I’ve had enough vision challenges to know that chasing insects and animals for photographs just wasn’t my thing. Still, that doesn’t mean that I won’t grab shots of things that sit still for more than 30 seconds. I don’t know if it’s the heat and humidity or not but lately a lot of things have been sitting still. I think this is the first post I’ve done that is about nothing but moving things.
This spiny insect was bigger than a bumblebee and flew slowly from blossom to blossom. I had never seen anything like it and couldn’t find it online so I bought an insect guide. Unfortunately I couldn’t find it in there either so I asked the good folks at bug guide.net if they knew what it was. They tell me that it is a Tachinid Fly (Belvosia borealis.) After much searching for information I found that there are 15 known species of Belvosia in North America, all of which are very similar in appearance.
According to nature search online, this fly reaches its peak numbers in July and August and takes nectar from flowers. The fly is a parasitoid of the larvae and pupae of moths like the sphinx and silk moth. A parasitoid is different from a parasite by the way it eventually kills its host while a parasite does not.
This female mallard didn’t hear me coming down the river bank toward her because of the roar of the river. When she turned and saw me she gave me some strange looks and quacked loudly, but since Mallards always seem to be smiling it was hard to take her scolding very seriously. I watched her slip all over the rock she was on until she finally nearly fell off it into the river. Apparently embarrassed that I had witnessed such klutzy behavior, she flew off with one last loud quack.
What I think is an eastern tiger swallowtail butterfly was digging deep into this orange daylily blossom.
I found this large snapping turtle in the grass quite far away from the river one evening by almost stepping on it. It was probably two feet long from the tip of its nose to the tip of its tail and I was glad I had shoes on because it looked like it could have easily taken a toe or two. It must have been a fast mover because its shell was still wet. It stayed still while I took some photos but when I returned from a walk down the river about ten minutes later it was gone.
This is another bug I had to go to bug guide.net to get identified. I knew it was a beetle but that’s as far as I could go. The experts at bug guide tell me it is an oriental beetle-kind of a cousin of the Japanese beetle. Like its cousins its sole purpose seems to be eating garden plants instead of what it can find in the wild. In this photo it is checking out a coleus.
Peck’s skipper (Polites peckius) is supposed to be one of the most common butterflies in New England, but I can’t remember ever seeing it before, even though its brown and tan colors are pretty and it seems like they would be hard to forget. It is said to have black and orange colors on the upper side of its wings.
When I bought the insect guide to try and identify the Tachinid fly at the beginning of this post I also bought a butterfly guide to help me with this butterfly. I can get as far as identifying it as a skipper and no further, even with the book. I have also struck out online, so it will probably be the third bug to go to bug guide.net. I wonder if the harsh sunlight has made some of its markings disappear? If so that means that an accurate identification will be difficult. No matter what its name though, I like the look of its green, crushed velvet like wings.
I finally spotted two monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) in a meadow that I visit. One of them was kind enough to sit on this boneset flower flexing its wings while I snapped a few photos. I can’t remember seeing a monarch at all last year.
NOTE: Fellow blogger Mike Powell has pointed out that this is actually a Viceroy butterfly (Limenitis archippus.) The differences are very subtle and have to do with the horizontal line across the hind wing. Mike sent me a very good link to a website that shows and explains the differences clearly: http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/monarch/Viceroy1.html
I was on my favorite covered bridge one evening as the sun was setting and I noticed some big spiders repairing their webs in the corners. I took a few photos, not hoping for much because of the poor light, but when I saw this shot it looked like the spider had built a web leading up into the clouds. I don’t know what kind of spider it is, but she’s big and it looks like she’s got a long climb ahead of her.
Each species is a masterpiece, a creation assembled with extreme care and genius. ~Edward O. Wilson
Thanks for coming by.
I sympathise with you Allen. I’ve spent quite a lot of my life fruitlessly stalking flying insects. The long, uncut grass in both the gardens I work in are full of butterflies, which is reassuring. A wet summer last year gave them a hard time. Lots of skippers but nothing so elegant as that Monarch. Dave
If they pose they get their picture taken and if not we wait for another day. You’re lucky to be surrounded by butterflies no matter what they are. We seem to have plenty this year but like you, we didn’t see many last year.
I loved these photographs, you can’t help thinking the animals are behaving like people when the duck really does look as if it is smiling and the butterfly looks as if it is really tucking into that nectar.
Thank you. Mallards always look like they are smiling to me. That must be why they’re my favorite waterfowl-and they really are clowns, too. That was the first time I’ve ever seen a butterfly on a daylily. I was surprised that it had to dig so deep for a treat.
Looking at that fly again he looks like he’s wearing a frilly black tutu.
And spiky at that!
I think it must be a punk tu tu.
Punk rock that is 🙂
You have had a lot more luck with butterflies and I sects than I have. That fly is amazing, we don’t have anything like that here at all as far as I know. 🙂
I really think it must have been the heat slowing them down. You might be lucky that you don’t have that fly there-it’s a moth killer.
The only thing the heat is slowing down here is me! 🙂
Enjoyed the moving things post. One of the best ways to capture moving things is by not moving. Hunker down next to nectar producing plants and the show comes to you. The tachnid flies are cool to observe.
Thanks for the tip Grampy. I’ve got to try just sitting. Even though I move pretty slowly when I’m out there, I’m still moving enough to scare away most insects. Those tachinid flies weren’t bothered by anything.
Enjoyable series of photos! The skipper shots are excellent! We must be getting into their time of the year because I’, seeing lots of them here too.
It’s good to hear somebody say they’re seeing butterflies. Many are saying just the opposite.
Yay bugguide.net!
Thanks for the tip!
Great post! The mallard is adorable. My favorite would be the Peck’s skipper very pretty colors and such a crisp image.
🙂
Thanks Chris! Now that I’ve seen and paid attention to it I’ll keep an eye out for the Peck’s skipper. I like its colors too.
A very nice set of pictures. The butterfly in the lily won first prize for me.
Thank you. That is a very colorful butterfly in a very common flower.
Very nice butterfly pictures.I generally rely on Judy for photos but have occasionally tried to take butterfly pictures myself – but I never get the capture. Funny, in addition to few butterflies, I haven’t seen any skippers at all this year, usually they are plentiful.
Thanks! Maybe you should get yourself a reasonbly priced camera that you can keep in your shirt pocket as you garden. A lot of bloggers are remarking on the lack of butterflies, but we seem to have plenty here this year. Last year was our butterfly “drought.”
Great shots! The Tachinid fly is especially interesting, and colorful with its yellow butt.
Thanks Sue. I like the Tachinid fly too. One person describing it described the yellow stripes as “neon yellow.” I think they come close to that.
Thank you for sharing your part of the world with us, NHGS. Mother Earth is forever a treasure heaven and it’s all ‘free’.
Wishing you a happy week.
Namaste
Thank you. I agree-nature photographers will never run out of things to photograph because nature just keeps on giving. I hope your week is a happy one as well.
The mallard story was funny, they are such clowns, even when frightened. The photos of the “moving things” were excellent, I loved the spider shot, I can see why you shot it!
Thanks! That mallard was a real clown! I never knew their feet were so slippery. I really didn’t expect the shot of the spider to look anything like it did-that was a complete surprise!
Wonderful shots of moving subjects. The shots of the tachnid fly are amazing, but I love the sheer artistry of the the swallowtail in the daylily.
Recently I misidentified a butterfly as a Monarch that turned out to be a Viceroy and I wonder if you might have done so as well. A Viceroy has a black line crossing the postmedian hindwing, while a Monarch does not. Check out this site for more infomation: http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/monarch/Viceroy1.html
Thanks Mike. Believe it or not I looked at the Monarch / Viceroy difference and thought I had a Monarch. Your site however, shows and explains the differences much better than what I was looking at. I’ll fix the post so there’s no confusion. Thanks again!
I would caution you that I am far from an expert, but I do like to poke around for information (and I note that Monarch was in the title of the posting on my misidentified butterfly).
We all make mistakes, even though we try hard not to.
Wonderful look at your Moving Things!
Thanks!
Cool post. I think “moving things” are neat. I love it when I have the opportunity to photograph them. I don’t usually go to any great lengths to identify them, hmmm, now I have another resource…you! Thanks for continuing to write such informative posts!
Thanks Laura..i don’t go out of my way to shoot things that run away so these are just opportunity knocking shots. My ID skills are very limited when it comes to bugs,so I’d be wary of calling this a resource!
I’d say that you knocked out the opportunity knocking shots quite successfully!