temps... but we'll take what we can get! Even if the pics are shoddy...

Texas Powdered Skipper (Systasea pulverulenta) 10 February, 2014, Marathon, TX.

Not a bad yard bug for Dos Baños, either! 

Click here to see the BAMONA page on Texas Powdered Skippers.

(Blog post failed to post on scheduled day, so post date may be out of order!)

Flame-colored Tanager via Colima Death March

 A bit of background: 6 May, Flame-colored Tanager was reported near the junction of Boot and Juniper trails by Mark Flippo, retired BBNP staff who continues to remain designated Trail Ninja. It has been seen/sort-of-seen almost daily since then. Our first attempt was on 28 May. It's funny, claiming the Colima Death March (traditionally a combination of Pinnacles or Laguna Meadows trails to Colima Trail... and back) in the name of a non-Colima. While we did trot past ~5 singing Colima Warblers on our way up Pinnacles (the steeper and more grueling, but shorter of the approaches), our goal was the same as it was last time... Flame-colored Tanager. "Heard-only" is a heck of a foot note for such a gorgeous bird, but that's what it was. So we had to give it another try. In late June. Because we are masochists and that's what our schedule allowed.

Colima Warbler before sun reached our slope.

Note:
Boot Canyon itself is listed as 'strenuous' but fails to mention 'grueling' in the description! Our traditional approach ends up being something like 11-12 miles round trip. Boot Canyon, as a trail, is not bad at all. But you have to GET to it first! Darn the Pinnacles...

Flame-colored Tanager, 21 June 2013

This time we were able to make it out of Marathon before 5 am and hit the trail just before 6:30 am. We scooted past Hutton's Vireo (food carrying), singing and snacking Colima Warblers, Canyon Wrens falling/chasing each other down a cliff face, and begging/parent-chasing White-throated Swifts. Nearing the end of the trek, we were graced by the presence of the Ghost of Christmas Bird Counts Past: Ron Weeks. Also, the Ghost of Gulf Coast Birding Past: Brad Lirette. Having not seen either of them in roughly 10 years, it was a very hasty but pleasant reunion (and introduction to Matt) as they graciously backtracked up the trail to show us the spot where we'd waited for hours last time: instead of sticking to the ridge line, however, the female Western Tanager and male Flame-colored Tanagers were staying mid-canopy along the trail!

Golden Banded-Skipper (Autochton cellus)

Butterflies were definitely out as well: Arizona Sister, Two-tailed Swallowtail, Lyside Sulphur, American Snout, Varigated Fritillary, Gulf Fritillary, Golden-banded Skipper, Juniper Hairstreak, etc.

Painted Redstart adult, preening.

In addition to the flame-colored proverbial icing on the cake, we shared the morning with a cluster of Painted Redstarts, Black-crested Titmice feeding young, singing Colima Warblers, singing Black-headed Grosbeaks, singing Hepatic Tanagers, fly-by Summer Tanagers, one Band-tailed Pigeon, groups of Mexican Jays, a pair of Dusky-capped Flycatchers, a Cordilleran Flycatcher, some Hutton's Vireos, a female Lucifer Hummingbird, and a smattering of other high-elevation goodies.
As we were leaving the park, we stopped at Panther Junction on social rounds and were given directions to a hybrid agave/lechuguilla... but that may be a plant for another post!





Click here for the eBird list from Boot Canyon, and here for the eBird list from Pinnacles Trail.

Here's another pile of Flame-colored goodness, all heavily cropped:

Flame-colored Tanager, 21 June 2013

Flame-colored Tanager, 21 June 2013

Flame-colored Tanager, 21 June 2013

Flame-colored Tanager, 21 June 2013

New place; familiar faces

And, just as it is when you see your elementary school teachers outside of the classroom, you simply can't figure out how they got to where you are. They live in their habitat - the school. Awkward.

Well, I do recognize these faces. I even remember a few of their names, or parts of their names, or their nicknames. Some of them. This morning I did try to jog the brain on their IDs. But mostly, I spent the early morning taking their photos, gawking, taking more photos, gawking, and taking more photos. Then I locked myself (and the dogs) out of the house, with no phone. At 6 am. Guess I didn't actually need to eat breakfast anyway.

My neighbors are saints. Truly. The old house was easy enough to break into; the new one is a veritable fortress. So by 7 am I was back inside, thanks to neighbors across town with a spare key.

First and second nights of 'hit the switch and go to bed' blacklighting were last night and the night before. First 'stay up and wait' blacklighting attempt with guests and whatnot was early last month. I got a Kissing Bug / Triatoma bite as a souvenir from that one. Remember, kids: DO. NOT. SCRATCH. Do not rub, do not pat, do not wipe... embrace the burn and rinse thoroughly with rubbing alcohol or hydrogen peroxide. The throbbing stops after about an hour. You'll survive. Unless you get a lump at the site of the bite about 24 hrs later... in that case you Google "early treatment" and "Chagas disease" and cross your fingers.

Anyway, back to those familiar faces:

 Walnut Sphinx (Amorpha juglandis) 5 June 2013

Walnut Sphinx was a newcomer late in our time at the DBR; I recall only two individuals that showed up on one occasion. Striking creatures, quite memorable in spite of diminutive size (compared to our 'regular' White-lined and Western Poplar Sphinxes!)

 Policocnemis ungulatus 5 June 2013

Fun fact: all five images of Policocnemis ungulatus on Bugguide.net are from either the Double Bacon Ranch (our former yard) or our new yard.

Datana spp.

Datana 'spuh' - these are lovely dead leaves. Or maybe broken bits of branches. Whatever it is they look like, they're not ideal for the dyslexic: Datana, Nadata, and Natada are all anagrams for each other and they're all moth genera named by one particular Francis Walker. (bugguide, wiki)
...thankfully we've only had Datana to contend with thus far, and they're tricky enough!

And now for a smattering of Tripudia luxuriosa:








Tripudia luxuriosa... what's in a name? A luxurious tri-pointed moth?

Poorly cropped and badly lit or not, they are wonderful little tic-tac sized moths whose depth of coloration and intricacy of pattern are really quite marvelous when examined closely. Rarely does one ever show up appearing worn, tattered, or otherwise less than pristine.

Their patterning seems to vary a good bit, and Tripudias in general can get confusing, but as a group they are quite fun to pick through. There are not so many as to be entirely overwhelming but just enough to be engaging.






....and we still haven't even made it to the brightly colored bugs! Perhaps Pygarctia will need their own post, once again, due to such an amazing showing on the morning of the 6th. At least one P. neomexicana was among several P. flavidorsalis with at least one P. rosicapitis.

Oh, and a new face at the lights:

Southern Purple Mint Moth  (Pyrausta laticlavia) 5 June 2013

Small photo to attempt to mask the horrible focus - the first Southern Purple Mint Moth (One-eyed, one-antennad Flying Purple Mint-plant-eater?) that I've been consciously aware of...


Good morning, Marathon.

Pre-dawn in Marathon, 5 June 2013