Owlflies...........DOMINATE!!!

Man......I almost didn't run my mercury vapor light this night.....but something told me.........

So I have had only 1 (one) single owlfly, Ululodes sp. come to my lights here in Broussard since I've been actively documenting. They're not rare or especially quirky......but I find them to be some of the most intriguing examples of the insect world.....

My very first experience with this Order was in Costa Rica, 2001. I was immediately drawn.......anyway, I still don't know much about them, but I love to photograph them......I really need to immerse myself in the ecology of this extraordinary insect!!! All photos were from 1 June 2009.

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.

Earth Day at UL, 2009

Steven and I were asked to exhibit some "critters" for UL's Earth Day (23 Apr) by Colette Anzalone, the Education Outreach Coordinator for the university's Department of Renewable Resources. We were glad to be part of such an event. It was a great success, and we got to catch up with some old friends; Will Bernard (UL - Cade Experimental Farm, crawfish complex), Jim Foret (UL Experimental Farm Administration), Dr. Wylie Barrow (USGS National Wetlands Research Center), Dr. Thomas Michot (USGS NWRC), Heather Baldwin (USGS NWRC) & Tyson Hatch (USGS NWRC).

Species exhibited were; six-spotted tiger beetle, Cicindella sexguttata, ox beetle, Strategus aloeus larvae & pupae, dung beetles, Phaneus sp. & Dichotomius sp. adults & pupae, spittle bugs - the larval stage of two-lined leafhopper (or spittlebug...), Prosapia bicincta, forest tent caterpillars, Malacosoma disstria, two types of tiger moth caterpillars (Family Arctiidae), Texas brown tarantula, Aphonopelma hentzi, Southern widow, Latrodectus mactans & brown widow, L. geometricus.

Washington Brief 4 April 09

Ellen & I met the Barneys & Travis out at the Farm yesterday afternoon for a bit of trail work, and to hang out. We didn't spend an excessive amount of time looking around, but turned out a few things. Of most interest in terms of bugs (for me, at least), were the few beetles that were active. The day-flying Cicindella sexguttata, (six-spotted tiger beetle) proved (as usual...) to be a most challenging photo-adversary. A hind-shot is pretty much all I could muster........this time!

A mating pair of net-winged beetles, genus Calopteron, made a nice exiting surprise......

Along the pond, there were also pairs of long-jawed orb-weavers, genus Tetragnatha, breeding.........

Perhaps the most unusual find of the day however, was not of the six or eight-legged variety.....but a five-leaved clover found by Ellen in one of the Trifolium rapens patches in the field behind the pond! She has always had an uncanny ability for finding four-leaved clovers (~10-12 yesterday alone......), but this was definitely a first!

[below] (L) forest tent caterpillars, Malacosoma disstria and (R) white-marked tussock moth caterpillar, Orgyia leucostigma