Caterpillar Yoga

Spotted this caterpillar while grilling some steaks in 90° F heat.*

A species in the genus Datana although I'm not sure which. Think it is D. ministra, the Yellow-necked Caterpillar Moth Caterpillar.

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* Thankfully it wasn't so hot that I didn't need to turn the grill on, with the steaks cooking at ~ 500° F.  That would have been quite unpleasant.

RNC Moth Night

It is National Moth Week and Patty and Bernie hosted their annual Moth Night at the Rancocas Nature Center.

It was in the high 90's Fahrenheit, even after the sun went down, and I was surprised that anyone showed up for the event. But a nice crowd did show for the presentation inside, where it was air-conditioned. And then even more came just for the mothing, obviously held outdoors in the sweltering heat.

The star of the show was this Regal Moth, a moth Patty and I had seen for the first time just the prior weekend, at Mothapolooza.

A large silk moth for which we can tell that this individual is a female, her antenna being thin and not feathery like those of the males.

Other moths included this Eyed Paectes.

And this Dark-spotted Palthis. Both considerably smaller than the Regal Moth.

The moths seemed sparse this year, perhaps they were trying to beat the heat as well. An Imperial Moth, another large silk moth did visit, but hid under the sheet, camera shy it seems.

There were plenty of other bugs that stopped by but it was so hot I only photographed a couple.

This damsel fly no doubt thought the sheet a buffet.

And this blue leafhopper was a minor sensation.

I noted above that I was surprised anyone came out in this heat. Perhaps even more surprising was that an enthusiastic group stayed out to almost midnight.

Thanks to Susan at the RNC for hosting us, her husband John for helping me set up, and Bernie for lending his expertise. A fun, if hot, time was had by all.

Crepuscular Rays

My dad turned 90 this month and on the way home from his birthday dinner celebration, cruising down the Pennsylvania Turnpike, I saw this:

Anti-Crepuscular Rays. Pointing the way home.

And then the Crepuscular Rays when we exited what was now the New Jersey Turnpike.

Keep looking up!

I'm Dreaming of a White ...

... Thanksgiving.

Especially after this leucistic Wild Turkey crossed my path the other day. And with this heat wave, 95° F plus for the past week, snow would be welcome!

Since there is some color, red, brown, and orange, this bird is leucistic and not albino.

But I wonder, would there still be dark meat?

Bloom Time - American Holly

We have American Holly all about our property, but this is the first time I've noticed it flowering. Curiously, the references I found on the web, like the site linked above, state that it blooms in May and June. Yet this one is blooming in July.

This plant is just outside our living room and was trimmed back when we replaced a bay window with a larger picture window (and added the sliding glass doors to the side yard, overlooking the garden).

A pretty little thing.

Yard Critter - Ridged Carrion Beetle

Ridged Carrion Beetle

Shown here on a deer carcass that Patty had brought into the yard to attract birds.

The Ridged Carrion Beetle is the all black beetle. The one with the orange is the American Carrion Beetle, a previous YCOTW. [Update: The orange ones are Margined Carrion Beetles, American Carrion Beetles have yellow coloration.]

I was surprised how quickly the bones were picked clean. I was also surprised how many carrion beetles, of both types, were on the carcass. Where do they come from? What are they doing when there isn't a carcass about? How far do they roam to find a meal?

Despite the name the beetles don't actually feed on the carrion. Rather, they feed on the larva of flies, which do feed on the carrion. Thus the carrion beetles actually slow down the processing of the dead animal. Curious.

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

Tiny Fungi

While installing the second gate I noticed a twig with some fungi just starting to appear, and made a mental note to check back after we returned from our adventures in Ohio and West Virginia.

And today I did just that. And as I had suspected, it was bird nest fungi.

I believe White-egg Bird's Nest Fungi, or for Latin aficionados, Crucibulum laeve.

My favorite bit from the linked site:

"The most edible part of this mushroom is probably the eggs before they mature, but you'd need to garter a staggering number of peridioles just for a taste. Of course, nobody knows whether C. laeve is poisonous since nobody has ever bothered to eat enough of the mushrooms."

That would be one tiny omelet.

This is only the second time I've seen it, both times in the yard. It is a small fungi, that's a US 25¢ cent piece for scale. Which is no doubt why they so often go unnoticed.

We've plenty of downed branches in the yard and surrounding woods, so there's probably plenty out there to find. I'll just need to keep looking down.