Recent Pollinator trips.

It has been a very interesting few weeks. For the most part after school I go out to many differant parks and I have been looking for pollinators since it is that time of season when the Monarch Butterflies are going through. I have found several interesting species of bees, wasps, butterflies, and several other insects. I am trying to familiarize myself with many insects and trying to find subject matter to do amature studiees. The pollinators have proven very interesting and very numorous. I have seen a few new species I didn't know existed like the Long Horn Bee which is a small white bee that has very long antenna. The metallic bees are also very intersting. Being around the Palpda species is a great chance to study the art of mimicry and desception it is an interesting disguise that the Palpda Vinetorum. It looks just like a bee to keep predators away and keep us humans looking twice. Studying pollinators is also a great way to study their predators I have found. On one of my excursions I saw first hand a Stagmomantid eating a small Pollinator. Spiders are also in the mix and often pray upon unsuspecting pollinators like the master of camoflage the Lynx spider. Though I have not seen a lynx spider I have heard other naturalist talk about them. Spiders and mantids and birds all cause predation to pollinators. This time of year is the perfect time to spend time with pollinators before the year's winter. I am so excited for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Pollinator BioBlitz which is coming up tomorrow through the sixteenth. I am sure to have fun with that. I will keep my camera close on the days I know I can get out and go hiking. Yes this time of year the pollinators are busy pollinators help keep our plants numorous and diverse. Bees will turn their catch into honey in their hives. Pollinators are very important to the survival of the Earth. Without Pollinators we will surely suffer a slow and painful death. That is why we must educate about them and protect them at all costs. It is up to us to stand up to the little guys. And it isn't just bugs hummingbirds too are fueling up for their migration back down to southern parts. They too help us in keeping species alive. Everything is interconnected and Without pollinators we would be between a rock and a hardplace. I enjoy watching them and I have been able to get real close and some pollinators don't consider me at all a threat and mind their own as they go on to their duty while they forage for the sweet stash. I love pollinators and consider them true and valued friends of everybody. They are a very interesting cast of characters and are very beautiful in their own special ways.

Publicado el octubre 6, 2016 09:49 TARDE por galactic_bug_man galactic_bug_man

Observaciones

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Avispas-hormiga de Terciopelo (Género Dasymutilla)

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Septiembre 13, 2016 a las 12:28 TARDE CDT

Descripción

This guy was clearly a wasp of some sort. It was black with a red spot on the Thorax. it. It was doing something with the blade of grass. I couldn't really tell what was going on but he looked like he was feeding. It was fairly big but he was pretty far in a grass patch luckily my camera was able to pick it up. It was the size of the red wasp may be a bit smaller. It wasn't a mud dauber but it was a very interesting bug indeed.

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Mariposa Pinocho (Libytheana carinenta)

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Septiembre 15, 2016 a las 12:09 TARDE CDT

Descripción

This guy is defiantly a Snout Butterfly because of its long protrusion at the front of it's face. These butterflies are absolutely beautiful. This little guy was sitting on a twig in a tree when I walked past. He wasn't alarmed or anything. These guys are about a medium sized butterfly though rather on the smallish side. I love the patterns on the underside of the wings. They bland in well to the wooded surfaces. I have never seen one in real life before it was always in books. They have short stubby antenna, big wings, and a pointy nose like protrusion. They are one of the most interesting to watch.

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Mariposa Monarca (Danaus plexippus)

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Septiembre 17, 2016 a las 05:26 TARDE CDT

Descripción

These Butterflies are part of one of the greatest migrations on earth. In fact around this time each Fall millions of these Butterflies journey back down south to Mexico to spend the winter there. The Monarchs are fairly large and very beautiful butterflies. Milkweed is the main planet that they rely on for food and to rear their young. Female Monarchs lay their eggs on the milkweed plants and the young fend for themselves when they hatch and feast on the Milkweed until they get ready to make their chrysalises and transform into fully developed Monarchs. They spend spring and summer up in the US and Canada. However when winter comes they go back to Mexico to hibernate and sleep. They are constantly on the move like most migrating birds and other migrating animals. These guys have been the subject of countless documentaries and festivals throughout the world. They are a wondrous species but are sadly in decline. Their migration is a spectacular phenomenon that has inspired millions of people. It is actually quite remarkable for an insect to make this yearly journey. They are one of the only insects that do this if not the only.

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Abejas Cornudas (Tribu Eucerini)

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Septiembre 28, 2016 a las 08:33 TARDE CDT

Descripción

This thing was in a single word tiny. It was also shaped like a honey bee and in fact I am pretty sure it was a bee. It was small and black and dusty white. It was almost gray and was feasting in a vast swarm of other pollinators. This one was one of the smallest in the pollinator swarm that I observed. It was very beautiful and seemed very peaceful and none of the feeders seemed alerted by my presence. This find was one of the most interesting.

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Septiembre 28, 2016 a las 08:47 TARDE CDT

Descripción

In the pollination frenzy there is always a predator in the thick of it all just waiting for a meal and today I was lucky enough to spot this Praying Mantid eating a pollinating insect. Praying Mantids are Swift and efficient hunters able to let their pray come to them. They are like little skilled ninjas that have the patients and the skills to win a meal. These things have spiked arms that are used to snatch pray in mid air and once an insect is caught the Mantis makes short work out of its prey and rips it to shreds. Mantids are very cool insects and one of my favorites. I know I have a lot of favorites but being an Entomologist junky I can't help but be enthused with all insects. The Mantids have always fascinated me. Seeing one in action and getting a photo is a first for me.

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Septiembre 28, 2016 a las 09:01 TARDE CDT

Descripción

This thing struck me as very odd. It looked like a wasp bit then I thought it was one of the weird classifications of moths I have been reading about in my field guide. It was fairly good size and looked much like a wasp with the thorax being striped with yellow. It just didn't have the build of a wasp. It feeding with a whole swarm of others like that small white bee I posted earlier. This one had it's wings to the sides just like a moth. I am somewhat baffled by what this could be but I am sure it might just be a moth.

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Septiembre 29, 2016 a las 04:16 TARDE CDT

Descripción

Of the pollinators This one also puzzled me. This one was red with its wings folded. I knew right from the get go the way this one was shaped that it was a wasp. It also had a bit of yellow in the mix. It was slightly smaller than the biggest pollinating wasp type things. This one had it's wings folded and was just as busy as the rest of the other pollinators at the park. These too didn't seemed at all worried or alarmed by my presents and I just minded their own as they went on about their business. There were several like this one in the swarm.

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Septiembre 30, 2016 a las 03:38 TARDE CDT

Descripción

This thing was also among the pollinators I recently observed. This one is nothing new to me but still very interesting. I first spotted this species at the Southwest Nature Preserve. They are a fuzzy little bitty thing that has a long proboscis and is yellow. It looks like a hodgepodge of other insects. Mainly bee flies to me look like mosquitoes, flies, and bees combine. They are an interesting insect and are one of the most puzzling to me. I have only encountered them this year. This is the second Grasshopper Bee Fly I found in 2016.

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Avispas de Cintura de Hilo (Familia Sphecidae)

Fecha

Septiembre 30, 2016 a las 03:57 TARDE CDT

Descripción

This little blue guy was one of the other pollinators I recently found. It was almost like that red waspy thing I found. This one in fact looked almost exactly like that one. I am guessing that it might be related to that one. This one at close observation had it's wings crossed, the color of its wings were dark but the insect was a nice blue color. It was almost as blue as Doctor Who's TARDIS. It was also detailed in black. It was about two or three inches from tip to tip and was in the mix with the pollinator swarm. It was a beautiful insect for one thing.

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Mariposa Emperatriz de Manchas Blancas (Asterocampa celtis)

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Septiembre 30, 2016 a las 04:03 TARDE CDT

Descripción

This one was sitting on a walking trail at the Molly Hollard Wildscape. I thought at first this was a painted lady but they are darker and have a different design. This one was lighter colored with tans, orangey color, and white. It was a very beautiful butterfly and was very interesting to watch. It was fairly large but was a mid sized butterfly. It was half the size of a Fritillary butterfly.

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Mariposas Y Polillas (Orden Lepidoptera)

Fecha

Septiembre 21, 2016 a las 07:33 TARDE CDT

Descripción

This little guy I think is some kind of moth. It was very small and skittish so I couldn't get an downward shot. It was small and white and was feeing at one of the many flowerbeds at TCC South Campus. It was a very interesting insect with long antenna and weird looking eyes. It was mostly white and was feeding with a whole bunch of other creatures that morning when I was taking pictures at school.

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Saltarinas del Pasto (Subfamilia Hesperiinae)

Fecha

Septiembre 29, 2016 a las 12:14 TARDE CDT

Descripción

This thing was one of the most interesting skippers I have ever seen. This one was black; slightly different from the flame skimmers and yellow ones I have been finding in recent months. This thing had little white dots. It was larger than some of the others it had long antenna and had two wings out and two wings straight up. It was with a whole bunch the same way and same color. It was feeding in the way station at Elmer W. Oliver Nature Center.

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Mariposa Cola de Golondrina Azul (Battus philenor)

Fecha

Septiembre 21, 2016 a las 12:04 MAÑANA CDT

Descripción

This thing was absolutely beautiful. It is by far my favorite Swallowtail Butterfly in the US so far. This one is dark with blue coloration to its wings. One the side of the body it had little yellow dots in a row near the Thorax. It was an absolutely beautiful insect. It was hard to photograph because when feeding these things flutter and don't stay in one place for long. These things are large butterflies. It was hard for me to judge the size due to the constant fluttering of the wings. It seemed to like the salvia plants at the pollinator garden.

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