BUGSTOCK Fall 2008

Bugstock Fall 2008 was a great success (as usual)...with a lot of the usual suspects in attendance (and of the six & eight-legged kind as well!). Robber flies (Family Asilidae) seemed to rule the weekend, with at least three (maybe four...Gayle?) species of Diogmites! Also, we were able to photograph Triorla interrupta with prey (skipper sp. pictured below).

Below is Diogmities angustipennis, then a Diogmites that has yet to be identified to species.

Bugs 'round the Nature Station

I began full-time work at the Acadiana Park Nature Station as a Naturalist on June 15, 2008. I had worked here previously (albeit very briefly) in 2002, before going to the Zoo of Acadiana. We've been extremely busy around the Station lately, as Stacey (Scarce) is on vacation for three weeks. I have, however, not neglected to obtain numerous insect and spider images while working over the last several weeks. I'll post a few here tonight, just to get things kick-started, and come back over the next few days and add more, with more text. So.....having said all that, here are some of the highlights that have been around the Station lately:

saddleback caterpillar, Acharia stimulea

blood-sucking conenose, Triatoma sanguisuga

robber flies, Promachus hinei

Washington 16 Apr 08

The morning after we ran the lights, Michael and I hit the trails to see what diurnal species were active. One of the several species of dragonflies seen is below, a male Eastern amberwing, Perithemis tenera.

Also, there were a few newly emerged common whitetails, Plathemis lydia around the edge of the pond.

I really didn't keep a "running tally" of all the odes but certainly around were common green darners, Anax junius; Eastern pondhawks, Erythemis simplicicollis; roseate skimmers, Orthemis ferruginea; great blue skimmers, Libellula vibrans and blue dashers, Pachydiplax longipennis.

A nice (and rather unusually "tame") buttermilk racer, Coluber constrictor anthricus was hands down the herp of the trip!

I think the most unexpected find however.......is depicted below. -J

Washington Moth Night

Friday (11 Apr 08) Michael (Barney) and I ran black and mercury vapor lights up at The Farm in Washington, St. Landry Parish. We ran the rig from ca. 2300-0400 hrs. As you can see by the picture, I forgot poles for the sheets, so we improvised by using sticks and small branches. The night quite obviously belonged to the moths. Species depicted here were the ones most impressive and ones we were able to i.d., either then or after with the help of Zack (Lemann). In order of appearance, they are: luna moth, Actias luna; polyphemus moth, Antheraea polyphemus; Southern pink-striped oakworm moth, Anisota virginiensis pellucida; cecropia moth, Hyalophora cecropia and Desmia funeralis (forgot Common name....sorry! Will add later).

Other things of interest were two fiery searchers, Calosoma scrutator (which for some strange reason, Zack thinks he's getting... :) ) and several six-spotted tiger beetles, Cicindella sexguttata. Plenty of dragonflies and damsels....only a few dragon pics, which I'll post in a separate post. -J

cossid moth

Thanks to Vernon Brou, Jr. for identifying this moth for me, not a sphynx but a carpenter moth, Prionoxystus robiniae. -J

Getting closer....

Last night in the Atchafalaya Basin with Tyler Thigpen was a very productive night in terms of quality over quantity. While our main mission is sampling amphibians, we always come across other interesting things. Signs of Spring are getting closer as some of our arthropod friends have become active!

.....and then throw in a cool herp and you've got a successful night! We're going out again tonight (Wed Mar/26)....we'll see what we find tonight.

James

Cerambycid tag-along in the Basin

Last week my friend and coworker Tyler Thigpen were out in the Basin conducting one of our visual amphibian encounter surveys. When we got make in the truck at one our sites, we had this guy hanging out with us on the ceiling of the Ford. Hopefully, there will be more to come as it continues to warm up. -James

We took a trip last weekend to checkout Kisatchie Bayou.We drove past many bug haunts along the way.

We parked at a nice little spot near the "bayou" and hiked along the Caroline Dormon trail. We found a nice sandy beach for a picnic.

After that, Emma got to play in the water for a bit.

During the trip we saw: a few centipedes, a tiger beetle (near the sand), a salamander and leaf-cutter ants.

Widows............

As most of you already know, I've been discovering all the capabilities of my new camera lately, with my spiders (and others...) as photo subjects. Below are various images of Southern, Latrodectus mactans, Western, L. hesperus and brown, L. geometricus widows.