Caterpillars Count!

Three Rhododendron Leafhoppers, with green and red markings, lined up on a green Rhododendron leaf.

Does anyone know why Rhododendron #Leafhoppers seem to line up like this? Makes them look bigger? Using the same leaf vein to feed? Precursor to mating? #Entomology

A macro photo of a moth, seen from the side, on brown bark. The moth has white wings with lots of dark speckles, and a pattern of four orange vertical stripes, plus a row of dark spots above, with reflective scales in the centers. The effect creates a pattern that looks like a jumping spider seen face-on; the orange stripes mimic legs, and the dark spots mimic a jumping spider's row of large eyes.

For #Arachtober, here is a spider that's not a spider. It's Petrophila jaliscalis, a jumping-spider-mimicking moth - see the face-on spider pattern, with orange legs and sparkly dark eyes? I love finding these - I think they breed in my small goldfish pond, because the caterpillars are aquatic. 🌿🐙

See also:
Woody angle caterpillar, garden ghost spider, Harmostes fraterculus, Euborellia arcanum (earwig)

Clockwise from top left:
3-cornered alfalfa hopper, sad ground crab spider (didn’t seem sad), Phytocoris tibialis, 20-spotted lady beetle

Even before @inaturalist.bsky.social identifiers have had more than a few hours for ids, we added 100+ species to our previous total of 517

Some ento-highlights from the UNC fall BioBlitz today

A pirouetting caterpillar is a good way to start the day!

In this case, a balletic banded tussock moth (Halysidota tessellaris)

Time to join in on this #arachtober fun

Spotted orbweaver

Found what was probably the same caterpillar as yesterday elsewhere on the porch and decided everyone needs to pay more attention to caterpillar feet!

semi realistic drawing of a Red-banded leafhopper, a very thin insect with a yellowish green body and bright blue and red striped back/wings, on a black background.

semi realistic drawing of a Red-banded leafhopper, a very thin insect with a yellowish green body and bright blue and red striped back/wings, on a white background.

Day 2 #Invertober2025 - Red-banded leafhopper (Graphocephala coccinea) 🍁

#SciArt #invertebrates

Datana - the yoga experts of the #caterpillar world!

(In this case, Datana contracta)

Lots of migrants this morning in NC, including a warb-ton of redstarts, as well as parulas, magnolias, chestnut-sideds, cuckoos and more.

May we take a moment of silence to remember the many #caterpillars that I observed being consumed this morning. They had a good larval life in the name of #birds

BirdCast map showing 440.8 million birds in flight at 9;10pm EDT.

NEXRAD radar map showing birds and weather.

Windy map showing winds along eastern U.S. and out in Atlantic Ocean.

Also, birds are migrating again tonight. East coast migrants are getting a good tail wind thanks to those hurricanes out over the ocean.
#birds #fall #migration
#LightsOutForBirds

Green planthopper with wings longer than its body, and a long pointy snoot like the prow of a ship

Snoot

a picture of a mosquito killer hanging from the ceiling with the caption i can 't help it it 's so beautiful Alt: a picture of a mosquito killer hanging from the ceiling with the caption i can 't help it it 's so beautiful

The idiom "like a moth to the flame" dates to at least the 12th century, to Persian love poem "Layla and Majnun". Shakespeare references it in "Merchant of Venice."

But here's the thing. Moths DON'T fly to flames. And we're just now understanding that.

Let's talk about dorsal light response.

"After 55 years, the world’s most ambitious caterpillar inventory will come to a close. This monumental project in ACG has reared 870,000 caterpillars, of 8,000 species of butterflies and moths, and 18,000 species of wasp parasites—all documented by a team that grew to 30 local parataxonomists."

Gray white fuzzy moth on a human hand

A male large tolype #moth (or velleda lappet moth), Tolype velleda, an eastern north american tree leaf feeder (as caterpillar). Adults do not have mouth parts - no feeding, just flying and mating. Note one feathery antenna: high surface area to pick up on female-produced pheromones

giant green caterpillar on a stick with blue spots and long white hairs and yellow legs face and horns

gigantic imperial moth caterpillar I spotted on a hike in the woods last week 😍

First a cool moth in the house, now a cool caterpillar on the front step.

Is there a local Lepidoptera convention I wasn’t aware of?

Variable oakleaf caterpillar

Hand holding up a 4-dram glass vial next two two big jars full of gigantor caterpillars that are too big for the 4-dram vial

the ordeal of trying to find a caterpillar exactly the right size for the vial (for exhibit purposes)

Who let this double-toothed prominent into the house?

Trust me friend, what you are seeking is not in here, but thanks for stopping by!

Hawks are naturally inquisitive. If there are good questions out there, they will investigate!

Wow! How about this amazing contender for Wildlife Photo of the Year.

Invertebrate predator-prey interactions never looked so gorgeous!

www.bbc.com/news/article...

Some fall webworms (Hyphantria cunea) dance to the beat of a different drummer

#IverteFest #insects #phenology #caterpillars

A fantastically weird looking caterpillar.

What the who the holy wow yikes!
It's a Bedstraw Hawk Moth caterpillar upon which I very nearly trod at the Huron Natural Area in SW Ontario this morning. Nice horn, little dude. Good luck on your transformation!
#macroMonday #MacroPhoto #photography #Lepidoptera #Moth #native #insects #bugs #nature

Poor sphinx moth caterpillar

But parasitoids (Cotesia spp) gotta eat too!

Stack of clear plastic rearing chambers with Polyphemus caterpillars feeding on fresh oak leaves

A Childe (It is a medium-sized Polyphemus larva)

And checking in on the children

1. It's cool that there are so many new things still to discover about our world (especially insects!)
2. DNA sequencers are all very well, but sometimes you have to break out the real high tech: "The insect was so high up that they had to use a long stick to get it down."

If only life were always so simple as finding Walnut Caterpillar Moth (Datana integerrima) caterpillars on a walnut branch.

#insects #phenology #moths #caterpillars #monitoring

There’s no cuter and fuzzier a way to start off the week than with “boogie woogie” beech blight aphids!

We estimated at least 1500 on this branch, and could easily be more like 3000!

#insects #monitoring #CitizenScience #phenology

#ShakeItLikeAPolaroidPicture