September 25, 2006
Katydid in the House!
Last week, I visited friends near Brighton, MI. They were excited about their accidental pet in the solarium and orchid house. Actually, they have two "pets." One is a big Chinese Mantis, Tenodera aridifolia sinensis, about 6 inches in length, and the other, a more diminutive katydid by the name of Microcentrum rhombifolium. I saw the katydid before I spotted the mantis -- he (the katydid) was on a broad orchid leaf, looking very much like he was trying to blend in.
I was able to get quite close with my macro lens and take a lot of shots. I don't know if the katydid saw the mantis, but if it did, I am sure it had every reason to sit still, as mantids see motion VERY well. The katydid found its way into the house on its own, but the mantis had been rescued from some birds that were trying to eat it as it flew into the yard. My friends had carefully transported the mantis to their orchid room, and it had only suffered a shortened antenna from the birds. I spotted the mantis along a window frame, and it's the first time I have seen a Chinese mantis -- they are HUGE. I told my hosts how to feed him, and since then I have received an email about how they have fed the mantis various insects (with the aid of a long-handled hemostat), which I am sure has been great fun for them.
I think what this episode tells me more than anything, is that once people are familiar with an insect, and know a bit about it, they want to learn more. I forgot to tell them that katydids have their ears in their legs, so that they move the legs to determine the direction of a sound from another katydid. For females, that's for finding a potential mate that is singing, and for males -- to find out where their rivals are. "It's all about sex", as my friend commented.
Posted by mfobrien at 08:48 AM | Comments (0)
September 21, 2006
In case you haven't noticed...
It's September. That means the goldenrod is flowering at its peak, and as the month progresses, there will be less of it. Goldenrod (and there are many species of this member of the daisy family) is a great nectar and pollen source, and the profusion of flowers means that it also attracts a lot of insects. Some species we only see on these flowers, such as the black locust borer, Megacyllene robiniae (Cerambycidae), shown on this page.
Locust borers are members of the longhorn beetle family, the Cerambycidae. The larvae develop in the wood of locust trees, and the adults emerge in late summer. Very colorful, and the yellow markings on the black body are really something. They do sort of blend in with the flowers. The adults look and act very wasp-like, and perhaps this behavior deters predators from catching them. You'll see a lot of honeybees and various species of solitary bees on goldenrod, and make a point to check out the goldenrod and other fall flowers and see what interesting insects you find.
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September 05, 2006
Welcome to Six-legged Wonders
As collection manager of the UMMZ Insect Division, my duties include the care and maintenance of our collections. Dead insects can tell tales, but live ones are so much more fun to observe. The Museums Building houses millions of specimens, but it's the apperance of a single new species that set me buzzing.
The Exhibit Museum installed a butterfly garden near the front entrance last year, and their work has paid dividends to all the various species of Hymenoptera that visit the flowers there. In early august, I observed and subsequently collected a new state record species of sphecid wasp, Isodontia elegans. Mountain mint is a great attractor for solitary wasps, and that is where I captured two voucher specimens of this pretty thread-waisted wasp.
Posted by mfobrien at 03:50 PM | Comments (0)