Azure Bluet
Even in a group of damselflies that are called bluets, the Azure Bluet is an amazing color! Bluets are damselflies in the Narrow-winged/Pond Damselfly family Coenagrionidae, which also includes the dancers, forktails and sprites.
Bug of the Week
Speed-dating the Spiders – Variegated Spider
The BugLady found this striking spider at Riveredge Nature Center one early summer day. What it lacks in size (it’s less than ½”), it surely makes up for in beauty (thanks for the ID, BugFan Mike). There’s not a lot of information out there about the Variegated spider (Sergiolus capulatus). Only one source gave it a common name, but most of the other species in its family don’t have common names, either.
Horned Passalus (Bess) Beetle
The BugLady has been wanting to do an episode about Bess beetles for a long time, but she didn’t have a picture of one (many thanks to BugFans Tom and Joe for sharing). Why Bess beetles? Because they exhibit what’s called “pre-social behavior,” and they vocalize like crazy, and they have lots of names, and then there’s the phoresy. The Insects of Duke University website calls them “one of the most delightful discoveries one can make upon overturning logs.”
Short-winged Bunchgrass Locust Revisited
Back in the summer of 2009, the BugLady found a spectacular grasshopper in the UWM Field Station prairie. It was a Short-winged Bunchgrass Locust/Grasshopper, also known as the Short-winged Toothpick Grasshopper, and she issued a special Bonus Bug to celebrate it. This is a revision of that post, with some new information.
Rusty-patched Bumble Bee
The summer of 2018 saw an encouraging number of sightings of Rusty-patched bumble bees in southeastern Wisconsin – encouraging because the Rusty-patched bumble bee is on the Federal Endangered Species list, and also because there seem to be a growing number of people who are aware of the bee and are looking for it. We depend on bumble bees for a variety of ecosystem services, and they are considered by some to be a “keystone species”.
Northern Metalmark Butterfly
Northern Metalmarks are subtly beautiful, with patterns of silver/metal/rust on dark wings. NMs like open/dappled stream edges and meadows near woodlands with shale, limestone or serpentine rock barrens or outcroppings close by. Their historical range is believed to have been much larger. Multiple factors have led to their decline, and it’s mostly a familiar chorus.
And now for Something a Little Different V – To Sleep, Perchance to Dream
Winter is monochromatic and still, and then there are the flash-frozen fingers and feet. It’s a really tough period for wildlife to weather, too, and they emerge from it stressed, hungry, and at their lowest populations of the year. Animals deal with this harsh season in a variety of ways, such as migrating, hibernating, and diapause.
The 12 Bugs of Christmas
As always, we pause to celebrate (while humming seasonal songs and drinking eggy, adult beverages), the Twelve Bugs of Christmas (plus one) – a baker’s dozen of bugs, many of whom have already starred in their own BOTWs but who posed nicely for the BugLady this year.
And now for Something a Little Different IV – Life in the Pukak
The microclimate that forms between the snow and the ground is called the subnivean layer, but the Inuit call that zone the pukak. It’s the winter home of animals like mice, voles, moles, and, yes, red squirrels, plus hardy insects and other invertebrates.
Striped Saddlebags Dragonfly
It should come as no surprise to seasoned BugFans to hear that the BugLady and her camera spend a fair amount of time in the warmer months cruising for dragonflies and damselflies. One of her haunts is Forest Beach Migratory Preserve, a reclaimed golf course in Ozaukee County. Fall is an exciting time to be at Forest Beach, because the big guys – the darners and saddlebags – rule.