Mokka mit Schlag » Nature

Migratory Grasshopper, Melanoplus sanguinipes
McCormick Place, Chicago, Illinois, 2007-07-27

Prickly Pear cactus, Opuntia fragilis? (not sure about the species)
William R. Mason Regional Park, Irvine, California, 2008-02-17

Ophyiulus pilosus
Ridgewood Reservoir, Queens County, 2007-10-20
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Clover Looper moth, Caenurgina crassiuscula
Calvert Vaux Park, Brooklyn, NY, 2007-09-20

Calvert Vaux Park (nee Dreier-Offerman) is one of the little-known jewels in Brooklyn. Although small, it has one of the most diverse batches of fauna over the year anywhere in Kings County. Sadly it’s going to be “improved” in the near future with astroturf and various other items designed to make it a “destination park”.

Buck Moth, Hemileuca maia
Metairie, Louisiana

Not a lot of moths up here in the cold Northeast right now (aside from one that flitted through my office at school a couple of weeks ago) but my parents found this one on their screen door in the somewhat warmer Southeast.

Great Golden Digger Wasp, Sphex ichneumoneus
Brooklyn Botanic Garden, 2007-08-18

Let’s finish wasp week with the Great Golden Digger Wasp, one of the larger and more impressive local NYC wasps (though sadly not one of my more impressive photographs. I am looking into improving my camera equipment.) This is actually a very widespread wasp across North America, and is commonly seen in gardens and parks.

The Great Golden Digger is a solitary (non-social) wasp that lays its eggs in burrows in the earth. It’s not very aggressive, but like most wasps will sting if you try to handle it. Adults feed on nectar but prey on other insects to provide food for their young, especially grasshoppers, katydids, and crickets. Thus like many other wasps they’re quite beneficial to gardeners and farmers, and should be left alone when encountered. Don’t bother them and they won’t bother you.
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