Bugs and Butterflies

[Cedars]

nothing stings my pride like not knowing my bees. ;) i'm on it at my usual pace though. i managed to grab some fairly clear stills of the other 2 bees. ;)

 

Well, for starters, these two are not bees, they are flies. Theres lots and lots of bee mimics in the fly family so its easy to miss that.

 

Most of the flat bodied flies seem to be in this subfamily:

Family Syrphidae - Syrphid Flies

Subfamily Syrphinae

Tribe Syrphini

 

This past year I have figured out (via 18 GB of pics) theres a bunch of these guys (Syrphid flies) floating around both my home and the meadows. I havent figured out a good way to ID them beyond a few types fall under Syrphini. But then there isnt much for region specific bugs out there, once you get beyond butterflies and Dragonflies (and sorting out the dragonflies can be a nightmare).

 

Sooo... if you want more info:

Subfamily Syrphinae - BugGuide.Net

Let us know what you find. I got to page 35 today. :)

[Turtle]

Well, for starters, these two are not bees, they are flies.

:doh: :doh: :doh: :fly:

Theres lots and lots of bee mimics in the fly family so its easy to miss that.

:)

 

Sooo... if you want more info:

Subfamily Syrphinae - BugGuide.Net

Let us know what you find. I got to page 35 today. :)

 

not sure how you gauge a page, but i looked at the images for every Genus & Species given on your link. i found images from 2 genera that closely mimic my images. ;)

 

here they bee:

Genus -Allograpta

Genus Allograpta - BugGuide.Net

 

Genus -Sphaerophoria

Genus Sphaerophoria - BugGuide.Net

 

a specific id of my flies aside, the look through the sub-family Syrphinae was an education in itself. some very elaborate bee-mimicking markings, but then those with their entire body shape mimicking narrow wasted wasps is fascinating. i never knew. ;)

[Cedars]

not sure how you gauge a page, but i looked at the images for every Genus & Species given on your link. i found images from 2 genera that closely mimic my images. :hyper:

 

here they bee:

Genus -Allograpta

Genus Allograpta - BugGuide.Net

 

Genus -Sphaerophoria

Genus Sphaerophoria - BugGuide.Net

 

a specific id of my flies aside, the look through the sub-family Syrphinae was an education in itself. some very elaborate bee-mimicking markings, but then those with their entire body shape mimicking narrow wasted wasps is fascinating. i never knew. :eek_big:

 

Those were the two genus I was leaning towards, with an emphasis on Sphaerophoria. One thing I have noticed, is when the genus isnt broken down into several species, it usually indicates (for bugguide) that details needed were not provided by the photo, sometimes its a good wing shot so the pro's can see where wing cells divide or they need a picture of the false wing (weird little white growths around where the wing attaches to the body, I cant remember what its called) or exams involving sex organs or other internal organs (lung location ID is common with spiders) is needed before exact specie can be assigned.

 

In may I found myself laying on the ground trying to get pictures of Hairy legs on butterflies, as I read its one way to differentiate between two types of nearly identical spreadwing skippers, skippers who tend to land on the ground. I got covered in wood ticks and still havent figured out the difference. Because of course, the females dont have hairy legs on either species. ;)

 

Sometimes a google search on the scientific name will reveal additional info that helps a person nail or narrow an ID further. sometimes.

 

Anyways, keep posting those pics! I do enjoy trying to nail these down as it helps strengthen my skills for my own investigations of "what-the-hell-is-that"

[Cedars]

Researching the Lycaenidae (Gossamer Winged Butterflies) I came across this bit of trivia:

 

"The Xerces butterfly is believed to be the first American butterfly species to become extinct as a result of loss of habitat caused by urban development."

 

More here: Xerces Blue - Wikipedia

 

Worldwide, the Lycaenidae show a significant mutualism with ants (especially in Africa and Australia). An heres an interesting paper on these guys (warning PDF file):

 

http://www.oeb.harvard.edu/faculty/pierce/publicaciones/Naomi%27s%20papers/Pierce_et_al_2002.pdf

[TheBigDog]

Long ago I had mentioned my Grandfather having a collection of moths and butterflies mounted in glass cases. They are at my sister's house in Texas, and I am going to be visiting there during the first week of August. I have on my to-do list getting good pictures and posting them here. The collection may be 80+ years old now, so it may contain samples of rare or extinct species. We will soon see.

 

Bill

[Cedars]

Long ago I had mentioned my Grandfather having a collection of moths and butterflies mounted in glass cases. They are at my sister's house in Texas, and I am going to be visiting there during the first week of August. I have on my to-do list getting good pictures and posting them here. The collection may be 80+ years old now, so it may contain samples of rare or extinct species. We will soon see.

 

Bill

 

I remember you mentioning that. If he has not labeled these guys, try to get a top and underwing shot. They might be too frail to be moving around though. Oh and watch for multiple pinned specimens. Lots of collectors get two (or 4 if the females are different) and pin them so you can see top and underwing views without having to move them.

 

and if possible, throw a ruler alongside for a measurement scale.

[TheBigDog]

I remember you mentioning that. If he has not labeled these guys, try to get a top and underwing shot. They might be too frail to be moving around though. Oh and watch for multiple pinned specimens. Lots of collectors get two (or 4 if the females are different) and pin them so you can see top and underwing views without having to move them.

 

and if possible, throw a ruler alongside for a measurement scale.

Will do! If I remember correctly he had hand written labels under each specimen. That should help too.

[Turtle]

Long ago .... We will soon see.

 

Bill

 

just saving space B-Man. this sounds great!

 

so this bit could go to wildflowers, and i did find it looking for info on a new Oxalis species i found today, but i thought Cedars would be on the butterfly scales details here best. :msn: it's what caught my eye anyway, and it's not a species of Oxalis that i have found here yet. without further ado: >> Flavonoids in the leaves of Oxalis corniculata and and sequestration of the flavonoids in the wing scales of the pale grass blue butterfly, Pseudozizeeria maha.[J Plant Res. 2008] - PubMed Result

[Cedars]

just saving space B-Man. this sounds great!

 

so this bit could go to wildflowers, and i did find it looking for info on a new Oxalis species i found today, but i thought Cedars would be on the butterfly scales details here best. :msn: it's what caught my eye anyway, and it's not a species of Oxalis that i have found here yet. without further ado: >> Flavonoids in the leaves of Oxalis corniculata and and sequestration of the flavonoids in the wing scales of the pale grass blue butterfly, Pseudozizeeria maha.[J Plant Res. 2008] - PubMed Result

 

There is a lot of investigation left to do on the butterflies, and insects in general. Heres an article from earlier this week about bat sonar jamming and the Tiger moths (which were hatching out last week around here):

 

Tiger moths Jamming Sonar

[Turtle]

There is a lot of investigation left to do on the butterflies, and insects in general.

 

so i am finding.

i went to lechtenberg yesterday, headed off to my trail into the interior, & promptly got lost. :doh: part grown back snow-berry that i had pruned , part my easy confusion :eek_big:, and part i suspect a number of large trees & branches have fallen since i last visited :weather_storm:.

 

not disuaded, i went back out and around to the southern boundry and followed it walking in the newly mown field. (the field is where i collected camas) this route is the same as my first visit to the park 3 years ago, and coming round to the west side, i noticed some conspicuos growths on the wild roses. i'm familiar with gall wasps on oaks, and may have reported on them in lechtenberg in that thread, so this looked 'gallish' to me but i never saw them on roses. i broke one off, there were dozens of these galls within just a few yards, and broke it open to reveal a hard pulpy interior with many small cavities containing pupae.

 

i took another gall still attached to a branch and brought it home, & now have photographed it and done some research on this poorly understood plant modification by a bug. to quote spock, fascinating! :Alien:

 

PS i haven't cracked this one open, but want to to get photos of the larvae because i forgot to photograph them in the one i broke open in the field :doh:. the wasps do not emerge until spring, and i'm wondering if i leave the gall i have intact, will the wasps still develop even though the twig is off the plant? apparently male mature wasps have rarely or never been photographed.

 

 

Diplolepis rosea?

 

Gall wasps & Mossy rose gall

 

Gall makers

[Cedars]

...coming round to the west side, i noticed some conspicuos growths on the wild roses. :eek_big: i'm familiar with gall wasps on oaks, and may have reported on them in lechtenberg in that thread, so this looked 'gallish' to me but i never saw them on roses. i broke one off, there were dozens of these galls within just a few yards, and broke it open to reveal a hard pulpy interior with many small cavities containing pupae.

 

i took another gall still attached to a branch and brought it home, & now have photographed it and done some research on this poorly understood plant modification by a bug. to quote spock, fascinating!

 

PS i haven't cracked this one open, but want to to get photos of the larvae because i forgot to photograph them in the one i broke open in the field :Alien:. the wasps do not emerge until spring, and i'm wondering if i leave the gall i have intact, will the wasps still develop even though the twig is off the plant? apparently male mature wasps have rarely or never been photographed. :weather_storm:

 

Diplolepis rosea?

 

Gall wasps & Mossy rose gall

 

Gall makers

 

I would say yes, Diplolepis rosea, based on the limited info I could find.

 

http://bugguide.net/node/view/192705/bgimage

 

At the bug festival I attended in June, they were talking about a spotted Knapweed gall they have introduced to crex meadows (after much testing to ensure it wont species jump). Once these guys get a foothold, they can take out up to 80% of the seeds on a plant. They did a short film on the oak gall (of the UK). Pretty interesting stuff going on with the galls being an acorn and the wasp larvae genetically altering the DNA of the acorn to turn it into a gall.

 

They have also introduced a moth whos caterpillar eats the outside of the root and a beetle whos larvae eats the inside of the root to manage this plant pest.

 

Other trivia picked up that day: a spotted knapweed plant can live for 9 years.

[Turtle]

I would say yes, Diplolepis rosea, based on the limited info I could find.

 

Genus Diplolepis - BugGuide.Net

 

At the bug festival I attended in June, they were talking about a spotted Knapweed gall they have introduced to crex meadows (after much testing to ensure it wont species jump). Once these guys get a foothold, they can take out up to 80% of the seeds on a plant. They did a short film on the oak gall (of the UK). Pretty interesting stuff going on with the galls being an acorn and the wasp larvae genetically altering the DNA of the acorn to turn it into a gall.

 

They have also introduced a moth whos caterpillar eats the outside of the root and a beetle whos larvae eats the inside of the root to manage this plant pest.

 

Other trivia picked up that day: a spotted knapweed plant can live for 9 years.

 

i don't recall the galls on oaks in lechtenberg (quercus garryana) as being on the acorns, but rather on branches. however,from my recent reading on the wasps that make galls on roses, it seems some species lay eggs on stems, some on leaves, some on the hips, as well as some wasp species choosing specific species of rose. may be a similar schema among oak gall wasps.

 

my sample mossy gall appears to surround a hip, but others i saw at the site appeared to be coming off the rose stems. i haven't id'd the rose species, but it has curved thorns and one of my guides says no washington native roses have curved thorns. this boundary area has been farmed for many years and these roses may have been originally planted in leau of fencing. to put my locale in perspective, the park is only about 12 miles from fort vancouver where hudsons bay company established a post in 1825.

 

do you think my wasps will hatch in spring now that i picked the branch (i do have it in water to keep it from wilting), or should i go ahead while the larvae are still alive and break open the gall & phtoograph them? :weather_storm: :eek_big: :Alien:

[Cedars]

Heres one I photographed July 11, 2009 at Crex Meadows. I had to ask for help to ID it and got a response from this guy (lucky me).

Discover Life -- John Ascher -- Curriculum Vitae

 

It is Megachile latimanus, male. One of the Leaf-cutter bees, from the family Family Megachilidae. ID points include the brushy front leg and the orange on that leg. I am pretty sure I got the female this weekend but havent had time to research.

[Cedars]

 

do you think my wasps will hatch in spring now that i picked the branch (i do have it in water to keep it from wilting), or should i go ahead while the larvae are still alive and break open the gall & phtoograph them? :weather_storm: :eek_big:

 

Well if you have multiple galls, bust into one and share the photos.

 

If the plant survives in water (might want to add a bit of ferts), it should keep the gall alive. You could always plan another trek back to the site later this season and grab some for winter. Might want to figure out several storage methods to mimic what the gall expects for the winter.

 

OH, there are also gall predators out there which lay eggs on the larvae in the gall and that kills the grub inside (like some of the wasps that lay their eggs on caterpillars).

[Turtle]

Well if you have multiple galls, bust into one and share the photos. ...

 

Yesm. i only collected the one gall, but i figured i know where more are if'n i need 'em. since the rose isn't native, i have no inclination to propogate it. a still photo didn't work out well as the little bugger set about patchin' the hole i made in its pocket right away and i kept getting blurred images. went with video. :circle: divisions on the scale are 1/64".

 

PS just noticed a little mite or spider moving off on the left side.

YouTube - 20090720190311 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7FxrAIwuas

[Turtle]

musings on the mossy rose gall

 

more or less speculative thoughts is all i have, but they must out.

watching the video i believe the pupa is spinning a silk closure in the hole i opened. (will check tomorrow to see :Alien: ) so, this leads me to believe that it is done eating and already prepared to lay dormant. isn't this the way of cocoon-making larvae? that they will not, can not, make the silk until after they have eaten their fill? so now if that is so then having the gall & its twig dead might well not have the least impediment to the little buggers reaching maturity.

 

now to the how does it grow. the sources mention at best a mysterious 'irritation' by the egg and/or hatched larvae, but that doesn't satisfy. what chemical(s) does the buglet have that reprograms the plant cells? almost a whiff of stem cell behavior or some such a matter. curioser & curioser.

 

now to the fact that in spite of its name, the mossy rose galls resemble lichen, not moss. specifically, the appearence is very similar to the usnea lichen that grows all about nearby in the forest. :circle: so the texture is camoflage by imitation.

 

now to the color. again, the greenish color is that of usnea and other lichens about. the red tinges may be visual camo to break up the round outline of the gall and make the lichen effect look more like the usnea, which is not ball shaped.

 

now i read that the larvae don't emerge as adults until next spring. if the larvae are already hunkered down, then they have to not cook in the hot summer sun the roses are in, and they have to not freeze over the winter. the fluffy mossy texture of the gall, and more or less solid inside, is a perfect insulating coat for both situations. the red coloring may absorb some heat in winter as well.

 

that's it; i'm out.

[Cedars]

musings on the mossy rose gall

 

more or less speculative thoughts is all i have, but they must out. :hyper:

watching the video i believe the pupa is spinning a silk closure in the hole i opened. (will check tomorrow to see ) so, this leads me to believe that it is done eating and already prepared to lay dormant. isn't this the way of cocoon-making larvae? that they will not, can not, make the silk until after they have eaten their fill? so now if that is so then having the gall & its twig dead might well not have the least impediment to the little buggers reaching maturity.

 

now to the how does it grow. the sources mention at best a mysterious 'irritation' by the egg and/or hatched larvae, but that doesn't satisfy. what chemical(s) does the buglet have that reprograms the plant cells? almost a whiff of stem cell behavior or some such a matter. curioser & curioser.

 

now to the fact that in spite of its name, the mossy rose galls resemble lichen, not moss. :doh: specifically, the appearence is very similar to the usnea lichen that grows all about nearby in the forest. :hihi: so the texture is camoflage by imitation.

 

now to the color. again, the greenish color is that of usnea and other lichens about. the red tinges may be visual camo to break up the round outline of the gall and make the lichen effect look more like the usnea, which is not ball shaped.

 

now i read that the larvae don't emerge as adults until next spring. if the larvae are already hunkered down, then they have to not cook in the hot summer sun the roses are in, and they have to not freeze over the winter. the fluffy mossy texture of the gall, and more or less solid inside, is a perfect insulating coat for both situations. the red coloring may absorb some heat in winter as well.

 

that's it; i'm out.

 

Well, this is a wasp so I am unsure of the silk ability relating to lavae age. Plenty of caterpillars spin long before they pupate. Example: Tent Caterpillars. I can name bunches more if you want :)

 

If its using the silk to mend holes, I would guess this is another indication that its a pretty normal defense tool against other parasitic wasps and predators in general.

 

Good video. Size wise it does look to be pretty well along its growth but I wouldnt guess how much time is left except based on seasons. You have a longer growing season so I would guess the little bug may go through september, but probably stops end of aug/early september. The short film I watched on the UK oak galls seemed to indicate the bug pops out very early in the spring when the oaks are pollenating. What I cant remember, or couldnt see on the clip was how far the bug developed before it got cold.