The unassuming adult Marsh Fly is found near the quiet waters of the marshes, ditches, lakes and ponds that its larvae call home, and it may be out-and-about in pretty chilly weather. MFs are considered “indicator species,” whose presence or absence informs us about water quality: they are very pollution-tolerant.
Orb Weaver Spiders have been practicing their craft for some 140 million years. With more than 10,000 kinds of Araneids worldwide, they account for about a quarter of spider species. OWs will often tackle prey that is larger than they are if it gets snagged in their web. They first paralyze it with a toxic bite, then wrap it, and later eat it.
Many Clubtail species (but not all) are adorned with three noticeably-flared segments at the end of their abdomen. What Clubtails have in common is that their eyes (usually green, blue or gray) do not touch each other on the tops of their heads. They generally rest, hunt and fly close to the ground, but they will perform vertical loop-the-loops when disturbed. Thirty-four species of Gomphids live or have lived in Wisconsin (there are about 1,000 species worldwide).
The Greater and the Lesser Grapevine Loopers (Eulithis gracilineata and E. diversilineata) live in suburban, rural, and wooded areas in eastern North America. Although the caterpillars are quite distinct, adults can be the very devil to differentiate;
Long-horned Beetles are a bunch of often-brightly-colored beetles of all sizes that may sport astonishingly-long antennae (horns). There are more than 10,000 (maybe more than 20,000) species of long-horned beetles worldwide, and about 1,000 of those occur in North America. The larvae of some species get into mischief by boring in trees, whether living or lumber.
Water Striders are in the True Bug Order Hemiptera, in the family Gerridae. In some cases, it takes a microscopic internal examination to distinguish one family from the other. Sources disagree about how many species we are graced with—estimates range from 45 to 85 species of Gerrids in North America and from 750 to 1,400 worldwide.
Both the head and thorax of the Fire-Colored Beetles are narrower than the elytra, and there’s a neck-like constriction behind the head. Most species of FcBs have antennae that are mildly pectinate (comb-like), but in some species the antennae have evolved spectacularly into dramatic, even antler-like fringes.
Today we consider three fuzzy, fall caterpillars. Some long-haired caterpillars have irritating/poisonous hairs, but the sources that the BugLady consulted underplay the “toxicity card” in connection with these three. They all spend the winter as pupae. The BugLady didn’t find any mention of the adults’ feeding preferences, so they probably don’t feed at all.
The Green June Beetle range extends from New York (and sometimes even farther north) west to Kansas, just nicking the edge of Wisconsin, and then it plunges south through the Gulf Coast. Look for it at the intersection of agriculture, grass-scapes and fruit trees.
The BugLady has many pictures of bugs about whom she can’t find enough information to write a complete biography. Here are three more of them.