What's flying in southern Connecticut: On and about Milkweed!

[jh]

That Yule guy thinks he's the King's cheese with all them big fancy bugs
flyin' around in his yard.  
Well, I got bugs in my yard, too.  And my dog and I went looking for them
when I really should 
have been working. (The dog was only interested in the grasshoppers - he
eats them - wish 
he wouldn't, but he's a jack russell, and therefore an idiot - but a
loveable one).

Anyway  - Here are some butterflies in my Killingworth CT yard today (20
minutes from the old Yule place):

Eastern Tiger Swallowtails (2)
Maybe 3 other non-ETS within that "Tiger Swallowtail Complex"?  I'm waiting
for word from HP.
Striped Hairstreak - one, beat to hell
ACADIAN HAIRSTREAK!!  A new one for my yard (up to 7 hairstreaks now!).  It
was on the echinacea 
   patch, resting, not nectaring.
Eastern Tailed Blue - one fresh one
Great Spangled Fritillary - FIRST OF THE YEAR - Finally! - kidding - They
are the second most 
   common species in the yard, and everywhere else it seems.  They are
ranging from fresh, to rags.
Pearl Crescent - a few - 2nd brood still looking pretty fresh.
Monarch - one
Silver-spotted Skipper - one, beat up and nectaring on the buddleia
Northern Broken Dash - the most common butterfly now - they're everywhere.
Little Glassywing - One - it was trying to mount a N. Broken Dash.  May
explain why I'm not seeing more.
Delaware Skipper - One
Dun Skipper - fairly common.

Also one of those big bumblebee-mimic asilids!  Wanted to grab a picture of
it, but it moved on.

I really should be working instead of doing this stuff.  But the weather is
unbelievable!

John
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
John Himmelman
Killingworth, CT
jhimmel at mindspring.com
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

 Visit my websites at:
  www.johnhimmelman.com
  www.connecticutmoths.com
  www.ctamphibians.com 
____________________________   



-----Original Message-----
From: owner-ctleps-l at lists.yale.edu [mailto:owner-ctleps-l at lists.yale.edu]On
Behalf Of Dale Roberts/Bill Yule
Sent: Thursday, July 25, 2002 11:54 AM
To: leps
Cc: VA-MD-DE-Bugs at yahoogroups.com
Subject: What's flying in southern Connecticut: On and about Milkweed! 


Hi everyone,
    I've had a chance to get out a little and wanted to post some
observations of what's flying. I wanted to approach things from a little
different angle and so I'm warning you'all that this post is long and about
milkweed, three different milkweeds actually.  Like most weeds milkweeds are
opportunistic and pop up where soil is disturbed, particularly where
agricultural uses have altered the land.  Here in southern CT we still have
enough "old fields" here and there so that milkweeds are common and really
excellent sources of nectar for both resident and immigrant insects. As I
have written before "if you're a butterfly watcher you're a flower watcher
too, that's where the action is."    In dry, upland old fields we find
Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) and Butterfly Milkweed (A. tuberosa)
which are both magnets for migrant Monachs (OK now I'M concerned, where are
the Monarchs?)as well as local butterflies.  Here's what I've been seeing at
these two Milkweeds:
Pearl Crescents- abundant right now, strong second brood.
American Copper- common now.
Monarch- One loner.
Spicebush Swallowtail- Several very fresh individuals.
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail- That's what I'm calling it for now.  (I hope
someone has sent Harry P a CT specimen so he can check these for comparison
to Appalachian Tiger)These seem to prefer stuff like Buttonbush, Garden
Phlox and Butterfly Bush but once in while I'm getting Tigers on Milkweeds.
Common this past week.
Great Spangled Frits- Still lots around, not as many as two weeks ago, but
still a good year for these guys.
Silver Spotted Skipper-  a couple, again they prefer Butterfly Bush or
Phlox.
Dun Skipper- several
Northern Broken Dash- several.
     Since I've gotten addicted to dragonflies I find myself spending more
and more time in wet meadows and that brings me to our third nectar plant,
Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata).  This plant has amazing drawing power
and in addition to the leps listed above expect to see these right now on
Swamp Milkweed if you take a walk into a wet meadow (especially one that has
Tussock Sedge):
Mulberry Wing- common.
Black Dash- several
Little Glassywing- couple.
Clouded/Orange Sulfur- These guys don't nectar much on the other milkweeds
in my experience but they do like swamp milkweed.
Peck's Skipper- just started seeing some fresh second brood Peck's this
week.
   OK. That's the Milkweed butterfly report from Guilford CT.  Here's a
little add-on:
Milkweed Bonus Bugs. AKA Charismatic Flower-Visiting Mega-Invertebrates.
Day flying moths-
Orange-collared Scapemoth- Wasp mimic,
Squash Borer moth- this is an agricultural pest but a superb wasp mimic with
these incredible red-fringed trailing legs, orange abdomen with a mid-dorsal
blackspot on each lower segment. Feeds on Swamp milkweed just like a small
Hummingbird Clearwing moth.
Real wasps: Lots of the large Golden Digger Wasps, Cricket Hunters, Spider
Wasps.  This fascinating group of large wasps (many metallic blue) drink
nectar from milkweed and other flowers and kill large insects to lay their
eggs in.
Flower Beetles- right now two are common on milkweed, Red-headed Ash Borer
and Pennsylvannia Leather-wing.  These are pollen nibblers and the PL-W
really prefers Goldenrod which isn't quite out yet. Also look for the Banded
Net-wing, a beetle that mimics the Lichen moth.
   On the foliage of milkweeds look for the following, remembering that the
fashion vogue of Asclepias eating insects is Halloween, orange and black.
Eastern Milkweed bug (a true bug). Swamp Milkweed Leaf Beetle (beautiful
pattern on the elytra). Red Milkweed Beetle aka "The Screaming Milkweed
Beetle", yes it's true this beetle squeals and squeaks if you pick it up and
hold it next to your ear!
   Also look for Jumping Spiders and Robber Flies lurking just beneath the
flowerheads waiting to ambush the various unsuspecting flower visitors.
This year I've been seeing a very large (about an inch) dull orange Robber
Fly that I don't recognize?? (Can you help me out here Mike?)
    OK I've gone on long enough and strayed too far afield once again.
Thanks for indulging me.  Remember the Connecticut Butterfly Association
field trip Saturday at the Flaherty Field Trials area in East Winsor where
you will see Milkweeds and many of the insects I've mentioned and many I
haven't!!

                                                     Bill Yule
PS:  The non-lepidopteron common names of the insects I've mentioned here
come from the "Audubon Field Guide to Insects and Spiders" and the "Peterson
Field Guide Insects". If anyone wants to know the scientific name of
anything I've mentioned email me.


-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: winmail.dat
Type: application/ms-tnef
Size: 5720 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/private/ctleps-l/attachments/20020725/11292fa4/attachment.bin