Margined Carrion Beetles are found throughout eastern North America into the Great Plains except, says Bugguide.net, in the Deep South. They live in grasslands and, rarely, marshes, but research has shown that they have a preference for deciduous forests. Although a few Silphid family members may be found in trees, the Margined Carrion Beetle stays close to the ground.
Nursery Web Spiders are found in tall grass, along wooded edges, and in shrubs (and sometimes houses) from the Atlantic into the Great Plains (the species is also found in Europe), and one spider expert speculates that Pisaura mira may be one of the most common spiders in eastern North America.
Dandelions produce both nectar and pollen and so are appreciated by wildlife, especially early bees and butterflies (100 species of pollinators have been tallied). The BugLady has been dawdling among dandelions to see who else appreciates them. She saw representatives of 8 kinds of hymenopterans (ants/bees/wasps), 4 kinds of flies, 3 of arachnids (spiders and spider relatives), and 1 beetle. Seen, but not photographed, were a few cabbage butterflies.
Lightning Bugs float silently (but brilliantly) over the dark fields and wetlands of June and July, inspiring poets and children of all ages. Also called Fireflies, they are neither flies nor true bugs; they are members of the order Coleoptera and are more correctly called Lightning beetles (LBs). And yes, their ethereal light show is all about sex.
The 2016 dragonfly season is starting slowly—some migratory darners appeared a few weeks ago but then disappeared when colder weather came back. In the past week, the BugLady has seen a Common whitetail, a Chalk-fronted corporal, and some Whitefaces, plus a handful of damselflies. If you check the archives at the UWM Field Station link below, you’ll find that dragonflies have not been neglected.
Three small, blue “look-alike” butterflies—the Spring Azure and the Summer Azure, often referred to as the Spring Spring Azure and the Summer Spring Azure, and the Eastern Tailed Blue. The Spring Azures have long been considered to be one large and gloriously diverse species made up of several sub-species. Now they’re thought by many to be a number of full species. Ten or eleven species of Blues/Azures occur in Wisconsin.
The American Lady a year-round resident of the southern U.S. (south into South America and even the Galapagos), its summer wanderings bring it here to God’s country. Like the Painted Lady, it likes sunny, open spaces, and like the Painted Lady, it is an early migrant from the south that re-establishes populations in the North and East annually (it was recorded in Wisconsin in the first week of May this year). Unlike the Painted Lady, its caterpillars are tied to a smaller list of host plants, including the everlastings and pussytoes, and a few other species.
Fairy Shrimp live in ephemeral ponds dodge many predators, but they are eaten by amphibians, predaceous diving beetles and the larvae of caddisflies. They avoid becoming fish food because the vernal pools they inhabit are generally fish-free, and their populations peak before migrating birds can make a meal of them. Fairy shrimp with other lifestyles are important food for waterfowl. Their relatives, the brine shrimp are eaten by flamingos and have been consumed by humans.
Spring housecleaning—time to tidy up a few more insects whose biographies are short ones.
The BugLady did not take a wrong turn at the phylogenetic tree, and no, she hasn’t run out of bugs to write about yet. She’s been out taking pictures for the past six weeks, mostly in wetlands. Since Easter, the sound track has been one of spring peepers and wood frogs (and now leopard frogs and American toads).