Here’s yet another reason I love going out in search of insects: The other day I had what I thought was a nice walk on the trails, but kind of a poor outing insect-wise, until I got home and hours later read about two of the creatures I’d photographed. Then, the pleasant walk also became a jackpot of a treasure hunt.
On the way back to my car, I’d stopped at a picnic table to see if anything was crawling on it. It was a hot day and almost nothing is in bloom any more. I’d just seen two different types of ants, so when I saw this little one on the table I thought it was an even smaller variety of ant. It was behaving kind of weirdly, backing up occasionally, and I noticed it had what looked like four body sections (including the head), but I knew some ants have that trait.
I got home and enlarged the photos and went to iNaturalist to get a basic idea of what I’d found. And I learned this is a wasp. Looking at it closely, I can see that the antennae don’t have an “L” in them like ants’ do. And the abdomen looks pointier than most ants. This is one of the types of wasp (it’s in the Gonatopodinae subfamily) where the males have wings and the females don’t. They also have “chela” on their front legs, which I learned are claw-like structures. Oh, and they’re also parasitoids of leafhoppers and plant hoppers (i.e. the females lay eggs in the larvae of those insects). So I was happy to have detoured to that picnic table!
This moth still blows me away. There were dozens of them near the river. They looked white in flight and it was tough to find one that would sit for a photo. Up close, they have attractive markings on the hind wing, like a series of beads on a string. Again, I didn’t think much of these little fliers until I got home and read about them.
Because it turns out these Petrophila genus moths are aquatic.
What?!
These moths are incredible. First off, I think “petrophila” means “lover of rocks.” The larvae of these moths feed on algae on rocks in fast-moving water. How do they get there? I really have to quote BugGuide here so you can read it as I did:
“Adult females enter the water, up to 4 meters deep, to oviposit (200 – 300 eggs), carrying a plastronlike layer of air as a source of oxygen that sustains them from 4 to 12 hours. After ovipositing they die in the water.”
I had to look up “plastron.” In entomology, it’s a network of hairs or bumps that trap water against an insect’s body when it goes under the water. But really, every part of that description is mind-blowing. They can dive 13 feet down?! They stay under the water for up to 12 hours?! And then they never breathe above the water again?!
I have an insect walk scheduled for tomorrow and I plan to show folks these nondescript moths and share their superpowers.
Enjoy the outdoors–and take the time to look closely at what you find!
Ticklehead 