image of the day
grrlscientist | August 20, 2007tags: Skipper, butterflies, Image of the Day
This is some sort of Skipper butterfly on a thistle flower, photographed on Konza Prairie July 2007. I don't know the species, but it is common and perhaps some of your readers can ID it.
Image: Dave Rintoul, KSU [larger]
grrlscientist | August 15, 2007tags: native bee species, bees, Image of the Day
This little bee was working the Gaillardias along White Oak Bayou (Texas) around 6:30 p.m. Notice the bulging pollen sacs on its hind legs.
Image: Biosparite [larger]
grrlscientist | August 14, 2007tags: Neon Skimmer, Libellula croceipennis, dragonfly, Image of the Day
Battered male Neon Skimmer, Libellula croceipennis.
This dragonfly was apparently perched for the night when I photographed it at 6:30 p.m. in Houston along White Oak Bayou.
Image: Biosparite [larger]
This is a sexually dimorphic dragonfly species; males are bright red with amber wing color while females are paler with clear wings. Males appear to glow bright red in the sun, hence the name "neon"; females are gold-colored in the sun.
These colorful insects are found throughout the southwestern USA, including southern…
grrlscientist | August 13, 2007tags: Gray Hairstreak, Strymon melinus, butterfly, Image of the Day
Female Gray Hairstreak, Strymon melinus.
This butterfly was ovipositing along White OakBayou, E. T.C. Jester Blvd., Houston, Texas.
Image: Biosparite [larger]
Hairstreaks are members of the family Lycaenidae. They are small- to medium-sized butterflies that are found throughout much of the Americas, comprising approximately 1,000 species. They are most speciose in the tropics, and are absent from the far north of the continent.
The upperside of the wings of tropical species is typically iridescent blue, due to reflected…
grrlscientist | August 9, 2007tags: Common nighthawk, Chordeiles minor, birds, Image of the Day
Male Common Nighthawk, Chordeiles minor, photographed in June on the Konza Prairie. For those of you who are curious, this image is the screensaver on my laptop.
Also known as "bullbats", apparently from their habit of swooping around cattle in pastures to pick off the insects stirred up by the bovines. You can tell it is a male from the white throat, which is buffy in the females. I just love the feather patterns on these birds; they are a subtle masterpiece. [This species a]lso seems to be declining; the original New York…
grrlscientist | August 8, 2007tags: California Gull, Larus californicus, birds, Image of the Day
California Gull and Reflection, Larus californicus, photographed from the Antelope Island causeway on the Great Salt Lake in spring 2005.
This is the bird that allegedly saved the nascent Mormon communites in Utah from a plague of "Mormon crickets" (actually a kind of katydid, I think) in 1848. For that reason it is the state bird of Utah.
Image: Dave Rintoul, KSU [much larger]
grrlscientist | August 6, 2007tags: mystery wasp, mexican wasp, wasp, Image of the Day
Here is an image of a critter for which I have no identification. It is a very large wasp (nearly 2 inches in length), which I photographed in Xalapa, Mexico in October of 2006. it is an evil-looking beast, and I'd like to know if any of your readers can give me more information about it. I'd also like to know what significance (if any) there is to the fact that it is holding one pair of its legs up and parallel to the back.
Image: Dave Rintoul, KSU [much larger]
More below the fold ..
I have learned from a local wasp expert that…
grrlscientist | August 4, 2007tags: Northern cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, birds, Image of the Day
Male Northern cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, feeds his chick in Central Park, NYC. [song link]
I found this pair about twenty feet away from the nest site. I have been observing the progress of the nest and was delighted to find at least two of the three nestlings had fledged successfully. Should you find this inspirational I would hope you will demonstrate some restraint and not try it yourself at home with a significant other. I would strongly recommend you leave it to the professionals.
Image: Bob Levy [much larger…
grrlscientist | August 3, 2007tags: Widow Skimmer, Libella luctuosa, dragonfly, Image of the Day
A male Widow Skimmer, Libella luctuosa, photographed in July on Konza Prairie.
This is one of the "King Skimmers", and is found across much of the USA except for Florida, the Rockies, and the intermountain West. Dragonflies are territorial and return to the same perch quite often, which made photographing this one relatively easy. I have a friend, Mark Chappell, who is up to the challenge of photographing dragonflies in flight.
Image: Dave Rintoul, KSU [larger]
grrlscientist | August 2, 2007tags: leafcutter bee, Megachile wheeleri, Gaillardia pulchra, Image of the Day
Leafcutter Bee, Megachile wheeleri, pollinating Gaillardia pulchra, White Oak Bayou along E. T.C. Jester Blvd.
Contrast the leafcutter bee that visits the wild sunflowers. Native bees are specialists, while European honeybees will whore for any flower that offers a reward.
Image: Biosparite [larger]
grrlscientist | August 1, 2007tags: Gray Tree Frog, Hyla versicolor, Hyla chrysocelis, Image of the Day
Here is today's pic, a Gray Tree Frog, from Konza Prairie in eastern Kansas. There are two species of Gray Tree Frog, Hyla versicolor and Hyla chrysocelis, which look identical and can only be distinguished by their call. This one wasn't calling... It is also not grey; these frogs have the ability to change color, from gray to brown to green, depending on their surroundings and ambient temperature, humidity, etc.
This one was sitting quietly on a milkweed leaf, trying to look as green as possible.
Image: David A.…
grrlscientist | July 31, 2007tags: Wheel Bug, Arilus cristatus, Image of the Day
Wheel Bug, Arilus cristatus, a late-instar nymph.
[Here are a couple pictures of] the Wheel Bug, also taken in the last week. The critter (a member of the Assassin Bug family, Reduviidae) is named for the gear-wheel structure on its thorax; only the adults have this structure (see adult, below the fold). That nasty-looking beak, which is more visible on the image of a late-instar nymph can inflict significant damage if it pokes you. I have never been bitten, but descriptions of the bite include "ten times worse than a hornet sting" and "…
grrlscientist | July 30, 2007tags: Rhododendron Leafhopper, Graphocephala fennahi, Image of the Day
I noticed you have been featuring insect images regularly on the blog. [This is] a pic of a Rhododendron Leafhopper, Graphocephala fennahi, that I took yesterday. These are quite common (but small, about 1/4 inch in length) cicadellids in North America, but have also colonized the UK and continental Europe after they were introduced (accidentally) in the UK about 70 years ago.
Image: David A. Rintoul, KSU [larger]
More about this species below the fold ..
Leafhoppers and their relatives, the cicadas, are insects that…
grrlscientist | July 28, 2007tags: pearl-bordered fritillary, Boloria selene, Image of the Day
Britain's population of pearl-bordered fritillary, Boloria selene, has fallen by two-thirds over the past 30 years, according to Butterfly Conservation. At the start of its Save Our Butterflies Week, the charity has announced the UK's largest project to reverse the decline of woodland species
Image: Robert Thompson [larger]
grrlscientist | July 26, 2007tags: Gaillardia pulchra, Image of the Day
This is a small Gaillardia pulchra bloom from a young plant I grew from wildseed and then placed in the W. 11th St. Park butterfly and pollinator garden. This is a long bloomer that will keep pushing out flowers even when one is neglectful of deadheading old blooms.
Image: Biosparite [larger]
grrlscientist | July 25, 2007tags: Texas bluebonnets, Image of the Day
This is the Texas bluebonnet, star of the Texas springtime wildflower bloom.
Image: Biosparite [larger]
grrlscientist | July 24, 2007tags: nestling, Image of the Day
No it's not a golf ball with feathers but I bet many birders won't be able to identify this bird. Give up? Tune in tomorrow for the answer!
Image: Bob Levy [larger]
24 hours later, the answer is below the fold;
Bob Levy, the photographer, writes;
It is a newly fledged Northern Cardinal. And when I say "newly" I am not kidding.
I must have come upon this critter shortly after it emerged from the nest. By its appearance it is possible the babe's entry into the outside world (that is out of the nest) might have been a tad premature. I found it calling on the…
grrlscientist | July 23, 2007tags: leafcutter bees, Image of the Day
Leafcutter bees in W. 11th St. Park Nesting Boxes. Look for the diagnostic hair on the ventral surface of the abdomen, which the bee rubs over composite flowers to trap pollen.
Image: Biosparite [larger]
grrlscientist | July 22, 2007tags: Roseate Skimmer Dragonfly, Image of the Day
I am thinking this is an old and very worn Roseate Skimmer pink-form male (actually redundant since the females are never pink). This one posed nicely for a telephoto shot this evening under less-than-ideal light conditions. Dragonflies are evocative of the late Paleozoic and the Mesozoic, having flitted around reptiles in the coal swamps and then marked the rise and demise of dinosaurs. How is that for alliteration? West 11th Street Park.
Image: Biosparite [larger]
grrlscientist | July 21, 2007tags: American Lady Butterfly, Image of the Day
American Lady, Vanessa virginiensis, nectaring on buttonbush, Anahuac NWR Butterfly Garden, 7-8-07.
Image: Biosparite [larger]