NMW: Squash Vine Borer

It's National Moth Week, and while Urban Dragon Hunters is primarily about dragonflies, we are keen on many other insect taxa as well. Why not try to feature a cool moth every day this week?

Day 2 features one of the many borer moths which are wasp, hornet, or bee mimics (and are thus diurnal). I have a thing for flies that are mimics, and while most moths aren't quite as convincing, they are still pretty cool. This species is the latest I've photographed; it's a Squash Vine Borer (Melittia cucurbitae). As the name indicates, the larvae feed only on Cucurbita. They are especially fond of pumpkins and zucchini, and can be quite a pest of these and related crops. I grow none of these, so this one was welcome in the yard, nectaring on milkweed.

Photo by Julie Craves. All rights reserved.

NMW: Orange Mint Moth

It's National Moth Week, and while Urban Dragon Hunters is primarily about dragonflies, we are keen on many other insect taxa as well. Why not try to feature a cool moth every day this week?

First up is this Orange Mint Moth (Pyrasuta orphisalis, Hodges #5058). This widespread crambid moth is very small, about the size of a pinky fingernail. It is on mountain mint, Pycnanthemum, and we didn't see them in the yard until we started planting a lot of this genus to attract pollinators. Given the common name, perhaps this isn't surprising, although The Butterflies and Moths of North America gives Monarda (bee balm) and savory (Satureja ?) as their host plant.

Photo by Julie Craves, all rights reserved.

A Plethora of Anax Exuviae

As noted previously, I've been collecting specimens for the Stable Isotope Analysis project which focuses on Common Green Darners (Anax junius).  This project has a need to collect adults early in the season and mid-season which may help show where the migratory portion of the population moves.  Additionally, exuviae (i.e. the larval skin) are collected which give a more definitive baseline location for the isotope feedback since the larvae don't migrate.  However, finding exuviae can be difficult, but with a proper search image it is possible.

On June 24th, I checked a pond at Lower Huron Metropark (Wayne County) where I've seen good numbers of darner exuviae in past years.  Once again, I found the distinctive skins on dead cattail stalks about 1/2 to 2 feet above the waterline, primarily on the south edge of the pond.  Using my net to coax the delicate skins off the vegetation, I was able to collect 8 exuviae.  While doing this, I had several Common Green Darners (A. junius) and two or three of the uncommon Comet Darner (A. longipes) flying around my net.  Of course, they wouldn't do this if I was prepared to swing.

I didn't attempt to ID the species of the exuviae and had just assumed they were A. junius.  At home, I examined them under magnification and found 7 of the 8 to be A. longipes!  Only one A. junius for the project (in the vial).  ;^(

On June 27th, during my lunch hour, I checked a retention pond of an abandoned subdivision in Novi (Oakland County) that is ringed by cattails.  I began searching for exuviae and spied several darner skins along the south edge of the pond (I don't know if there is anything significant about this).  While collecting with my net again, I had multiple A. junius and a single A. longipes fly by.  This day's collection included 6 exuviae of A. junius.  This is a photo of a Black Saddlebags (Tramea lacerata) exuvia at the same location:

On July 4th, I returned to the Lower Huron Metropark pond and found 2 A. junius exuviae in the 30 minutes I had to search.  Of course, I had male and female A. longipes flying around, in addition to a few A. junius. 


The number of Comet Darners (A. longipes) this year is amazing to me.  The first voucher for MI was a nymph in Livingston County in 1996.  It was some years later before the next vouchers were obtained. Julie and I obtained the first county records for Lenawee (2003), Wayne (2007), and Oakland (2007).  Of course, others have observed this species flying in additional locations, but it seems the numbers have "exploded" in the past few years. Finding so many exuviae of this species at one location as noted above is interesting.  Could it have been influenced by mild (or nonexistent) winter we experienced in 2011/12?

Bring on the Saddlebags

In the previous post, I noted a reddish-colored saddlebags (Tramea sp.).  In the next couple of days I saw an online posting about the large number of Red Saddlebags (Tramea onusta) in Minnesota, and then a report of Striped Saddlebags (T. calverti) also in Minnesota!

On 6/23, I headed to Pte. Mouillee SGA again in hopes of finding saddlebags.  (It would be good to find the second state record for T. calverti)  It was a windier day compared to my last trip to Pte. Moo in Monroe County.  The dragonflies were less abundant on the levees and they were likely in areas sheltered by the wind.  However, I was looking for saddlebags (Tramea sp.) which will still be found flying out in the open with a stiff breeze.  I had walked about half the distance of the previous visit and only saw a few large odes, but then a reddish saddlebags flew past and I followed it down another side levee. 

The good thing about a stiff breeze is that the odes will generally be slowed when flying against the wind, and that makes netting them much easier.  While watching the flight path of this individual, I was able to align myself near some vegetation and swing at an opportune time.  Having the dragonfly in hand made the identification much easier of this uncommon species for Michigan.  It was a male Red Saddlebags (T. onusta) and a new early record for the state:


 

 

Note the protruding hamules, black limited to dorsal side of S8 & S9, and reddish frons (forehead).   A Carolina Saddlebags (T. carolina) has reduced hamules, black down onto the sides of S8 & S9, and purplish frons.

This hike involved many fewer mayflies, but the deer flies were in much greater abundance and a greater annoyance since they bite. 

I continued down this levee in the Nelson Unit and found many (10+) saddlebags working the downwind side of the vegetation.  There were even two coupled pairs of T. onusta.

Once I reached a small patch of trees, the sheltered area was flush with Blue Dashers (P. longipennis), Common Green Darners (A. junius), Black Saddlebags (T. lacerata), and a couple Spot-winged Gliders (P. hymenaea). 

Here is a female Spot-winged Glider:

After leaving the Monroe County portion of the SGA, I went north to the Wayne County side with is also the headquarters.  While checking a couple of the open fields, I found another coupled pair of Red Saddlebags (T. onusta)!

Anyone along the Lake Erie area should be on the lookout for the reddish saddlebags this summer.  It's possible one could turn up these uncommon to rare species.

Lord of the Mayflies

Mid-June seems to be a good time to look for Cobra Clubtail (Gomphus vastus) in Michigan.  I decided to check the Huron River mouth area at the edge of Lake Erie on June 17th.  A county park (Riverside) and state game area (Pte. Mouillee) are located at this boundary of Wayne and Monroe Counties.  There are plenty of perching areas for the clubtail, but I'm not sure if the habitat (water quality, flow, etc.) are appropriate.

Knowing my time was limited due to an approaching storm front, I quickly checked the Wayne County areas with no luck, and the winds picked up from the SE.  I then headed over to the Nelson Unit on the Monroe County side.  The levees provide decent areas that are sheltered from a southerly wind, and there is plenty of riprap and driftwood for dragonfly perches.  (Why didn't I take any photos of this?)

I picked along the downwind edge, but no luck finding any gomphids.  (I'll have check up the Detroit River in the future).  However, these areas at Pte. Moo were loaded with 1000s of Blue Dashers (Pachydiplax longipennis) and 100s of Halloween Pennants (Celithemis eponina).  Here is a dorsal view of one male pennant:

I flushed one reddish-colored saddlebags (Tramea sp.), but couldn't get an ID.  There was also one male Spot-winged Glider (Pantala hymenaea).  My first for the year:

While wandering the levees, the mayflies (Order Ephemeroptera) kept landing on my arms and net.  I decided to take a non-flattering photo at the end of the hot, sweaty hike to show at least sixteen hitchhikers:

 

... and this was after I had picked many off my arms and chest.  There were more than a dozen on my pack too.