Continuing highlights from a summer hike I did 14 years ago in the nearby Clark Bay Conservation Area (CBCA) afer last month's look at a variety of plants this month will focus on insects.
For those that missed it, for an introduction to Clark Bay see last month's newsletter and blog post.
First up is a forest blister beetle on yellow milkwort. Blister beetles get their name from the fact that when pressed or rubbed they can exude a liquid that will cause blisters on human skin. Blister beetles frequently feed on the flowers of various plants, such as the yellow milkwort as seen here.
Forest blister beetle on yellow milkwort
Yellow milkwort, also known as yellow bachelor's button, has been until recently classified as Polygala rugelii, but most of the North American milkworts have now been moved to the genus Senega.
One of the butterflies that I photographed was a Florida viceroy. Viceroys are Müllerian mimics with the Danaus species (monarchs, queens & soldiers), all of them being both visually similar and distasteful to prey.
Florida viceroy showing upperside of wings
Florida viceroy on willow leaf showing underside of wings
There was a barred sulphur butterfly on a peelbark St. John's wort (Hypericum fasciculatum) flower.
barred sulphur on St. John's wort flower
Also seen was one of the skipper butterflies, a confused cloudywing (Thorybes confusis
Confused cloudywing
I saw a couple of swallowtails as well, a very tattered spicebush swallowtail (Papilio troilus on Carolina redroot (Lachnanthes caroliana) flowers and a Palamedes swallowtail (Papilio palamedes on loblolly bay (Gordonia lasianthus) flowers.
Other insects seen and photographed at Clark Bay on this summer day included a Southern marbled grasshopper (Spharagemon marmorata ssp. picta and three kinds of wasps; a large four-spotted scoliid wasp (Pygodasis quadrimaculata, a steel-blue cricket-hunter wasp (Chlorion aerarium, and a blue-black spider wasp (Genus Anoplius.
I almost forgot the Southern carpenter bee (Xylocopa micans), also on on Carolina redroot (Lachnanthes caroliana) flowers.
Southern carpenter bee on Carolina redroot
Dragonflies topped the insects at Clark Bay, to see and read about them visit the Paul Rebmann Nature Photography Dragonflies of Clark Bay blog post.
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Paul Rebmann
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