The Marsh Treader looks like it maybe like a very new walking stick. Not an aquatic insect in the sense that it lives under water, the MT dwells and feeds on the water’s surface—one of the “pond skaters.” MTs like the quiet waters of marshes, swamps and ponds where they may be seen moving around the edges, hiking across the algae and duckweed mats, or walking on open water, damp sphagnum moss or moist rocks.
Western Thatch Ants build impressive mounds averaging 8” tall, 2 ½’ to 3’ across, and 5’ deep with 17,000 inhabitants (max is 30,000, plus or minus). The ants make chambers in the soil and then they cover the top of the nest with “thatch”—small twigs (up to several inches long) and bits of grass and herb stems. The result is nursery chambers that are climate-controlled (both temperature and humidity). Early (April) broods of eggs and young are located in tunnels a foot or two below ground,.
The Sac Spider uses silk to hold the leaf edges together and to line the enclosure. Medicinal plant researcher James Duke calls this structure “both nursery and coffin.” She deposits her eggs inside, stays to guard her brood, and she dies there before her offspring emerge. They, hungry for protein in their first hours, consume the first bit of meat they come across, which is their mother’s carcass.
Hickory Tussock Moths are active in the daytime. They are found in deciduous woods in a range that runs diagonally across the continent from northeast to south-central—from Nova Scotia and Ontario to Texas and a bit west, nicking Wisconsin. After a male and female find each other in late spring, large masses of eggs (from 50 to several hundred) are deposited on the undersides of leaves. Often, when eggs are laid en masse, the resulting caterpillars also feed en masse. HTMs are leaf skeletonizers (they eat the green stuff in-between the leaf veins).
The Dot-tailed Whiteface Dragonfly is a member of the Skimmer family, Libellulidae. There are over a thousand species in this brightly-colored family gracing the skies worldwide. A tenth of those are native to North America, making Skimmers the largest American dragonfly family. DtWfs enjoy most kinds of quiet waters—bogs, marshes, swamps, sloughs, farm ponds, and even very slow streams—s long as there are low aquatic plants to perch on.
There are around 7,000 species in the Long-legged Fly family worldwide (600 species in just the single genus Dolichopus), and that 1,300 species live in North America! They’re a big bunch of small (¼”), big-eyed, often metallic (and, yes—long-legged) flies. Look for long-legged flies (LLFs) on leaves in dappled shade near gardens, grasslands, woodlands, and wetlands
The BugLady had a professor years (decades) ago who used to say “Don’t just tell them what it is, tell them ‘What about it?’” Here is the second installment of miscellaneous bugs with brief biographies—insects about whom the BugLady can’t find many “What about it’s.”
Turns out that “cucumber beetle” is kind of a generic name for beetles (of several genera) that wander around on plants in the squash/melon/cucumber group. Today’s star, the Spotted Cucumber Beetle. Simply dining on plants is enough to attract exterminators, but SCBs pack a one-two punch. They also carry and spread bacteria that cause a “wilt” disease and a virus that causes a mosaic disease, either of which is worse for the plant than simply being chewed on.
Feather-legged flies are tachinids in the genus Trichopoda (hair foot). They cruise the flowers, looking for nectar for themselves and “warm bodies” for their offspring. Females may also search while hovering. FLFs specialize in stink bugs, squash bugs and leaf-footed bugs, many of whom are crop pests. The maggot hatches, tunnels into its host, and feeds on the innards for two weeks before exiting to pupate as the host dies.
Adult antlions resemble damselflies with long, clubbed antennae. They fold their wings over their backs at rest (when they are alive…), and they are weak, nocturnal flyers that are attracted to lights. Spotted-winged Antlions are found in the southeastern two-thirds if the U.S., as far north as Iowa and New Hampshire, west to Arizona. The pink band on its pointed antennae is diagnostic, as are the random, round splotches on its wings.