Syrphidae: Hoverflies, Flower Flies, Syrphid Flies

   Hello all! It has been longer than I meant but things have been a little crazy lately. That's okay, let's get into today's topic: hoverflies. Below is a picture of a hoverfly I found. I don't know his species but I did get confirmation that he belongs to the family Syrphidae which is exciting!

   Hoverflies have a few different names including hoverflies, flower flies, and syrphid flies. They are called hoverflies because they like to hover around flowers. Males do this to protect their territory from other males while they wait for females to come by and females do it to scout out egg laying locations. They are also called flower flies because they frequent flowers and eat the nectar and pollen they produce. Finally, they belong to the family Syrphidae which is why they are called syrphid flies.

   The adult diet consists of nectar and pollen from various flowers. Larvae are more varied with some eating detritus while others are insectivores. The insect eating type are very helpful to humans because of ther tendency to eat aphids who damage crops. They are often used by farmers to help protect their crops from these crop killers.

   Flower flies are pretty resilient and live in most biomes excluding deserts and tundras. Some hoverfly larvae are aquatic but the insectivores prefer staying on dry land. As I stated before, there need to be flowers around for the adults so they have a food source but they don't seem to need much. I'd say they're pretty peaceful, resilient, helpful, little guys.

    Many species are bright yellow with spots or stripes. They are utilizing Batesian mimicry which is when a harmless species mimics a harmful one to persuade predators into thinking they are dangerous too. Despite their colors they are in fact harmless so don't be alarmed when you see one hovering nearby!

   Hoverflies are very helpful! Not only do they help take care of pests to crops, they are also important pollinators. They are frequently hanging around flowers and visit many different types of flowers. In fact, they are often considered the second most important group of pollinators after wild bees! Bees carry more pollen but flies are able to visit more flowers. Some species visit a specific kind of flower while others are more generalist in their approach. Their preferences vary between species but they have been shown to prefer white and yellow colors the most! They also like more open flowers due to the way their mouthparts are set up.

   I used to be very afraid of bees and wasps because of some childhood stuff and the noise that they make. The bees and I have come to an understanding while I'm still working on the whole wasp thing. So, these guys used to scare me too. Now, every time I see one I get excited and try to snap a photo. I'll leave you with my new favorite the Oblique-banded pond fly (Sericomyia chrysotoxoides). I was disappointed with the first photo because he hovered away before I could get another photo. The second photo was at a different time and I made sure to get a couple good ones! 

As always, thanks for reading. See you next time!

Yours,

Jade

Pentatomidae: Stink Bugs

   Hello all! Before I get into it, I have another personal update. All is going well with our boy and I started back at work today for the first time in two months! It was rough for me but I enjoyed getting out of the house and look forward to working again, although it'll be less than I used to. That's enough about me, let's talk about stink bugs!

   Stink bugs (or also called shield bugs) are in the family Pentatomidae. It gets just a little confusing because shield bugs can reference members of a few different families as well so I just stick to calling them stink bugs. For reference, here are the photos I have of shield bugs that are in the family Acanthosomatidae that I almost added because I thought they were in the same family. Look below at the photos of stink bugs. Do you see the resemblance?

   Back to strictly Pentatomidae! They're true bugs so they have piercing mouthparts. They, most of them at least, use those mouthparts for feeding on plants. 

   You might be wondering, why are they called stink bugs? Well, they release a strong spray when threatened, disturbed, or crushed to ward of predators and make them unappealing. Different species have different smells and those range from a more dusty, earthy scent to that of a rancid almond. Some even have cyanide compounds!

Pictured below is the green burgundy stink bug (Banasa dimidiata), featuring a friendly little ant. 

   Unfortunately, they are considered agricultural pests and have evolved to be resistant to most pesticides. It always breaks my heart a bit when I research a bug and most of the pages that come up are for extermination purposes. In this case, I understand as they can harm cotton, corn, sorghum, soybeans, native and ornamental trees, shrubs, vines, weeds, and many cultivated crops. 

   One of the species of shield bug that follow this trend is the brown marmorated stink bug. It is present in a whopping 41 out of 50 states and is invasive. I don't have photos of this particular species but when I read it can affect over 100 species of plants I had to mention it!

   Despite their flaws as crop destroyers I still enjoy spotting them when I can out in nature. I like their shape and variety of colors. I wonder what they smell like when they're crushed but don't worry, I'd never do that. As always, I hope you enjoyed my venture into another bug species. See ya next time! 

To finish off the post, one final stink bug. this is the dusky stink bug (Euschistus tristigmus). Here's to hoping we see more of them in our travels. Happy bug hunting!

Yours, 

Jade

   

Asilidae: Robber Flies

   Hello again! I've been away a while because I had a pretty big life event: we had a little boy! He's the sweetest little thing but needed lots of care. Now he's big enough to come on walks with us and he seems to be content so I've returned to writing. 

   This time, I'd like to discuss robber flies. Firstly, they are my partner's favorite insect which got me to really look into them in the first place. We've been searching for them all summer and one just happened to land on our window at home one afternoon.

   Robber flies are in the family Asilidae. They have a waspy kind of shape, a short proboscis with a sharp, sucking hypopharynx to consume its prey. They also have three ocelli on the tops of their heads between their two large compound eyes. Their legs are long and spiny. My favorite part about them is their mystax which translates to moustache! It is thought to help protect the robber fly's head and face when they're struggling with their prey. They're sometimes confused with wasps or mosquitoes because of the similar body shape but I usually tell them apart by their moustache and halteres!

   They eat other insects and are ambush predators. In fact, they're called robber flies because they usually snatch their prey right out of the air! Their diet is the most vast I've seen in a fly. They eat: flies, beetles, butterflies and moths, various bees, ants, dragonflies and damselflies, ichneumon wasps, grasshoppers, and some spiders! Some do specialize in smaller prey though and appear smaller and more graceful to compensate. They don't seem interested in humans but will deliver a painful bite if handled improperly. Below is an example of a much smaller species which I would assume captures smaller prey and is more graceful in flight.

   The way they consume their prey is quite interesting. The fly grabs their prey right out of the air and then stabs it with its proboscis. During this time, the prey is injected with neurotoxins and proteolytic enzymes which paralyze and digest them at the same time, slurping up the liquid. I like to compare the process to eating a tube of gogurt!

   How do they reproduce? Females have an ovipositor, which enables them to deposit their eggs in low lying plants and grasses, soil, bark, or dead wood. Most lay their eggs in clusters and have a sticky protective coating. The eating habits of the larvae depend on the species because some are carnivores like the adults but others are detrivores. Regardless, the larvae then overwinter and emerge as adults. The whole process ranges from 1-3 years!

   Their chosen living space depends on the species but generally prefer habitats that are open, sunny, and dry. They prefer coming out during the brightest, hottest times of the day. They also like open or scattered vegetation, and some species even seek out bare ground. 

   Unfortunately, they are not very well studied and more research is needed to learn more about them. We do know that they occur everywhere but Antartica, they are voracious predators, and they prefer warm days and open vegetation for hunting. So far, there are over 7500 described species in about 556 genera. I hope one day to identify a robber fly down to species but that is still in the works! 

   Well, thank you for reading my blog. As always I hope you enjoyed this post as much as I enjoyed searching for the robber fly and putting this together. Until next time!

Yours,

Jade

   

Tetragnatha: Stretch Spiders

   

   Hello again! I wanted to talk about a type of spider that had me beyond curious from when I first saw one. Their behavior caught me off guard! They're called stretch spiders in the genus Tetragnatha. They're named so because of their elongated bodies and legs which allow them to stretch out almost flat against whatever they may be perching on to avoid predators and such. 

   The first time I saw one I chased him around the stick he was on but came away from it with nothing because he was so well hidden! So started my mission to get spiders like him identified. Two more spiders like him later, I finally got verfication on his genus.

   Unlike where I live, most spiders in this genus find their home in the tropics and subtropics. Many live in Hawaii specifically. I also learned that many can run over water, I think due to their light size and elongated legs. 

 I think the one we saw was Tetragnatha extensa because it lives near lakes and river banks on grass and around trees and shrubs which is accurate for the environment around here. Unfortunately, I'll probably never know the exact species because they're really hard to tell apart. For most, you need to look under a microscope at their genitalia to make a confimation. I'm happy enough with a genus, I think. 

From the moment I saw the first one I was determined to figure them out. I'm happy to have gotten him down to genus and really enjoyed learning about them. I hope you did too!

Yours, 

Jade

Dimorphism: Specifically in Birds

   Hello! I wanted to talk about dimorphism today because I've seen it happening more and more as I improve my photo taking abilities when it comes to birds.   

   Sexual dimorphism is when the different sexes have different morphological characteristics which don't have a direct effect in reproduction. There are many different ways that this can happen including size, weight, color, markings, or behavioral or cognitive traits. I've observed this more times than I can photograph but my goal is to have as many photos of both males and females logged. My next goal is to get the female version of red-winged blackbirds but have thus far only been able to photograph the males.

This is the male red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) which has the brightly colored bands on his wings. I saw few females but they blended better with their surroundings and moved more quickly, making it hard to photograph them.

   I learned that the sexy son hypothesis explains that males with more elaborate coloration are chosen more often than dull males, even when accounting for differentiation in vision for different species. In birds, most of the time the males are the more brightly colored of the two. It is thought that this occurs because females have more to lose in terms of reproduction. 

The male mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) here is much more brightly colored than the female. 

This is a male common grackle (Quiscalus quiscula) which has greenish blue coloratuon and yellow on his wings. 

While this is a female common grackle (Quiscalus quiscula) which still shows some of the blue in her head but is a more dull brown and lacks the yellow coloration of the males.

   In some species, the males just leave after copulation but in others the males remain to help. Sometimes the males even become the primary caregivers to the young. The differences in their plumage have shown to follow this trend and suggest to female the fitness of the males along with other factors like body condition and survival.

   These traits aren't always wholly beneficial for the males either as their brighter colors may put them at a disadvantage with predators. But, even if the males die more often from predation as long as they keep reproducing successfully the trait will continue on because they are still successful enough to have offspring.

   Larger males are also favored for a multitude of reasons including better chances during migration and are better prepared for reproduction upon arrival. I haven't noticed this in my personal experience yet as the species I've documented are about the same size.

   Sexual dimorphism is very common and occurs in many other animal species including frogs, insects, and fish just to name a few! I chose to look at birds because I have the best photos of them as opposed to other animals so far. As always I hope you learned something because I sure did!

Yours, 

Jade

Lycaenidae: Gossamer-winged Butterflies

Hello! I saw the prettiest butterfly the other day and wanted to write this blurb about its family: Lycaenidae. I think they're pretty interesting!

   It is the second largest family of butterflies and are also known as gossamer-winged butterflies. They make up about 30% of all butterfly species! 

   Adults are small, brightly colored, and either blue or green as was our little blue friend. They also have hairy antenna-like tails with black and white rings. 

   Many species have a spot at the end of their tail which mimics their front. They turn around when landing and use this spot to confuse predators and make them wonder which end is really their front! This way, they can see the predator coming ahead of time and flee before they get snatched. 

   More than half (about 75%) of these butterflies rely on ants in one way or another. This relationship can be mutualistic (benefits both), parasitic (harms one and benefits the other), or predatory depending on the species. This is called myrmecophily. As a result of these relationships, many larvae have special glands that may produce secretions that attract or subdue ants! Some larvae can even make low vibrations and sounds which they use to communicate with the ants. How cool is that?

   These butterflies eat pretty much anything. Some even exploit their relationship with ants and get the ants to feed them through regurgitation! In some species, ants protect the larvae while they eat their host plant in order to harvest the honeydew that the larvae produce. In others, this is only a mutual benefit for a while before the larvae start preying on the ants. In situations where they are in the ant nest, they usually grow up there and have to find their way out as adult butterflies so they can spread out their wings and start the rest of their lives. 

  I saw this butterfly as a flash of bright blue and we tried so hard to get photos of her. When she finally landed, she let me get pretty close so I got some pretty good shots! Always thankful for even the smallest critters can be the most beautiful. Keep any eye out and you might see one too!

Yours, 

Jade

   

   

Thomisidae: Crab Spiders

    I wanted to talk about these spiders because I've only observed 3 of them and don't have any of them identified further than their family: Thomisidae. 

    Many members are also known as flower spiders or flower crab spiders because they usually camouflage with the flowers they live around and use to hunt. 

     They do not spin webs, instead hiding and ambushing their prey. Because their front legs are larger than the rest of their legs, they usually walk sideways or backwards hence the crab name. They also use these large legs to grab and hold their prey while they administer their venomous bite. Fortunately, they are not harmful to humans.

   Some spiders in this family can change color over the course of a few days to match their chosen flower.

    Their strategies as hunters seem to be varied as some hunt on and around flowers, others frequent leaves or bark, while others still mimic bird droppings while they wait. Some also hide in crevices in tree bark and come out to hunt at night.

    Depending on species, females can be anywhere from twice the male's size to a whopping 60 times as massive! Their larger size helps females catch larger prey and they usually remain quite stationary. Males tend to travel more and find the females in order to mate.

   I just find this family fascinating and want to learn more about them. It's extra fun for me because I never expect to see them. They just show up on the plants that I'm examining and I get to take their picture before they continue on with their lives. Below are the three species I've seen personally although I don't know what they are other than their family. I hope you enjoyed your stay! 

Yours, 

Jade