Home Field and Swamp: Animals and Their Habitats

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Archived-by-Date Pages

 

August 2009

Durham, NC (local marsh)  8/29/09

   
Fledgling American Robin        

 

   
Female Fiery Skipper Carolina Dayflower (Commelina caroliniana).  Actually, it might be a Virginia Dayflower: the differences are far from obvious! Fledgling Eastern Bluebird    

Durham, NC  8/25/09

   
Red-banded Hairstreak  Moth Silvery Checkerspot  Robber fly with prey  

 

       
Female Black Form Eastern Tiger Swallowtail  Stink bug nymph  Pseudoscorpion, less than 1 mm long     
 

American Tobacco Trail (miles 0-2), Durham, NC  8/25/09

Purslane (Portulaca oleracea).  Reputed to be an invasive weed, but not around here! Kudzu flowers (and lots of buds) Kudzu flowers Kudzu flowers and buds on the ground Blooming kudzu plants

 

 
Monarch Female Sachem Crossline Skipper Silver-spotted Skipper  

 

Morning glory with caterpillar Ragweed flowers Pokeweed Porcelainberry (Ampelopsis brevipedunculata, an introduced plant), American Tobacco Trail, Durham, NC, 8/25/09 Bitter Sneezeweed

Durham, NC  8/24/09 (at local marsh)

 
Differential Grasshopper on sedge Two-lined Froghopper Leafhopper (Graphocephala versuta) Leafhopper nymph (very tiny)  

Penny's Bend Nature Preserve, Durham, NC  8/23/09

Star-bellied Orb Weaver (mostly ventral view).  See other spiders. Star-bellied Orb Weaver (dorsal view) Rough Stink Bug (Brochymena genus) Male Zabulon Skipper Asiatic Dayflower (Commelina communis).  See wildflowers ordered by taxonomy or by date within color. Micrathena gracilis

 

 
Hog Peanut (Amphicarpaea bracteata) Female Zabulon Skipper Triangulate Orb Weaver Silvery Checkerspot  

Durham, NC  8/21/09 (all seen at marsh except Common Whitetail)

   
Leafhopper (Stirellus bicolor) Carolina Sphinx, aka Tomato/Tobacco Hornworm.  See other moths. Rice Stink Bug nymph    

 

Differential Grasshopper.  See orthopterans. Elongate Long-jawed Orb Weaver      

 

   
Elongate Long-jawed Orb Weaver Adult male Common Whitetail.  See other dragonflies. Nursery Web Spider    

 

       
Green Treefrog        

Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC  8/21/09

Kudzu flower (Pueraria montana) Rose Gentians Cardinal Flower Sericea lespedeza Adult male Eastern Pondhawk

 

Small Milkweed Bug Garden Spider (Argiope aurantia) St. Andrew's Cross Horse Nettle Horse Nettle

 

       
Elongate Long-jawed Orb Weaver.  Note the red "jaws" (chelicerae), which end in fangs.        

Mt. Jefferson State Park, Ashe County, NC  8/13/09 

     
Hickory Tussock Moth caterpillar (Lophocampa caryae).  There were dozens of these in a small area about 4600 ft. elevation.  Tachinid Fly  Harvestman with six parasitic mites  Closeup of three mites 

 

       
Male Pipevine Swallowtail, in direct light  Same male Pipevine Swallowtail, not in direct light  Common Yarrow     

 

     
Purple-flowering Raspberry (Rubus Odoratus), with flower.  Mt. Jefferson State Park, Ashe County, NC, 8/13/09 Purple-flowering Raspberry (Rubus odoratus), with fruit.  Mt. Jefferson State Park, Ashe County, NC, 8/13/09 Turk's Cap Lily, seen near the Mt. Jefferson summit.  Wild Bergamot   
   

Moses Cone Memorial Park, Watauga County, NC  8/12/09

       
Indian Pipes  Angelica Tall Bellflower (Campanula americana).  Thanks to Janie Owens for ID. Common Milkweed  

 

         
Wild Bergamot  Black-eyed Susan Joe-Pye Weed    
 

Daniel Boone Gardens, Boone, Watauga County, NC  8/12/09

The photos in the top row show an ambush bug, a predatory insect, apparently trying to attack an ichneumonid wasp (Ctenopelmatinae subfamily).  It tried pulling on its wings, to no avail, although the wasp offered no resistance.   The wasp was tiny (~6 mm long) and the ambush bug was invisible to me at the time, so I had to sort out what was going on later.

   
The ambush bug has seized the wasp's left forewing with its foreleg. No luck: the wasp's wings are still there, though hard to see. Now the ambush bug is apparently attacking the wasp's right forewing.  The bug's body is partially visible through the transparent wings.    

 

 
Ambush bug Another view of the same ambush bug Spotted Jewelweed New England Aster  

 

 
Crab spider on Joe Pye Weed Leafhopper (Oncopsis citra) Wedge-shaped Beetle (Macrosiagon limbata) Flower fly (Toxomerus geminatus)  

Boone (in town), Watauga County, NC  8/12/09

 
Monarch Great Spangled Fritillary Gray Hairstreak Everlasting Pea  

 Boone, Watauga County, NC  8/11/09

Killdeer, one of several that hung out at the National Guard Armory and the nearby greenway.  They moved very fast.  See other birds. Common Sneezeweed Phlox Joe Pye Weed Pinkweed Song Sparrow

Durham, NC  8/10/09

     
Great Spangled Fritillary (ventral view) Same Great Spangled Fritillary (dorsal view)      

Durham, NC  8/9/09

       
Weevil (Curculio proboscideus).  See other beetles.        

Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC  8/9/09

 
Northern Pearly Eye Male Zabulon Skipper Partridge Pea Ironweed  

 

Scuppernong grapes Spider (Neoscona genus) St. Andrew's Cross (Hypericum hypericoides) Trumpet Creeper Horse fly

 

       
Black Rat Snake        

Carolina Beach, New Hanover County, NC  8/5/09

     
Snowy Egret, less than one year old Same Snowy Egret in flight      

Fort Fisher Basin Trail, New Hanover County, NC  8/5/09

 
Great Egret in flight Two Great Egrets on Red Cedar Ten Great Egrets on (or near) Red Cedar.  In all, I counted 42 of them. Snowy Egret in flight  

 

 
Queen (Danaus gilippus).  Close to a Monarch, but no cigar. Cowkiller, a kind of velvet ant.  A very fast-moving critter! Tiger beetle (Cicindela marginata) Salt Marsh Skipper  

 

   
Female (or recent metamorph) Seaside Dragonlet Another view of the same Seaside Dragonlet Female Marl Pennant (Macrodiplax balteata).  ID thanks to Bob Barber.    

 

     
Rose Gentian or Rose Pink (Sabatia angularis) Sea Oxeye Daisy (Borrichia frutescens)      

Carolina Beach State Park, New Hanover County, NC  8/4/09

 
Golden Silk Spider couple (big one is female) Male Golden Silk Spider Crablike Spiny Orb Weaver (dorsal view) Praying Mantis nymph, was about an inch long  

 

 
Milkweed Assassin Bug Tumblebug beetle (dorsal view), playing dead Tumblebug beetle (ventral view) Velvet ant (Dasymutilla genus), about the size of a carpenter ant worker  

 

   
Red-shouldered Hawk Yellow Pitcher Plants Red-shouldered hawk    

Carolina Beach, New Hanover County, NC  8/3/09

   
Paper wasp, gathering raw material from the leaves of a succulent bush Bushy Sea Oxeye Daisy or Bushy Seaside Tansy (Borrichia frutescens), Carolina Beach State Park, New Hanover County, NC, 8/3/09 Whorled Marshpennywort (Hydrocotyle verticillata), closeup of flowers.  Also called "Marsh Pennywort" or "Beach Pennywort" around here. Bitter Sneezeweed  (Helenium amarum)    

Fort Fisher Recreational Area, New Hanover County, NC  8/3/09

 
Narrowleaf Rose Gentian or Rose Pink (Sabatia brachiata) Queen (Danaus gilippus).  Photo taken by Karl D. Gottschalk.  One of 5 we saw that day. Adult male Seaside Dragonlet Another adult male Seaside Dragonlet  

 

       
Narrowleaf Whitetop Sedge        

 

   
Milkweed Assassin Bug (Zelus longipes) Salt Marsh Skipper (dorsal view) Maybe Southern Dog-day Cicada    

Durham, NC  8/1/09

     
Assassin bug nymph (dorsal view) Same assassin bug nymph (ventral view)      

 

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