Month: January 2019

Antheraea polyphemus (Cramer)

On By Erik OstrumIn Lepidoptera, SaturniidaeLeave a comment

This species was the most common Saturniid I encountered growing up in Wisconsin. Seeing one was always a treat as were the other species of Saturniidae. I remember on one particular fruitful blacklighting session back in 2012 we had 5 of them show up, which for Wisconsin, I consider pretty good.

This is a large species that can have a wingspan of up to 6 inches. The overall tan color is distinctive and contrast with the dark coloring surrounding the eyes on the hindwings. This is a common species found throughout the eastern U.S. and also has scattered records throughout the western states as well. The pair in the photo below were found in Colorado Springs, CO. I didn’t collect them as they were in the midst of mating.

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One of the things I’ve always been amazed at is the size of the caterpillars and the life cycle which takes 1 year. The adults eclose in the spring and only live about 1 week as they don’t have mouthparts to feed. The caterpillars hatch and feed throughout the summer and early fall and then they pupate and over-winter.

I have a handful of specimens, all collected from Wisconsin.

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Other online sources:

http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/MISC/MOTHS/polyphemus_moth.htm

https://bugguide.net/node/view/427

https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Antheraea-polyphemus

Prionus californicus Motschulsky

On By Erik OstrumIn Cerambycidae, ColeopteraLeave a comment

This is a large robust beetle found in the western U.S. This is actually one of the largest beetles in the collection currently and though it has no bright colors, it is still a beautiful and impressive beetle.

I would call this a long lived species, having a life span of 3-5 years…though granted most of that is spent as a larvae underground. Larvae feed on a wide variety of plant roots and at times can cause infestations.

One of my favorite aspects of this species are the saw-toothed antennae which, in my opinion, really what makes this species so cool.

I currently have a single specimen collected from Colorado in the collection. It is actually one of only a couple specimens of Prioninae currently in the collection so I’m really hoping to collect more.

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Other online sources:

https://bugguide.net/node/view/18882

http://jenny.tfrec.wsu.edu/opm/displayspecies.php?pn=643

Bumblebees Get Their Unit Trays

On By Erik OstrumIn Uncategorized, Working on the CollectionLeave a comment

I took some time this past weekend to do some work on the collection. I decided to move all the bumblebees into their own unit trays so they can be ready to go into the new drawers that are coming in the mail. The first step before all of this was to sort through and ID all the specimens I have labeled so far.

The end result of sorting and ID’s was this slab of styrofoam, which as you can see has the specimens grouped into their respective species, totaling 24 species.

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The next thing I did was assemble the unit trays. Instead of regular trays I buy the folding unit tray kits. The downfall is that I have to put them together myself but they are cheaper in the long run than buying a whole bunch of regular trays at a time. When all is said and done they still look nice and tidy when all complete and I’ve always liked using them.

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All that’s left to do is putting the bees into the trays. Here is a finished tray of Bombus impatiens. You can see the labeled card telling me what’s in the tray. I created a label card for each species which requires much measuring and cutting.

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Finally after a bit of time I finished. These trays are now ready to be put into some Cornell Drawers which will be arriving in a couple days. Now that I’m finished with all the bumblebees, its time to move on to the sorted and ID’ed Lepidoptera.

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Revision of the genus Tetramorium

On By Erik OstrumIn Revisions & New Species Discussions, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Across much of the U.S. ant wars are commonly seen taking place on sidewalks and are always a spectacle to behold. This ant is in the genus Tetramorium but confusion on the exact species persisted for many years. It was also introduced from Europe which has a few different species in the genus.

At first it was placed as the species Tetramorium caespitum but that was eventually changed and it was then known as Tetramorium sp. E for a decent period of time. Finally in 2017 a paper was published that shed light on the subject and finally settled the matter. T. caespitum was confirmed as a species but it was still only in Europe. They raised Tetramorium immigrans to species level and assigned this name to the North American specimens and finally ended the long road of confusion.

So now when you see the pavement ant wars while on your walk you can say those are officially Tetramorium immigrans.

Article:

Herbert C. WAGNER, Wolfgang ARTHOFER, Bernhard SEIFERT, Christoph MUSTER, Florian M. STEINER & Birgit C. SCHLICK-STEINER just published “Light at the end of the tunnel: Integrative taxonomy delimits cryptic species in the Tetramorium caespitum complex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)”. Myrmecological News 25: 95-129 Vienna, October 2017

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322663055_Light_at_the_end_of_the_tunnel_Integrative_taxonomy_delimits_cryptic_species_in_the_Tetramorium_caespitum_complex_Hymenoptera_Formicidae

Lucanus placidus Say

On By Erik OstrumIn Coleoptera, LucanidaeLeave a comment

Another of the stag beetle species found in the U.S. It’s around the same size as Lucanus capreolus but lacks the bicolored femurs and has multiple teeth on the mandibles instead of one like in L. capreolus.

This species can be found in the midwestern states from southern Canada down to Texas. I collected the single specimen I have in northwestern Wisconsin in the same general area where I also collected L. capreolus.

Like other stag beetles adults can be found at lights at night and larvae can be found in decaying logs and stumps.

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Lucanus capreolus (Linnaeus)

On By Erik OstrumIn Coleoptera, LucanidaeLeave a comment

One of the handful of stag beetle species in the U.S. Though not as impressive as Lucanus elaphus it is still a large sized species. The mandibles on the males don’t get very large but are still noticeable

This species can be found throughout the eastern U.S. and north to southern Canada. This was actually the first stag beetle species I collected in Wisconsin when I still lived there. The best way to tell this species apart from the others is the bicolored femora.

It can be found in deciduous forests as well as parks. Larvae can be found in rotting logs and adults can be found on sugar baits, sap, and can be found at lights.

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Other online sources:

https://bugguide.net/node/view/3107

Lucanus elaphus Fabricius

On By Erik OstrumIn Coleoptera, LucanidaeLeave a comment

One of the most impressive beetle species found in the U.S. would have to be Lucanus elaphus…..aka the giant stag beetle. Though North America isn’t particularly rich in stag beetle species, this is one that rarely fails to impress. This is actually a species I have never seen alive in person, my friend and roommate back in my college days collected the specimen while he was in North Carolina.

Males of this species are unmistakable while females can be confused with the couple other species present in the same range. Larvae feed and can be found in moist decaying wood while adults can feed on plant juice and rotting fruit.

This species can be found in the eastern U.S and can be found at lights at night. Though having a more widespread range, there is some concern surrounding conservation status.

Currently in the collection I only have one male specimen. It is always an attention getter and people are always amazed at the size of both the mandibles and the specimen as a whole.

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Other online sources:

https://bugguide.net/node/view/3105

Alypia octomaculata (Fabricius)

On By Erik OstrumIn Lepidoptera, NoctuidaeLeave a comment

This is a species that is always a treat to see. I was fortunate to see this species relatively often growing up and continues to bring me some sort of nostalgia every time I see one. The contrasting black and white coloration along with the orange legs makes this species a real beauty.

This species ranges throughout the eastern U.S with some scattered records in some western states. There are some other species that look similar so depending on the location you might need to double check to make sure you have this species. Though this is usually only true in the western and more northern parts of its range.

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Larvae can be found feeding on grape and Virginia Creeper. Adults are actually day flying as well and are often found taking nectar at various plants.Even though this species isn’t large by any means it is steal an eye popper and adds some color to the Noctuidae drawers. I have only a handful of specimens in the collection, all being from Wisconsin. I’m still on the hunt for some western specimens.

Other online sources:

https://bugguide.net/node/view/485

https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Alypia-octomaculata

Plectrodera scalator (Fabricius)

On By Erik OstrumIn Cerambycidae, ColeopteraLeave a comment

The first time I saw this species I was completely taken aback by the both the size and bold coloration. I was able to encounter quite a few while working in the wetlands of eastern Arkansas. Impressive just sitting there as well as flying.

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This is an unmistakable species marked in black and white coloration. This is a relatively widespread species commonly found in more wet areas where is can be found feeding on poplars, willows, and cottonwoods. There have been cases where this species has become a pest on the trees that its larvae feed on.

When people want to see some of my favorite species in the collection this species tray is always one of the ones I pull out and people are always in awe of them. I was able to collect a few specimens for the collection, all from Arkansas.

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Other online sources:

https://bugguide.net/node/view/7956

http://entoweb.okstate.edu/ddd/insects/cottonwoodborer.htm

Dissosteira carolina (Linnaeus)

On By Erik OstrumIn Acrididae, OrthopteraLeave a comment

This is a large common species found throughout much of the lower 48 states. This grasshopper always got my attention since I was a little kid every time I startled one. The black and yellow hind-wing is a startling thing to see when one is not expecting. What I also like about this species is the variety of colors individuals can be. I’ve seen colors from tan to brown to brick red.

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This is species is also quick to spit out a brown liquid in defense that can and will stain your fingers. One of the reasons this species is so widespread and common is because it can become quite abundant in disturbed areas and dirt roads, especially where there is bare ground which helps the grasshopper blend in.

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As you can see from this spread specimen, the black takes up much of the hind-wing. For the more entomology inclined, when in flight it can look quite similar to Nymphalis antiopa (Mourning Cloak butterfly), which also sports the black and yellow coloration on the wings.

Currently in the collection I have a large number of individuals from a number of different states. Both spread and non-spread specimens are present as well as multiple different colors.

Other online sources:

https://bugguide.net/node/view/14827

http://www.uwyo.edu/entomology/grasshoppers/dica.htm