Winter Home

So the other day as I lay down in bed I spotted a dark spot in the corner, where the two walls meet the ceiling. "What is that?" I wondered. So I grabbed my glasses and saw this ...

If you bigafy the image you'll see if is a group of Lady Bugs. They've been there over a week now. I think this is their home for the winter.

We'll see what happens over the winter. Kinda cool if you ask me.

Second Owner

You may recall that there have been Carolina Wrens roosting outside our backdoor (memory refresher here). And that diagonally across from the Wren Roost was a Wasp Nest (memory lane).

Well, with the cold weather the wasps have moved out.

And a Wren has taken up residence.

Crazy right? We were out visiting friends yesterday, and arrived home after dark. After carrying stuff inside (lots of potatoes from their farm share) I went back out to retrieve the mail. And upon my return noticed something different about the nest. As I approached the bird came into view. Cool.

It had been on my to do list to remove the nest. That task has been crossed off for the time being.

Yard Critter from Two Years Ago ...

Back in December 2019 I posted about a wasp that visited our kitchen on Thanksgiving.

I posted several images to BugGuide, in the ID Request section, on November 28, 2019.

And on November 10, 2021 I received an email letting me know that an ID had been made.

 It is an Ichneumon Wasp, specifically Coelichneumon navus.

So know we know. Although, it seems I had already figured it out.

Good News, Bad News

When I was retrieving the camera card from the trail cam out by the Back Bubbler, I noticed this:

A dead Spotted Lanternfly. Good I thought, better dead than alive.

The next time I found tw:

A few days later I took this picture:

There are at least nine dead Lanternflies in the image (and a dead grasshopper). I counted a total nineteen of them in and immediately around the Back Bubbler.

Still good that they were dead, but a bit troubling that three were so many. And I wondered, where were they coming from?

This is where:

I found another thirty or so on the Willow tree over the Bubbler, three of which can be see in the image above. As it was a cold morning (in the low 30's F) I was able to kill them all. And I've been killing a couple a day since.

So that's the good news, many dead Lanternflies.

The bad news? That there were so many to kill. That does not bode well for the upcoming spring.

And I'm only finding these because I had a reason to go to this tree. How many other trees are there in the forest about our place infested like this that I do not know about?

I'm sure we'll find out next year. 

Really bad news to come methinks.

Pool of Death

It's not looking good for this Beetle.

But the Pitcher Plant is soon to enjoy a meal.

The circle of death.

The Spider and the Flies ...

Lots of flies.

Friday morning I noticed quite a few tiny insects flying around outside my office window. 

Not the first time ...

And then, from my desk, I saw the scene in the image above. 

A spiderweb covered in dew. 

In the afternoon? Wait what? That's not dew!

It's the flies!

If you look closely at the upper left you'll see some flying around (along with a flower fly).

There were so many ...

... they broke the web!

That spider hit the jackpot!

The Enemy of My Enemy ...

... is a Spider.

As is my custom, after finishing my day at "work" I head out to the deck to enjoy a beverage as my daily commute to non-work. And that is when I noticed the above.

No, not the the siding needs to be pressure washed, although that is true.

No, it is the Spider ...

(Species undetermined.)

... And the Fly.

Species unfortunately known, a Southern Lanternfly. 

This was the view last evening.

And this morning the spider was feeding. And it was quite intent on its meal. Usually when I go out in the morning the spider scampers off behind the drainpipe. But not today. Although temps in the 40's F may have had something to do with that. 

And this is the Lanternfly once the spider had finished its meal. 

And next up ...

... a Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, another invasive insect. 

We need more spiders.

Fail

Yeah, this isn't working quite how I had hoped.

They are supposed to crawl up and into the trap, not land on top of it and start crawling. Grrr.

The good news is that they are all most certainly dead (I had seven confirmed kills today).

But I'm sure it is a losing battle, at least in the short term. Everyday I kill the ones I see. Everyday there are more.

Any suggestions are more than welcome.

That Looks Unpleasant

I was walking about the yard as I am want to do, when I spotted a bug with a very orange head.

So I took a picture. As I am also want to do.

But when I looked at the picture I saw that the insect, a Cranefly, did not have an orange head.

Rather, the orange bits are mites. 

Ouch.

The cranefly is Tipula ultima, the mites are Mites sp. 

And both were cool to see (and were in the New Meadow Garden).

🦟  🦟  🦟  🦟  🦟

You can find all of the Yard Critter posts listed here.

🐞 🐜 🪰 🪲 🪳 🦟 🦗 🕷 🦂

Thanks to John Maxwell, Stephen Mason, and Jon Gelhous for helping with and ID'ing the Cranefly.

Around the Yard

Working from home, which I will be doing until at least next September, I spend quite a bit of time in the yard. Breaks that used to take place in the office lunch room or wandering outside the office building now occur in the yard.

And that's a good thing.

Here's some of what I've been seeing ...

Not a tiny pinecone, but Frass. I've been seeing Frass all about the yard, but I've not been able to find the producers. But it is good to know the caterpillars are there.

I am still seeing caterpillars. This Smartweed Caterpillar is still munching away on the pond reeds.

And Yellow bear Caterpillars ...

... are all over the yard.

Other critters visiting ...

A rather devilish looking White-tailed Deer in the not yet deer fenced area of the yard. Look how skinny it is. It is really quite sad. New Jersey has a deer density that is often greater than 100 deer per square mile. The overpopulation is not good for the deer or the other critters that share the forest. A healthy population, not just for deer but for the entire ecosystem, is one tenth that number (references here and here).

Another Northern Short-tailed Shrew. And another dead shrew. This one likely met its fate at the paws of Max. This is not a good thing. 

Snakes have been slithering about the yard.

This Eastern Garter Snake lives just outside the garage in the back garden.

This snake skin was next to the bench in the Bench Garden.

And I think this tail is that of a Black Racer, which was hanging out by the Fish Pond for several days.

I'll end this episode with one of my favorite yard flowers ...

... Indian Pipe, which is popping up in the woods behind the "Hermitage".

We are very lucky to have such a wonderful property.

Yard Critters of the Week

A Yard Critter twofer! 

Although sadly one est morte (that's French for "is dead"; all that studying in high school finally paid off!).

A Northern Short-tailed Shrew and a beetle, the Roundneck Sexton Beetle, Nicrophorus orbicollis.

This is the Shrew (duh!). Patty spotted it a couple of mornings ago at the end of our driveway. Other than the blood about the mouth there are no obvious injuries. 

As with most of the shrews we've seen in the yard, they are dead, And curiously, untouched by other non-insect critters. (There was a live one.) This one has been at the end of the driveway for several days now. But while larger carnivores have ignored it, the insects have not.

Why are they uneaten? Well in the case of this critter one of its defenses is to emit a foul oder when attacked. Stinky! And it seems this critter is venomous. And uses echolocation to find its prey (its small beady not much use underground, where it spends most of its time).

Pretty cool critter, huh?

Now I suppose that stinky odor attracts insects.

Including this Burying Beetle. Today was trash day, and as I was taking this weeks rubbish to the curb (full disclosure, we have no curbs on our road) I noticed the shrew was moving. 

AARRGGHH! A ZOMBIE SHREW!

But it was just this beetle pushing it around. As the name suggests, Burying Beetles tend to dead critters, and help keep the world from being piled high with dead bodies. Once a male beetle finds a dead critter, it emits its own fragrance, attractive to the lady beetles. 

My insect guides state that this is a rather common beetle, and given its distinct coloration, and the dead critters we've had in the yard, I'm surprised I've not seen it before.

But I've seen it now. And it, and the shrew, are the latest additions to the yard critters.

🪲  🐀  🪲  🐀  🪲

You can find all of the Yard Critter posts listed here.

Who's Eyeing Who?

I came upon this scene this morning:

Two predators sizing each other up?

A young Northern Gray Tree Frog.

An adult Redfooted Cannibalfly, a critter that usually hunts other insects.

A tiny frog and a giant fly. Both about the same size.

Alas, the battle royal was not to be. The fly, perhaps spooked by my presence, flew off. It is an hour or so later as I type, the frog is still there. 

Dreaming of the feast that wasn't?

Caterpillar

I was doing some yard work today when I spotted this:

Frass. Rather large frass at that.

So I looked up. And saw this:

An Imperial Moth Caterpillar.

A rather large caterpillar. In the pine tree outside our living room.

Not the first one. Hopefully not the last. 

I'll be looking next September.

Caterpillar

Later, while heading out to do a final bit of work in the yard, I spotted this:

A caterpillar. A rather small caterpillar.

A Wooly Bear. 

It looks like it's gonna be a warm winter.

Because of global warming. Not because of the orange bits in a caterpillar. 

Caterpillars

While out and about in the yard back in July, I noticed a wild violet covered in caterpillars.

There were more under the leaves.

These are Variegated Fritillary, Euptoieta claudia.

This plant was growing in our parking area. And while there were plenty of caterpillars on this day, I had not noticed them prior. And these are noticeable critters. And when I went out the next day with a 'real' camera, they were nowhere to be found.

🐛  🐛  🦋  🐛  🐛

You can find all of the Yard Critter posts listed here.

🐛  🐛  🦋  🐛  🐛

You can blame my friend Ann-Marie for all these caterpillar posts, as it was she who prompted me to look for them.