Kisatchie *BEFORE* Bugstock 6

Ok......don't get too excited..........this was supposed to be a herping trip. We (Bert Lucas, myself) failed so miserably, that I will actually post non-invert pics here.......yeah!

It was like someone walked through the entire layout & collected/demolished any living herps out there.........I mean....this is beyond "border-line embarrassing"........this is more like "Do you guys even know what yer doin'?!". Apparently NOT. As I'm spending the better part of an hour photographing what I thought was an Eastern tailed-Blue..........turned out to be a Reakirt's blue, Echinargus isola. Apparently rare in Louisiana.........shows what I know about butterflies............many thanks to Rosemary Seidler & Jeff Trahan of Shreveport for the i.d.!

Striped bark scorpions, Centruroides vittatus, (a.k.a. "stingin' lizards) are typically common under almost every place for refuge......yeah......we saw two......what the?! And so after all......remember that this was *supposed* to be a "herping" trip..................so here's a Western fence lizard, Sceloporous undulata.

Oh.......and of course, Ebony jewelwing, Calopteryx maculata, did not fail to impress.................

BUGSTOCK 6

I just want to post a few pics here........kind of like an appetizer..........more details to follow.......

White flannel moth, Norape ovina

Southern flannel moth, Megalopyge opercularis

Royal walnut moth, Citheronia regalis

Black witch, Ascalapha odorata

Grape leaffolder, Desmia funeralis

Not at 'Stock, but one of the two high-intensity black bulbs Michael & I scored before the weekend........365!!!!

Gradu!

I didn't intentionally leave out other insects from the lights the other night, I just wanted to have the moths covered in their own rite......so now, a bit of extraneous flavor..........

black caterpillar hunter, Calosoma sayi:

some sort of Brachonid or Ichneumon wasp (?):

Pre-stock.....moth MAYHEM!!!

I spent the dwindling hours of yesterday (16 May 09) helping the Barney clan straighten some trails for the forthcoming BUGSTOCK #6. We'll spare the silly & painful details for now......and oh yes............there are many............

What I want to belt out real quick is a summary of what Michael Barney & I had at the black/mercury vapor lights last night/early this morning. Please pardon the TEMPORARY lack of species/photo assignments......it's late and I just want to get the highlights out first........some have been identified.........some need research to i.d. This post will be modified as the days troll on........but Steve-o made a special request for a report, and for those who know Steven, he's a class-act character...........great person all around.....so it is my pleasure to at least make a quick pictorial summary of last night's symposium. -j.w.Beck

Acadiana Park Nature Station 11 May 09

I spent a couple of hours on 11 May with Stephen Saltamachia walking some of the Nature Station trails, mostly seeking robber flies. We did see a few Laphira and potentially a Mallophora, but it was moving too quick & out of sight before I could confirm it. We did get some nice shots of a Tachinid fly in the genus Zelia (thanks to Zack for the correction!).

Salty never fails to impress with his keen search image, as soon as we entered the 4th grader trail from the levee, he spotted a scarlet-bodied wasp moth, Cosmosoma myrodora, a first for me! I had been unsuccessful at turning up one of these in previous years. It proved to be a challenge photographing it, as it would always light on the underside of a leaf after a short flight.