Weird Bugs At Work

Recently, a group of six Black-bellied Whistling Ducks  (Dendrocygna autumnalis) was reported from the pond behind Farm and Home in Springfield, Illinois.  This news would be unremarkable, except that ordinarily, Black-bellied Whistling Ducks range only as far north as Arkansas.  Tropical birds, I found these ducks in Costa Rica, and that photo is below:

Fun fact, however, I missed the group at the Farm and Home pond by, I think, one day.  They'd flown the coop when I got there.  Still, they've been in the Springfield area since late May.  Furthermore, in previous years one or two of the same species have been sighted on residential drainage ponds in that area.  My personal suspicion is that the whistling ducks are still in the Springfield area, but they are hiding on a residential pond someplace in town where there are no birders.  The non-birders who read this, please let me know if  you see any brown ducks with gray heads.



(Copyright globeattractions.com)

Later that day, however, I went on an owl survey in southern Morgan County.  The fireflies at night were... there were no words.  The only photo I've found to imitate that beauty is above, and it's a poor imitation.  Also, I got to see three opossums, five raccoons, one Great Horned Owl, and several other animals.  Obviously, since I'm borrowing a random picture I found online, I did not get any pictures.  It's an experience I intend to redo sometime soon, but not one that is easily shared.  Some of the greatest beauties in the world cannot be photographed.  I recommend driving out into the country late at night sometime, and looking at the stars and fireflies.  Oh, and listening for owls.  The more playful one is probably a Barred Owl.  "Who cooks for you, who cooks for you all" is the phrase used to imitate the call.  "Who-who" is a Great Horned Owl.

Now, I work at a place which sells plants.  (I occasionally get asked, "Hi, I'm looking for a plant.  It's green."  Period.  What scares me is that these people drive themselves to shop at my workplace.)  There are all kinds of fascinating insects at work, many of which I don't get the chance to document.

(Caution- Spider Below)

So, I have a fair amount of arachnophobia, and I had just picked up this plant and moved it, when this beauty decided to emerge.  Yes, that's a full-grown bumblebee in its mandibles.  This was easily the largest jumping spider I've ever seen, well over an inch long.  Well, enough said.  Let's move on.

This insect is some sort of tortoise beetle, probably in genus Charidotella.  These insects eat sweet potato leaves, such as the leaves found here.

This caterpillar is that of the Smeared Dagger Moth (Acronicta oblinita), a fairly common species, but look at those colors!  The moth itself is just a garden-variety boring white-gray moth. but the caterpillar goes out of its way to make up for the adult's lack of color.  It's like a person who had an exciting and busy life in high school and then became an accountant afterwards.

The most exciting however, was this, the Nessus Sphinx (Amphion floridensis), a moth that imitates a bumblebee and flies by day.  This is a fairly common insect, but one I had never seen before. Colorful, diurnal, and hummingbirdal?  This doesn't even seem like a moth!


Overall, other than this, not a whole lot happened last week.  It was hot, I was busy.

 Next week, however...