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Mason Farm Biological Reserve,
Orange County, NC
Mason Farm was bequeathed
to the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill in 1894 by Mary Elizabeth Morgan Mason, with the proviso that it not
be sold as separate plots. Today it is used for biological research
and for environmentally friendly visits by the public. It was
instituted in its current form as a research area in 1984. Use this
live map to get there.
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Some of the tall trees |
Bearded Beggarticks
in a field, 10/5/08 |
Siler's
Bog, 2/1/09 |
Purple False Foxglove (Agalinis
purpurea), 9/17/08. Contrary to what its name
suggests, it's a pink flower. |
A creek through the woods, 2/1/09 |
A pine
tree in a field, 2/1/09 |
Fall foliage at
the border of one field, 11/17 |
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9/1/14
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Argiope
aurantia spider in its web |
Bowl-and-doily spider |
Lots of dew drops on a leaf |
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Red Admiral |
Paper wasp |
Nursery web
spider |
Morning glory |
Deserted spider web |
11/22/11
It was the second warm day in a row. Cumulo-stratus clouds coming
from the Gulf of Mexico crossed the sky regularly. I spotted a
very noisy Red-headed Woodpecker high in the trees, among many other
birds.
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Common Buckeye |
Rabid Wolf
Spider, relatively large and moving fast |
Spotted
Cucumber Beetle |
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10/31/11
This was a chilly morning, about 45° F.
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Brown Thrasher |
Bumblebee, not
moving, on Bidens aristosa |
Red Maple |
Spider Flower
(Cleome hassleriana). Genus ID thanks to Laura Thomas. |
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10/8/11
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Gemmed Satyr |
Flower fly |
Another flower fly |
Sleepy Orange |
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9/2/11
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Appalachian Brown |
Silvery Checkerspot |
Blooming Kudzu |
Redstar |
Karl among asters |
8/18/11
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Appalachian Brown |
Asiatic Dayflower |
Male Zabulon
Skipper |
Maryland Senna
(Senna marilandica) |
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Virginia Meadow Beauty |
Silvery Checkerspot |
Silvery
Checkerspot |
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8/2/11
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Northern Pearly
Eye #1 |
Northern Pearly
Eye #2 |
Zabulon Skippers
(female on left, male on right) on Swamp Milkweed |
Female or teneral
Widow Skimmer |
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Male Zabulon
Skipper #1 |
Male Zabulon
Skipper #2 |
Flatid planthopper |
Little Glassywing
and male Sachem on Swamp Milkweed |
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6/6/11
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Flower longhorn
beetles on a Carolina Rose |
Male Widow Skimmer |
Issid planthopper |
Megachilid bee |
Pearl Crescent |
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Weevil |
Dragonfly nymph exuvia |
Grass flowers,
with purple styles |
Eastern Box Turtle |
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5/29/11
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Dogbane Beetle |
Another Dogbane
Beetle |
Checkered beetle (Pelonides
quadripunctatus). ID thanks to
Blaine Mathison. |
Tiny mantid nymph |
Flower (crab)
spider and bee on Viburnum genus flower |
5/20/11
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Question Mark,
ventral view. You can see the white "question mark" on the hind
wing. |
Question Mark,
showing dorsal view |
American Snout |
Hiding Zebra
Swallowtail |
Hiding American
Lady |
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Green lacewing larva |
Little Wood Satyr |
Striped Lynx
spider |
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4/18/11
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Pearl Crescent.
But it has certain northern characteristics, maybe because of our cold
winter or recent cold front from the northwest. |
Red Admiral |
Eastern Tiger
Swallowtail |
American Snout |
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Jack-in-the-Pulpit |
Ichneumon wasps mating |
Blue Toadflax |
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Carolina Satyr |
Blue Corporal |
Eastern Bluestar |
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4/7/11
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Grapevine Epimenis
(Psychomorpha epimenis), an owlet moth |
Young Blue
Corporal |
Deserted bird's nest |
Red Admiral |
Question Mark |
3/22/11
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Green Frog (Rana
clamitans), well-camouflaged but given away by the sun's glare |
A rather unusual
Spring Beauty, in Siler's Bog |
Field Pansy |
Seven-spotted
Ladybug Beetle |
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Female Falcate
Orangetip in flight |
Another female
Falcate Orangetip in flight |
Female Falcate
Orangetip on flower (rockcress?) |
Juvenal's Duskywing |
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2/21/11
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Speedwells |
Boxelder Bug |
Rockcress |
Marsh beetle
(Cyphon genus, Scirtidae family). ID thanks to
Brad Barnd. |
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Tiny wasp?, 1 or 2 mm long.
It's either an ant mimic or an ant. |
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1/28/11
I was hoping that these red objects found on the ground were
the first flowers of spring, newly fallen out of trees, but inspection using the
camera showed that they were fruit from an unknown tree or vine.
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Small fruit, about
4 mm in diameter |
Seeds showing in
another fruit |
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11/17/10
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Small Milkweed Bugs
on a Swamp Milkweed pod |
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5/20/10
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Question Mark.
See the white sideways "question mark" in the middle of the hind wing. |
Carolina Satyr |
Mourning Cloak |
Boxelder Bug nymph |
Zabulon Skipper |
5/2/10
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American Snout |
Silvery
Checkerspot, ventral view of wings |
Silvery Checkerspot |
Male Zabulon
Skippers, in a brief and unusually peaceful interaction |
Big Periwinkle |
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Eastern Blue-eyed Grass |
Mourning Cloak
caterpillar turning into a pupa |
Assassin bug |
Snowberry Clearwing Moth |
Buttercups.
Photo by Karl D. Gottschalk |
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Miami Mist (Phacelia purshii),
one of many near the parking lot. ID thanks to Bailey Winstead,
who says they are common in the Smoky Mountains and to Philip Johnson. They
are not native this far east, according to Harry LeGrand, who confirmed
the species ID. Thanks also to Taylor Piephoff, whose ID of the
genus came first. These are similar the Fringed Phacelia, which has
fewer flowers per stem. |
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3/18/10
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Mourning Cloak |
Boxelder Bug |
Field Pansy |
Spring Beauties |
Bluets |
2/21/10
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Painted Turtle |
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11/5/09
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Autumn
Meadowhawk, about an inch long. See other
dragonflies. |
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9/13/09
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Purple False Foxglove, the fuzziest flower I know of! |
These mating robber flies landed on my hat |
Orb
weaver |
Large Milkweed Bugs on a Swamp Milkweed seed pod |
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Common
Wood Nymph. See Butterfly Index. |
Viceroy |
Great Lobelia |
Hackberry Emperor |
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8/21/09
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Kudzu flower (Pueraria montana) |
Rose
Gentians |
Cardinal Flower |
Sericea
lespedeza |
Adult
male Eastern Pondhawk |
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Small Milkweed Bug |
Garden Spider (Argiope aurantia) |
St.
Andrew's Cross |
Horse
Nettle |
Horse
Nettle |
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Elongate Long-jawed Orb Weaver. Note the red "jaws" (chelicerae),
which end in fangs. |
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8/9/09
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Northern
Pearly Eye |
Male
Zabulon Skipper |
Partridge Pea |
Ironweed |
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Scuppernong grapes |
Spider (Neoscona genus) |
St. Andrew's Cross (Hypericum hypericoides) |
Trumpet
Creeper |
Horse
fly |
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Black
Rat Snake |
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7/17/09
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Common
Wood Nymph |
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5/21/09
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Jumping spider |
Grasshopper nymph |
Mourning Cloak (ventral view) |
Mourning Cloak (dorsal view) |
Snout
moth |
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Orange Sulphur, dorsal view |
Orange Sulphur, ventral view |
Common
Milkweed |
Penstemon |
Field of
penstemons |
5/1/09
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American
Lady. Also see the
Butterfly Index. |
Red-necked Cane Borer (Agrilus ruficollis), a very small Buprestid
beetle |
Male
Zabulon Skipper |
Blue Corporal dragonfly |
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3/20/09
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Red-tailed
Hawk |
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White-throated Sparrow |
Male Mallard |
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3/11/09
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Northern Cricket Frog |
Painted
Turtle,
about 3 inches long. Those big yellow head spots are unusual in my
experience, but no unheard-of in this species. |
Spring Azure |
Mourning Dove |
11/7/08
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Triangulate Orb Weaver. See other
spiders. |
Scarab
Beetle Grub |
Boxelder
Bug. Dozens of these landed
on our car that day. |
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10/5/08
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Least Skipper, found in Siler's Bog |
Pearl Crescent, seen on trail in Siler's Bog |
Common Buckeye, seen on trail in frequently mowed field |
Black Blister Beetle, also seen in frequently mowed field |
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9/17/08
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Ambush Bug |
Ambush Bug
(close-up) |
Common Wood Nymph |
Triangulate Orb Weaver. See other
spiders. |
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Common Buckeye caterpillar. I saw dozens of them in one field,
feeding on the leaves of tall grass plants. ID thanks to Jeff Pippen. |
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8/12/08
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Crab spider |
Arrow-shaped Micrathena (Micrathena sagittata |
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Male Zabulon
Skipper |
Male Bowl and
Doily Spider |
Flatid Planthopper |
Leaffooted Bug |
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Common Wood Nymph. Photo by Karl D. Gottschalk |
Common Buckeye. Photo by Karl D. Gottschalk |
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6/3/08
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Wasp hovering, landing, ovipositing |
5/4/08
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Eastern Box Turtle, up
close and at a distance |
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This
Question Mark has the white "question mark" on its hind wing,
only rotated 90° to the right. |
Same Question Mark |
Silvery Checkerspot |
Variegated Fritillary |
Red Admiral |
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Red-spotted Purple |
Common
Buckeye, with a few pieces missing |
Skimmer dragonfly
in flight |
Shining leaf
beetle (Criocerinae subfamily), possibly an Oulema cornutus |
Young adult Blue Dasher |
4/18/08
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Eastern Tailed Blue |
Pearl Crescent |
Pearl
Crescent, quite difference in appearance |
Probably male Juvenal's
Duskywing |
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2/19/08
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Northern Cricket Frog |
11/21/07
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Bowl and
Doily Spider, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, 11/21/07 |
11/14/07
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Stink
Bug (Brochymena genus; arborea is the most
common species) |
Multi-colored Asian Ladybug Beetle
with prey |
Female Gea Heptagon
spider |
Differential
Grasshopper |
Spider egg sac,
appears to be that of a member of the Argiope genus. |
10/17/07
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White-backed
Garden Spider,
Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange
County, NC, 10/17/07
Dorsal view. |
White-backed
Garden Spider,
ventral view of the same spider. |
Tipulid Crane Fly |
Leaffooted Bug (Leptoglossus phyllopus) |
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9/23/07
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Hackberry
Emperor.
This butterfly landed on my arm and was apparently taking in my
perspiration. We never see any hackberry trees there, so maybe sweaty
people are the main attraction! |
Pearl
Crescent.
See other Pearl Crescents or see the main
Butterflies Page. |
Triangulate
Orb Weaver.
See other spiders. |
Mating
Differential Grasshoppers. See other
Orthopterans. |
Crab spider |
9/1/07
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Margined Blister
Beetle,
Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC,
9/1/07 |
Gemmed
Satyr,
Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC,
9/1/07 |
Cowkiller
(Dasymutilla occidentalis), a kind of velvet ant, Mason
Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 9/1/07. See other
Hymenopterans (bees, wasps and ants). |
7/22/07
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Red Admiral, Mason
Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC 7/22/07 |
Cloudless Sulphur,
Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC 7/22/07 |
Question Mark, Mason
Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC 7/22/07 |
Acanalonid Planthopper, Mason Farm
Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC 7/22/07 |
Stilt-legged Fly, Mason Farm Biological
Reserve, Orange County, NC 7/22/07 |
5/26/07
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Cloudless Sulphur,
Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 5/26/07. This
butterfly has apparently come a long way! See other
Whites and Yellows
or visit the Butterfly Index. |
Silver-spotted Skipper,
Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC,
5/26/07 |
Deer Fly.
This fly went inside a hat. Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange
County, NC, 5/26/07 |
Female Sharpshooter (Oncometopia
nigricans). The other side also had a white spot. Mason Farm
Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 5/26/07. Leafhoppers once were
classified as Homopterans, but that order has since been split in two,
with the "hoppers" in one and the aphids in the other. See other
Leafhoppers, |
Weevil, Mason Farm Biological Reserve,
Orange County, NC, 5/26/07 |
Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County,
NC 5/20/07
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Crossline Skipper,
Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC,
5/20/07 |
Male
Zabulon Skipper,
Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange
County, NC, 5/20/07 |
Adult male
Eastern Pondhawk, Mason
Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 5/20/07 |
Green Six-spotted Tiger Beetle,
Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange
County, NC, 5/20/07 |
Tiny mystery wasp. Note the little
hairs on the leaf. Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC,
5/20/07 |
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Tiny jumping spider (about 1 mm long),
Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 5/20/07. It was
apparently so tiny that it did not see any point in retreating. |
4/28/07
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Pearl Crescent,
Mason Farm Biological Reserve (area north of the
creek), 4/28/07 |
Male
Golden-backed Snipe Fly,
Mason Farm Biological Reserve (area north of
the creek), 4/28/07 |
Ladybug beetle pupa, Mason Farm
Biological Reserve (area north of the creek), 4/28/07. Since there were
10+
Seven-spotted Ladybug Beetle
adults in the immediate area, it seemed likely that this was one, too. |
Adult male
Blue Corporal, Mason
Farm Biological Reserve (area north of the creek), 4/28/07 |
Jumping spider, Mason Farm Biological
Reserve (area north of the creek), 4/28/07 |
11/17/06
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Northern Cricket
Frog,
Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County,
NC, 11/17/06 |
Autumn Meadowhawk,
Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC,
11/17/06. See other
dragonflies. |
10/15/06
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Question Mark,
Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC,
10/15/06 |
Seven-spotted Ladybug Beetle,
Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange
County, NC, 10/15/06 |
Mystery beetle,
Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC,
10/15/06. It was perhaps 3mm long. |
9/29/06
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Pelecinid
Wasp (Pelecinus polyturator), Mason
Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 9/29/06 |
Tachinid Fly
(Trichopoda genus, subfamily Phasiinae, family
Tachinidae), Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 9/29/06 |
Flesh
Fly,
Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC,
9/29/06 |
Red-spotted Purple,
Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC,
9/29/06. This butterfly was unusually small for its species. |
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Pelecinid
Wasp (Pelecinus polyturator), Mason
Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 9/29/06 |
9/21/06
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Boxelder
Bug,
Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange
County, NC, 9/21/06 |
Hackberry Emperor,
Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC,
9/21/06. This butterfly put its proboscis down, hoping to find some
nutritious human sweat, but only encountered a wallet and soon flew off. |
Hackberry Emperor,
Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 9/21/06. The same
butterfly returned to a more suitable place, but didn't uncoil its
proboscis. |
Grasshopper,
Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 9/21/06. One the
biggest grasshoppers I've seen. |
Araneus genus
spider (an orb weaver), Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange
County, NC, 9/21/06 |
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Micrathena mitrata,
Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC,
9/21/06. A very tiny spider, maybe an ⅛ of an
inch long. |
Jumping spider, Mason Farm Biological
Reserve, Orange County, NC, 9/21/06. Just look at those green
chelicerae! |
Jumping spider, Mason Farm Biological
Reserve, Orange County, NC, 9/21/06. Another view of the same spider. |
Chinese
Mantis,
Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange
County, NC, 9/21/06. A very big insect. Very active and complex
mouthparts! |
9/2/06
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Common Buckeye,
Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC,
9/2/06. This was one of many Buckeyes that we saw today. |
Dog-day Cicada,
Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC,
9/2/06 |
Mating Sphecid (digger) wasps
(Eremnophila aureonotata), Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County,
NC, 9/2/06. These are very common insects; they should have a common
name! |
Carolina Satyr,
Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC,
9/2/06 |
Gray Hairstreak,
Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC,
9/2/06 |
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Triangulate Orb Weaver
(rear view), Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 9/2/06 |
Inchworm, Mason Farm Biological Reserve,
Orange County, NC, 9/2/06. This was a very tiny inchworm, not much more
than ⅛ inch, and it was frozen in position. |
7/9/06
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Delta Flower
Beetle,
Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange
County, NC, 7/9/06 |
Mating
Dogbane Beetles,
Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC,
7/9/06 |
Robber Fly,
Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC,
7/9/06 |
Issid
Planthopper
(Issidae family) nymph, Mason Farm
Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 7/9/06. These nymphs eventually
cover themselves with this white stuff, apparently to protect themselves
from predators. |
Emerald (Somatochlora genus), Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange
County, NC, 7/9/06. ID thanks to
Bryan Pfeiffer. |
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Silvery Checkerspot,
Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC,
7/9/06 |
Seven-spotted Ladybug Beetle |
A very faded
False Crocus Geometer
Moth, Mason
Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 7/9/06 |
6/17/06
6/7/2006
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Web-spinning Sawfly.
See other
sawflies. |
Bee fly, possibly Hemipenthes genus.
See other
flies. |
Solitary bee. See other
bees. |
4/29/06
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Mating
Pearl Crescents, Mason
Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 4/29/06 |
8/24/05
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Mating Common Buckeyes,
Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 8/24/05. |
Same butterflies. |
5/28/05
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Appalachian Brown,
Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange
County, NC, 5/28/05. |
5/23/03
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Phaon Crescent,
ventral view. Yes, they aren't supposed to come around here, but this
one did! See more
Crescents. |
Same Phaon Crescent. |
Broad-headed bug (family Alydidae). A
True Bug. |
Carolina Satyr, dorsal view. See more
Nymphs and Satyrs. |
Eastern Tailed Blue, rather deformed.
See
Blues (and Hairstreaks). |
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