A Rainbow in Flight

©2022 Karen Richards

This week there are more colorful flowers blooming (I saw blue camas and purple iris for the first time this year), and in conjunction, there were many more colorful insects to see. The butterfly above is a Comma butterfly, but I don’t know which one. The common name comes from a U-shaped mark on the underwing. A picture of the underside would help identify it, but I never had the chance. There was a pair of these ragged-edged, or “anglewing” fliers fluttering around each other, then landing, always with open wings.

The fact these butterflies spend the winter as adults seems magical to me. Where have they been hiding out? How are they not more battered and color-faded after all that time?

©2022 Karen Richards

There were two of these shimmery gold insects on Oregon grape leaves. They looked like a type of fly to me, but I don’t know of a golden fly, so I started snapping pictures. At some point, I clued in to the knobs at the end of their antennae and thought, “These are sawflies!” I’ve written about these unique members of the bee / wasp / ant family before. To me, it was like winning a lottery.

©2022 Karen Richards

I was so excited! I knew they might not stay still if I tried to get my phone close to them, so I snapped away on the Nikon and these are the best pictures I have. I believe they are Honeysuckle Sawflies. Which means their larvae, which look and act like caterpillars, eat honeysuckle leaves. The adults feed on nectar and don’t live very long. I spotted another one a ways down the path but it was too distant to get a decent picture. This is why insect hunting is so addictive: I can’t wait to go back and try to find another Honeysuckle Sawfly to get a better image!

©2022 Karen Richards

This insect looked quite purple-red in person. I was pretty sure it was a fly, but its stance and back legs are grasshopper-like and the antenna crown is exaggerated, with wisps of bonus antenna on the end. At home I learned it’s a Snail-Killing Fly aka Marsh Fly. I’m writing about it in this week’s post for Mount Pisgah, so check it out in early April.

On this same walk, I saw a blue mason bee and a green cuckoo wasp, so I think I completed a rainbow of insects that day. I’m looking forward to the next outing!

Glossy Beetle and Wee Weevils

©2022 Karen Richards

This week, on the first day to approach 70º here, this shimmering green beetle flew in front of me and landed on a walking path. In fact, I saw three of them that day. They were likely new to adulthood and to flying… as you can see, it didn’t tuck its wings in completely upon landing. You can tell by the jazzy three-pronged antenna ends that it’s a scarab beetle. This one didn’t move much, and when I transferred it onto a leaf to get it off the path, it seemed to freeze. I later read comments from others who’ve seen these beetles “play dead” like that and then reanimate an hour later. Which made me happy I moved it off the trail!

©2022 Karen Richards

I saw this tiny weevil on a signpost. At first, it was standing on top of a lace bug (the blurred brown figure at the top of the image). I have no idea whether the two of them were interacting and why. Both are herbivores with no interest in eating the other one, and it wasn’t like they were in a crowded or cramped area. I also have no idea what kind of weevil this is. Chime in if you know!

©2022 Karen Richards

This weevil is even smaller than the first, though it’s trying to make up for it by casting a big shadow. I find weevils charming, with their long rostrums and the antennae that branch out of the near side of them. Weevils with bent antennae are “true” weevils, and the ones with straight antennae are “primitive” weevils.

Enjoy these first days of spring!

Furry First Fliers

©2022 Karen Richards

If you’re like me as I was reviewing my pictures, you may not see the insect in this image at first. Hint: It’s a moth. The only reason I knew it was there was that it flew past and landed near me.

I’ll draw an outline of it:

©2022 Karen Richards

I’m fairly sure it’s in the tribe Eucosmini, which is in the Tortrix moth family. These moths are all the same long, rounded shape, and they roll up leaves to make their cocoons inside. Like a moth larva burrito? This well-camouflaged moth has a fuzzy snout and some tail fluffiness. I noticed that a lot of the insects venturing out right now are furry, which makes some sense if you’re a trailblazer, visiting early blooms when the nights are still frosty.

©2022 Karen Richards

There are just a few willow buds starting to come out, and these (I think) Colletes bees were on every tree I saw. Colletes genus bees are also called Cellophane Bees because the females make a waterproof plastic-plaster-like material to line their nests, which are dug into loose soil and might look like ant nests, but with larger entrances.

Yesterday I also saw furry bee flies and a whiskery tachinid fly, as well as a larger fuzzy moth… but none of them stayed still long enough to get a good portrait.

©2022 Karen Richards

I’ve shown photos of this day-flying beetle in the lightning beetle genus before. In order to emphasize the vastness of the insect world, I don’t like to repeat species, but this picture is worth sharing for two reasons: 1) It’s a striking image of the non-luminescent Ellychnia. I’ve found a lot of arthropods on signposts lately, and the blue background really pops this beetle’s pink and red markings; and 2) I’m finally getting the settings more finely tuned to take better pictures with the Nikon camera. The image here was better than any of the pictures I took with my phone and the clip-on lens, and that may be a first.

Enjoy the signs of spring!