Yellow-collared Scape Moth

August 31, 2026

Yellow-collared Scape Moth (Cisseps fulvicollis), on Goldenrod (Solidago). An attractive moth that is 3/4 inch long, with a wingspan of 1 to 1 1/2 inches. Adults are active from April until autumn begins to get really cold, and are found in Canada, south to the states of Texas and Florida.

Adults are diurnal for the most part, though larvae are nocturnal. Adults drink nectar, often of plants in the aster family, such goldenrods, asters and milkweeds. The larvae eat the leaves of low growing grasses and sedges. They also eat lichens which have toxicity which is transferred to adults, which makes them unpalatable.

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Katydid

August 30, 2026

There are 255 species of Katydids in North America. This one is the Greater Angle-wing Katydid (Microcentrum rhombifolium) found in the eastern, central and southwestern United States, and also Mexico and Central America.

They are green with a leaflike pattern on their wing covers, Their length is 2 to 2.5 inches. These Katydids spend their days in the forest canopy, coming out at night to feed on the leaves of trees, and to find mates. Eggs are laid late summer and autumn. Those eggs remain in the trees through the winter and hatch in spring.

From egg to adult, the total lifespan of this Katydid is about a year.

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Oh MY! So Tiny!

August 29, 2026

Yesterday I was out looking for Monarch caterpillars (Danaus plexippus), not knowing if I would actually find any. But sure enough I found one in a patch of Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca). A Monarch caterpillar much smaller than I have ever seen in the past. The caterpillar in this picture is just 1/4 inch long, and this one is not newly hatched. They measure just 1/10 of an inch at that point and have no stripes.

There is a key connection between Monarchs and Milkweed plants. Female Monarchs seek out Milkweed plants on which to lay their eggs. Once hatched, the caterpillars only eat the leaves of the Milkweed which holds a milky, toxin filled sap, that is harmful to many animals, but is tolerated and stored not only in the caterpillars but also in the adult Monarch. This toxin creates a bad taste and can cause sickness in predators with backbones (vertebrates), protecting the Monarchs from being eaten.

Nature is amazing.

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Flowers And Leaves Of White Wood Aster

August 28, 2026

A native plant that has shown up as a volunteer, much to my great pleasure, White Wood Aster (Eurybia divaricata). The flowers that bloom in late August are a benefit to pollinators that are looking for nectar and pollen sources late in the season. During the winter its seeds attract songbirds.

Its lower leaves are heart shaped. Upper leaves are lance-shaped, or oval, and sessile (stalkless). Both lower and upper leaves are alternate, with coarsely toothed edges. They are on stems that are anywhere from dark green, crimson, near-black, to deep burgundy.

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End Of Summer Visitor

August 27, 2026

A butterfly that I love to see, in part because it seems to be so unpredictable. I sometimes see them in late summer through autumn — maybe. This is a Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia) on a favorite source of nectar, from the family Asteraceae, a Small White Aster (Symphyotrichum racemosum).

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Gold-marked Thread-Waisted Wasp

August 26, 2026

Out, roaming with no thoughts of wasps, when this Gold-marked Thread-waisted Wasp caught my attention. Sitting on a leaf, looking all of its .8 inch length.

They’re found in North and South America. As adults they drink nectar from flowers including, Yellow Ironweed (Verbena alternifolia), Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum), Goldenrod (Solidago), Culver’s Root (Veronicastrum virginicum), and others such as Zinnia (Zinnia).

The female wasp burrows a nest in the ground, and then hunts for a caterpillar of an Owlet Moth (Noctuidae), Prominent Moth (Notodontidae) (preferred), Sphinx Moth (Sphingidae), or Skipper (Hesperidae), stinging it to paralyze it. Then she drags the caterpillar to the nest and lays one egg with it, providing food for her soon to hatch larva. She refills the nest excavation and hides the location by tamping down the ground around it and carefully staging the area with plant debris and small pebbles.

A very clever creature.

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Juvenile Male Ruby-throated Hummingbird

August 25, 2026

When they fledge, all Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris) look like adult female hummingbirds of that species. Rounded white tips on the end of their tail feathers, and plain white gorgets (throats).

Given just a little bit of time the young males look a bit different. Those white gorgets begin to look more like they have a 5 O’clock shadow, and sometimes, those tiny red feathers are just beginning to become visible.

Then, during their first winter, the young males will go through their first winter molt. The rounded, white-tipped tail feathers, which look like the tails feathers of an adult female, will be replaced with the dark, pointed feathers that adult males have. And the rest of that red gorget grows in.

I can imagine hearing them all shout out in a chorus, as the winter molt is completed, “Ta Daaah!

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Looking Like a Teddy Bear Of A Bee

August 24, 2026

Gathering nectar and pollen from a Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia fulgida), a cute, not so little bee, the Common Eastern Bumble Bee (Bombus impatiens). Female worker bees are about 1/4 to 3/4 of an inch, and male bees are about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch. While the queens are larger at 3/4 to 1 inch.

This bee and the Eastern Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa virginica) have a similar appearance, however the Carpenter Bee is a bit larger, measuring in at between 3/4 to 1 inch in length. And the Carpenter Bee has a shiny, smooth, black abdomen with no fuzziness.

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Lucky Find While Pulling Invasives

August 23, 2026

While pulling invasives at Buckhollow in Shenandoah National Park with other Virginia Master Naturalists, I was able to capture pictures of a caterpillar that I had never seen before. Once home, I started research to find out what caterpillar I had gotten pictures of. Turns out this is a caterpillar of a Baltimore checkerspot (Euphydryas phaeton). Their host plant of choice is White Turtlehead (Chelone glabra), they do have a few other host plants that they use if White Turtlehead is not available, including English Plantain (Plantago lanceolate), Hairy Beardtongue (Penstemon hirsutus), False Foxglove (Aureolaria), and Wood Betony (Pedicularis).

This is the adult butterfly of a Baltimore Checkerspot, which has been the Maryland state insect since 1973. It has a wingspan of 2.5 inches. Their range is from Canada south to the eastern United States to the mountains of both Virginia and North Carolina, and then west to the Great Lakes Region. In the past its range had included 15 of Maryland’s counties. Now, wild colonies in Maryland are known in about 20 sites in 8 counties. These small and isolated colonies are in the western and central parts of Maryland, in the Appalachian Plateau, the Blue Ridge, the Ridge and Valley Region, and the Piedmont.

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Hints Of Autumn

August 22, 2026

Autumn is just around the corner and nature is throwing out hints here and there, to let us know. Every now and then there is a Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida) that’s ahead of the game, turning its leaves from green to red. Actually there are some Dogwoods that begin the process in early July, though most people don’t notice the change until it becomes dramatic.

For us, astronomical autumn begins on Tuesday, September 22, at 8:05 OM EDT. My preferred seasonal change is the meteorological calendar, and that has autumn beginning on September 1.

My preference for the meteorological calendar has a good bit to do with my love of winter, and the changing seasons.

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