ConeflowerJune06

All photos copyright P.V. Switzer. No use without permission.

Eastern tailed-blue Eastern tailed-blues are one of the most common butterflies in the eastern U.S. Their larvae feed on members of the clover family, including invasive sweet clover. Sweet clover is controlled primarily by pulling it out by hand; hand-pulling sweet clover is a yearly task at prairies such as Coneflower Hill Prairie.	Delaware skipper Delaware skipper larvae feed on grasses, including big bluestem and switch grass. This one is nectaring on common milkweed.
Bee fly We saw lots of bee flies of at least 2 species, most of which were nectaring on common milkweed. This species was about the size of a housefly. The bee fly family (Bombyliidae) is one of the largest families of true flies (Order Diptera). Adult bee flies feed on nectar and pollen and are important pollinators of many plants. Their maggot larvae are parasitic on other insect eggs or larvae. They will pupate and emerge as an adult, winged fly.	Bee fly In this image you can see how the fly hovers in front of the flower, just barely touching its feet, and inserts its mouth parts into the nectar-holding areas of the flower (in this case the little cups on the sides of the flower).
Widow skimmer Widow skimmers are common and conspicuous dragonflies around ponds and lakes. As with all dragonflies and damselflies, their larvae are aquatic and predaceous. After about 1 year, the larvae crawl out of the water and shed their exoskeleton one last time to emerge as a large, flying adult. In many species, the adult males change color as they age. A young male widow skimmer such as the one in this photo looks almost identical to a female. After about one week, however, he will develop white patches on his wings (next to the black patches he already has) and develop a waxy, light purple coating on his abdomen. These color patterns make them very conspicuous in flight and are used for communication during territorial defense.	Praying mantis nymph Young praying mantises look just like the adults, only they're smaller and don't have functional wings. The young are predators and blend in well to their plant habitats, hiding them from both predators and prey. The nymphs will shed their exoskeletons a number of times as they get older, each time getting a little bigger. Finally, after their last molt they will have functional wings and will not get any bigger. Therefore, if you see a winged mantis, or a winged insect of any species, you know that it is an adult and will not get any bigger.
Margined leatherwing Chauliognathus marginatus These soldier beetles closely resemble, and are in the same genus as, the goldenrod soldier beetles that are so common in fall (see our report from September 2005). Beetles have grub-like larvae that, like the butterflies and beeflies above, will go through a number of size changes (instars) and then pupate before emerging as an adult beetle. Soldier beetle larvae are predaceous and feed on a variety of small insects in the soil and leaf litter, especially the larvae of other beetles.	Japanese beetle Japanese beetles began appearing a little later this summer, perhaps because of some of the cold weather we had in late spring. Their grubs feed on the roots of grasses and other plants, and so can pests of turfgrass lawns and golf courses. When they emerge from the ground, the females emit a volatile sex pheromone which attracts males. After mating, the females no longer produce the pheromone but will continue to mate on food plants and periodically lay eggs in the soil.

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