Tag: insects

Feron kingi

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Feron kingi

Feron kingi, commonly known as the red cone gall wasp, is a member of the Cynipidae family.

The adult female lays her eggs within the leaves of several white oak species, including the valley oak (Quercus lobata). Once the egg hatches, the larva begins feeding on the leaf tissue, triggering the plant to form a hard, protective structure—a small red cone about 5 mm tall. This gall benefits the insect, providing it with additional plant tissue to consume. Inside the gall, the larva pupates and eventually matures into a parthenogenetic female adult before emerging from the tip of the cone. That’s right — there are no male gall wasps.

Xylocopa sonorina

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Xylocopa sonorina

Female valley carpenter bees are glossy black all over, but this one had a ring of bright yellow pollen on her thorax. At first I thought it was a new species, but no, she was just dressed in powdery finery. The male X. sonorina is golden brown with green eyes — I hope to see one some time soon. Perhaps I shouldn’t be wishing for carpenter bees around our tumbledown old house—they are so named because they tunnel through wood to make their nests. They avoid painted or stained wood, but our place has plenty of exposed timber they might find suitable for excavating.

Murgantia histrionica

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Murgantia histrionica

I had seen adult harlequin bugs* before, but never the nymph stage. Both life stages are a major pest of cabbage and related brassica crops, feeding on the stems and leaves with their piercing-sucking mouthparts. That didn’t seem to be happening on the bladderpods today, as far as I could see. But who knows that those sneaky little mouth-straws are doing!

*This is different from the insect known in Australia as a harlequin bug, Dindymus versicolor.

notonectidae

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sostomo

The lower parts of Solstice Creek are well-visited, but not many people climb Sostomo Trail to enjoy the gorgeous crossing on the upper creek. The three of us settled into a bed of fallen sycamore leaves and enjoyed the quiet shade. I liked seeing the little backswimmers (Notonectidae family) — I’d also observed these aquatic insects in Australia.

Backswimmers, as the name implies, swim inverted, using their long hind legs to paddle vigorously. They prey on organisms as large as tadpoles and small fish and can deliver a painful “bite” to humans—actually a stab from their sharp proboscis. These insects inhabit still freshwater in lakes, ponds, and marshes, and can also be found in garden ponds and occasionally in swimming pools. Despite being primarily aquatic, backswimmers are effective fliers, allowing them to easily disperse to new habitats.

Pieris rapae

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Pieris rapae

Our most common garden butterfly is one that does not delight me. The cabbage white has a natural range across Europe, Asia, and North Africa. It was accidentally introduced to Canada around 1860 and spread rapidly throughout North America. Estimates show that a single female of this species might, in a few generations, be the progenitor of millions.

That’s a lot of caterpillars eating my brassicas 😖

Chrysocus cobaltinus

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Chrysocus_cobaltinus

This iridescent little beetle (about 8mm long) was on a milkweed plant at the Park yesterday. So bright and metallic!

Both adult and larvae C. cobaltinus life stages eat dogbane and milkweed species. These plants contain toxic molecules known as cardenolides, which the beetle is resistant to. In fact, it stores the cardenolides in its glands, and uses them against predators.

Cobalt Mikweed Beetles are similar to click beetles in being able to launch themselves a couple of times the length of their body. Little but mighty!

Libellula saturata

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flame skimmer

The water in the pool is getting really low; in a few more weeks it will have evaporated completely. I was observing some rather large organisms running about under the murky water, and wondering what they were. I was distracted by some mating flame skimmers overhead, and watched as they completed their copulation and the female proceeded to repeatedly dip the end of her abdomen in the water.

Now that I’ve done a little research on flame skimmers, I’m pretty sure that the critters I see underwater are the dragonfly’s nymphs. Hopefully they’ll have time to metamorphose before their habitat disappears for the season.

Libellula_saturata_nymph_Needham_1904
Needham, James G. (1904) Public domain

Tipuloidea

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Mosquito hawk. Skeeter-eater. Gallinipper. Gollywhopper. Jenny longlegs. Daddy longlegs. Crane flies are found all over the world and go by many different names. There are several common misconceptions about these insects:

  1. That they are the most venomous insects in the world (in fact, they have neither venom nor the ability to bite).
  2. That they prey on mosquito populations (also untrue; the adult crane fly is anatomically incapable of killing or consuming other insects).

Crane fly larvae can be important in the soil ecosystem, because they process organic material and increase microbial activity. Larvae and adults are also valuable prey items for many animals, including insects, spiders, fish, amphibians, birds, and mammals. However, the larvae of some crane fly species are agricultural pests, as they feed on the roots, root hairs, crown, and sometimes the leaves of crops. But mostly, these giant, delicate creatures are completely harmless.