Aster World, Part 11: Flower Flies

Next to bees, flies are the most important pollinators!  

There is a special category of flies called "Flower Flies," famiily Syrphidae. 

Many species of Flower Fly are bee-mimics.  

Flower Fly Dioprosopa clavata on
Symphyotrichum pilosum
Bird Runner Wildlife Refuge
McDowell Creek, Geary Co., KS
October 2021

But this fall a Flower Fly that is a wasp-mimic, Dioprosopa clavata, visited our volunteer Hairy Asters.

Such a tiny fly!    Such delicate markings!  

Look at that "wasp-waist":  

Look closely at the stems and you can
see why Symphyotrichum pilosum is
called "Hairy Aster."

                                                                           

The wasp-waist fooled me at first, and I thought this visitor was a tiny wasp.  But bugguide.net corrected my mistake.   I should have noticed the huge eyes.   They say "fly," not "bee" or "wasp."  

Flower Flies come in many sizes.   Eristalis stipator is about ten times the size of D. clavata and is a bee mimic.    In fact, I fell for the bee act when I first encountered this species years ago.   But this year I knew what it was! 

Here is E. stipator, resembling a honeybee and visiting our volunteer asters on October 15, 2021:

And here is Allograpta obliqua, mimicking a sweat bee and visiting our asters on October 11, 2021:

Sphaerophoria is another genus of Flower Fly that mimics sweat bees. 

Here is a male of that genus that visited our asters on October 16, 2021:

He too has large eyes, fly-eyes:

Here he is in action, feeding on the flowers and then grooming:

Syrphid flies are also known as "Hover Flies," as they can hover and zip back and forth, like hummingbirds.  

They are important pollinators and plant-protectors.  

The adults need the sugar in nectar to fuel their flights and the protein in pollen to produce eggs.   They travel from flower to flower gathering what they need and incidentally pollinating as they go.    

The females seek out plants that are vulnerable to aphid-infestation and lay their eggs there.   When the eggs hatch, the caterpillar-like larvae consume the aphids, protecting the plants.  In return, the plants provide nectar and pollen for the adults.  

The cycle continues!  

Aster World, Part 12: Wasps

This handsome wasp is a member of the genus Polistes--the "Umbrella Paper Wasps."  Polistes are large social wasps that share a paper nest that hangs upside-down, by a stalk.  Sterile female workers are the first to emerge in the summer.  Fertile females and males appear late in the season.  

This is a male (that curled antenna is the give-away).

   

Here he is in action, on Hairy Asters (Symphyotrichum pilosum).  

Many native wildflowers have already gone to seed.  This late-emerging wasp needs nectar to fuel his search for a fertile female.  Thank goodness for late-blooming asters!

Also depending on late-blooming asters is this wonderful potter wasp, Eumenes bollii.   This is a tiny wasp that packs remarkable shapes and segments into a small space.  Especially striking is the bulbous abdomen:

Eumenes bollii on Hairy Asters, October 2020.

This wasp does not appear often in Kansas.  Bugguide.net includes only two other entries, both from a September, in Cheyenne and Johnson Counties.   The sighting above is the only entry for Geary County and the only one from an October.  

Yet another species of potter wasp came to visit the asters, this one from the genus Euodynerus.  Here (s)he is in action:

Potter Wasp, Euodynerus sp., on Hairy Asters.

October 2021. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

 

Aster World, Part 13: Common Checkered Skipper and Snout Moths

A gorgeous Common Checkered Skipper (Pyrgus communis) came to nectar on the Hairy Asters (Symphyotrichum pilosum) that volunteered in our backyard.   The blue-gray color indicates a male of the species.  

Here is that little guy in action:

One species of Snout Moth that featured prominently on the volunteer asters on our land was the Two-spotted Herpetogramma (Herpetogramma bipunctalis):

The thumbnail shows the two spots on the dorsum that give the species its name.   Their wings make a shimmering robe.  And I love their tinker-toy legs!   Some of these clips clearly show the asters' hairy stems and leaves that give this wildflower species its name--Hairy Asters (Symphyotrichum pilosum).  

Another species of Snout Moth that came to the asters frequently was Hymenia perspectalis, Spotted Beet Webworm:  

Aster World, Part 14: More Moths

This moth's common name is "Dingy Cutworm Moth," so named for the non-descript larva.  But the adult is boldly patterned, clearly not "dingy."  

Feltia jaculifera is a gorgeous, brightly patterned moth

This male (note the furry antennae) is feeding on Hairy Asters,

October 15, 2021.  

In fact, an entomologist with bugguide.net says a better common name would be 
"Bright-striped Dart."  I agree!

Here is the Chickweed Geometer, a moth whose larvae eat wetland plants, such as chickweed and smartweed.  

Haematopis grataria, Chickweed Geometer,
on Hairy Asters, October 2021

This one is a male as can be told by the lush bristles on his antennae!  

He is part of the family of Geometrid Moths (Geometridae), or "Earth Measurers," so named for their larvae's method of locomotion.   The larvae advance by gathering themselves up into a loop and then extending forward, earning the common name of "inch worm."  Each "step" is supposedly one inch.   

Here is a grass moth--long and thin to blend in with the blade of a grass.  This one is yet another member of the Crambid Snout Moth family--so named for the extended mouth parts that look like a "snout."  (S)he doesn't seem interested in sharing asters with a neighboring fly.   Note that two-toned proboscis!

Lucerne Moth (Nomophila nearctica), a Crambid Snout Moth, 

enjoys aster nectar.  October 2021

Now for a member of yet another family, the Plutellidae, or Diamond-back Moths.  Check out that tail fin!  

Plutella xylostella, a Diamond-back Moth,
nectaring on Hairy Asters, October 2022.

Here (s)he is in action:

Flies come and go while this Diamond-back Moth

nectars on Hairy Asters.   But one fly--probably caught

by a spider--remains motionless.  

Exploring Thistle World

What a radiating presence is a thistle!   Winged creatures fly to it, and energized, fly away:   Here are some of the creatures that came to Wavy-Leaf Thistle (Cirsium undulatum) in the last week of June and the first week of July:

In order of appearance: Ruby-throated Hummingbird; Thistle Fly (Paracantha sp.); Grass Skipper (Hesperiinae);  Wild Joy Beetles (Euphoria sepulcralis); Looper Moth (Caenurgina sp.); Leaf Beetles (Diabrotica cristata); Blister Beetle (Epicauta atrata); Eight-spotted Flower Longhorn Beetle (Typocerus octonotatus); Striped Sweat Bee (Agapostemon sp.); another Grass Skipper (Hesperiinae); Bee-like Flower Scarab (Trichiotinus piger); another hummingbird; grasshopper; lightning bug; crab spider; Leatherwing beetle corpse plus Slender Crab Spider (Tibellus sp.); Silver-tailed Petalcutter (Megachile montivaga); American Bumble Bee (Bombus pensylvanicus); Ruby-throated Hummingbird. 

The audio features Dickcissels singing persistently with a Bob White in the background. 

Now the Tall Thistles (Cirsium altissimum) are starting to bloom.   Here is what I wrote about "Thistle School"--in the Junction City Union, September 7, 2021: 

 https://www.junctioncityunion.com/lifestyles/blessings-from-native-thistles/article_491e6dd5-e29e-54c6-b23f-434d886e1afe.html

Northern Broken-Dash Skipper in the Creek Field

 Here on July 26, 2021 was a new visitor to the Creek Field: A Northern Broken-Dash Skipper (Wallengrenia egeremet).   
                                                           

 She landed first on Bee Balm.

Then she hopped over to Echinacea.

Broken Dashes are Grass Skippers, with grasses as their food plants.  

It is gratifying to find Grass Skippers in a prairie restoration!

Frog Males "Dance" Together

Puzzling to many is the behavior of male Blanchard's Cricket Frogs!   They often seek each other out, two by two, for a "partner dance" involving leg displays and tumbling.  

Here are two little males I encountered yesterday along McDowell Creek:   

Only males do these leg displays, according to herpetologist Eva Horne.  

Females lay eggs in water, and the males fertilize the eggs externally--so what these male-male interactions have to do with reproduction is not clear.   

At the end of the video, one of the "dancers" goes off to start chorusing.  You can see his inflated vocal sac is almost as big as he is!  

Beloved herpetologist Joe Collins wrote that Cricket Frog "breeding choruses" may be misnamed, as they do not indicate that eggs have been or will be laid.  They may serve some "unknown purpose," he wrote.   

The interactions shown here appear more friendly and cooperative than aggressive and competitive.   These two youngsters play well, politely taking turns jumping on top of each other!