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August 2008
Penny's Bend Nature Preserve, Durham County, NC 8/31/08
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| Ladybug beetle (Cycloneda munda) | Asian Multi-colored Ladybug Beetle | Yet another Asian Multi-colored Ladybug Beetle, but a different color | This Asian Multi-colored Ladybug Beetle had no spots. |
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| Asian Multi-colored Ladybug Beetle larva | Ladybug beetle (Coleomegilla maculata) | Black Blister Beetle (Epicauta pennsylvanica) | Margined Leatherwing Beetle | Click beetle larva, aka "wireworm," on rotting log |
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| Arrow-shaped Micrathena (Micrathena sagittata) | Wolf spider with egg sac | Orb weaver (Mangora genus) | Eastern Tailed Blue. Photo taken by Karl D. Gottschalk. | Silvery Checkerspot. Photo taken by Karl D. Gottschalk. |
Durham, NC 8/30/08
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| Black Horse Fly (Tabanus atratus), about an inch long. | I think this might be a member of a species of House Centipede (Order Scutigeromorpha) | Same House Centipede in its natural habitat, presumably! |
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| Gray Squirrel, taking a break | Red-spotted Purple | Spined Oak Borer (Elaphidion mucronatum). ID thanks to Michael C. Thomas. |
Durham, NC 8/29/08
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| Leafhopper (Osbornellus limosus). Photo taken at night. | Young Five-lined Skink | Hackberry Emperor, ventral view | Hackberry Emperor, ventral view |
Durham, NC 8/24/08
Funnel web spiders don't use their webs to catch prey directly. They hide in the "funnel" part of their webs and come running out when prey comes near. The prey doesn't have to touch the web: I've seen these spiders coming out of hiding to see me. They can leap up from the web to get the prey, and then take it back to the web: they stand on it when "processing" the prey and apparently stick it in the fibers of the web.
The photos in the top row were taken at night.
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| Mystery moth, near funnel web spider web | Funnel web spider, with moth pictured at left | Crab spider | Orb weaver with prey | Tiny moth (3-4 mm long) |
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| Brown weevil (right) and pale yellow crab spider | Scaly cricket (Cycloptilum genus, Mogoplistidae family, Mogoplistoidea superfamily, Gryllidea infraorder, Ensifera suborder) | Male Fiery Skipper on lantana | Probably a Red-shouldered Hawk, to judge from its behavior. Photo taken by Karl D. Gottschalk. |
Durham, NC 8/23/08
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| Soft-winged flower beetle (Collops genus, Melyridae family). Seen in neighborhood marsh. | Rice Stink Bug, seen in neighborhood marsh. It's using its beak to drink from a water droplet on a cattail leaf. | Tachinid fly, seen in neighborhood marsh | Crambid snout moth |
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| Three views of the same Ambush Bug: side, dorsal and front. At first I thought the dorsal brown on this bug was a dead flower. It was about 10 mm long. | ||
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| Diamond-backed Spittlebug, aka adult spittlebug, Durham, NC, 8/23/08 | Caterpillars. There were about 30 in all on this leaf, eating the green part on the surface. | Hump-backed Caterpillar | Cuckoo wasp, about 2 mm long. Was darting around the leaf, looking like a fly. |
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| Female (left) and male Sachems engaged in courtship ritual. | Female Sachem |
Durham, NC 8/21/08
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| Female Sachem | Leafhopper (Graphocephala coccinea) |
Durham, NC 8/20/08
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| Plant bug, about 3 mm long. It landed on this leaf after flying. The red is natural, not an artifact of using the flash: it was red in flight in the shade. | Juvenile Five-lined Skink, was caught by the tail in a cobweb tangled up in pine needles under my car. I freed it. |
Johnston Mill Nature Preserve, Orange County, NC 8/18/08
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| Northern Pearly Eye. See other nymphs and satyrs. | Southern Broken Dash. Photo taken by Karl D. Gottschalk. | Male Sachem. | Female Sachem. Photo taken by Karl D. Gottschalk. |
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| Arrow-shaped Micrathena (Micrathena sagittata), ventral view. See other spiders. | Dorsal view of the Arrow-shaped Micrathena on the left. | Protean Shieldback Katydid (Atlanticus testaceus). See other katydids, as well as grasshoppers and crickets. | Orb weaver (Mangora gibberosa). See other spiders. | Mystery caterpillar (about an inch long) | Robber fly. See other flies. Photo taken by Karl D. Gottschalk. |
Eno River State Park, Old Cole Mill Rd. access, NC 8/17/08
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| Spined Assassin Bug nymph (Sinea diademata) | Leafhopper (Coelidia olitoria) | Velvet mite | Asian Multi-colored Ladybug Beetle |
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| Blowfly | Syrphid fly in flight | Spider (Acacesia hamata) | Filmy Dome Spider (ventral view) |
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| Leafcutter bee (Megachile genus), apparently in the process of leaf-cutting. | Same Megachile genus leafcutter bee | Bush cricket |
Durham, NC 8/16/08
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| Leaffooted bug nymph (late instar). Note wing pads. | Long-legged fly | Leaf beetle, very tiny | Mystery scarab beetle |
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| Jumping spider (Platycryptus undatus) with prey, a caterpillar | Clouded Skipper | Lauxaniid fly | Braconid wasp |
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| Striped Lynx Spider with prey, a muscid fly | Milkweed bug nymph | Orb weaver, probably Neoscona genus | March fly (Bibio genus) |
Durham, NC 8/14/08
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| Leafhopper (Bandara genus, Deltodephalinae subfamily) | Clouded Skipper | Male Zabulon Skipper | Asian Multi-colored Ladybug Beetle. No spots at all! |
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| Male robber fly (Efferia genus) | Nursery Web Spider | Male Great Blue Skimmer | Very tiny (about 1 mm long) Water Boatman, seen in a puddle in an otherwise VERY dried-up drainage ditch. |
Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC 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 |
Durham, NC 8/11/08
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| Tumbling flower beetle (Hoshihananomia octopunctata). These photos illustrate the odd head shape (flat on the bottom) and how that head moves. This beetle was about 5 mm long. | ||||||
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| This crayfish, water strider, veliid bugs and other miscellaneous arthropods appeared in a small puddle, about one foot long, left behind when a creek dried up during what appears to be yet another drought here. | Green Lacewing larva, carrying a large white clump of white matter meant to hide it from potential predators. The larva is facing the camera, with its brown pincers facing forward. When we see a white fluffy mass moving around a leaf, this is what's underneath. | Funnel Web Spider. It came out of a crack to inspect me. |
Durham, NC 8/10/08
Three leafhoppers, all very tiny (~1 mm long)
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| Leafhopper (probably Osbornellus genus, Deltocephalinae subfamily) | Leafhopper (Erythroneura comes, Typhlocybinae subfamily) | Leafhopper (Erythroneura osborni, Typhlocybinae subfamily) |
Museum of Life & Science (outdoors), Durham, NC 8/9/08
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| Female black form Eastern Tiger Swallowtail | Little Glassywing | Silver-spotted Skipper | Male Fiery Skipper |
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| Male Zabulon Skipper | Common Buckeye. Photo by Karl D. Gottschalk | Male Sachem. Photo by Karl D. Gottschalk | Female Sachem. Photo by Karl D. Gottschalk |
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| Female black form Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. Photo by Karl D. Gottschalk | Mystery bee |
Boone, Watauga County, NC 8/6/08
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| Harvester | Flea beetles mating | Leafhopper | Bee? | Tortoise beetle |
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| Striped Lynx spider (Oxyopes salticus), with small green prey | Tarnished Plant Bug on Spotted Jewelweed flower |
Daniel Boone Gardens, Boone, Watauga County, NC 8/5/08
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| Ambush Bug, leaving flower | This is where the Ambush Bug on the left was before. | Another view. | Leafhopper (Graphocephala versuta). Note the dar brown wing sticking out on the side. |
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| Netwinged beetles mating | Mating White-lined Burrower Bugs | Thread-waisted wasp |
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| Pearl Crescent | Cuckoo wasp |
Blue Ridge Parkway, Caldwell County, NC (mileposts 296-302) 8/5/08
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| Picture-winged fly (Callopistromyia annulipes). ID thanks to Ron M. | Male Scorpion Fly | Tachinid flies | Yellow-and-black Argiope | Mystery stink bug (Elasmucha genus, Acanthosomatinae sufamily, Acanthosomatidae family), with parasitic mite attached. |
Boone, Watauga County NC 8/5/08
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| Eastern Tiger Swallowtail |
Boone, Watauga County, NC 8/4/08
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| Peck's Skipper | Monarch | Aphrodite Fritillary | Great Spangled Fritillary |
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| Pipevine Swallowtail (ventral view) | Male Pipevine Swallowtail (dorsal view) | Female black form Easter Tiger Swallowtail | Gray Hairstreak |
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| Stink bug nymph | Locust Leafminer. See other beetles. |
Durham, NC 8/3/08
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| These Dog Day Cicadas apparently were mating when they fell out of a tree. | Ground Skink | Leafhopper (Graphocephala versuta) |
Durham, NC 8/2/08
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| House Finches. Photo by Karl D. Gottschalk | Black Rat Snake. Photo by Karl D. Gottschalk |
Durham, NC 8/1/08
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| Late-instar Leaffooted Bug nymph | Cicada Killer (Sphecius speciosus) | Young Blue Dasher | Adult barklouse |
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| Honeybee on a Sunflower. Photo by Karl D. Gottschalk | Cicada Killer, Durham, NC. Photo by Karl D. Gottschalk | Immature Blue Dasher. Photo by Karl D. Gottschalk |
Copyright © 2008-2021 by Dorothy Pugh. All rights reserved. Please contact for rights to use photos.