Dog-day Cicada (15Sept2022)

IDed for me on iNaturalist as “Neotibicen davisi, the Davis’ southeastern dog-day cicada or southern dog-day cicada.” Songs of Insects says in Davis’ Southeastern Dog-day Cicada (Neotibicen davisi davisi) “An attractive small cicada with rich brown and green markings, the Davis’ Southeastern Dog-day Cicada may be heard singing in coastal plain forests from New Jersey …

Carolina Mantis (13Sept2022)

In “Mantids (Mantises),” the Missouri Department of Conservation writes: “Mantids frequent open, highly vegetated areas such as gardens, old fields and pastures, thickets, woodland borders, and other places where an abundance of plant types attract a wide variety of insects. Mantids, like ambush and assassin bugs, crab and jumping spiders, and robber flies, wait motionless …

Thread-waisted Sand Wasp (4Sept2022)

In “Common Thread-waisted Wasp (Ammophila procera),” they say on InsectIdentification: “The incredibly narrow ‘waist’ on this wasp led to its name. The glossy black wasp has a bulging abdomen with a red or orange band near the hair-thin waist. Long, skinny legs are black and allow the wasp to hold onto vegetation while it watches …

Common Eastern Velvet Ant (3Sept2022)

In “Dasymutilla occidentalis,” they say on Wikipedia: “Commonly mistaken for an ant, because of its appearance and its common name, it is a parasitoid wasp species in which the females are wingless, as is true for all females of Mutillidae. It can be recognized by its distinctive red coloring, with a black stripe that goes …

iNaturalist Observations

Get out. Observe. You’ll no doubt find some species that are not commonly seen. For contrast, as of this date, taking the top three observations: there have been 274,000 observations of Mallards; 219,000 observations of Honey Bees; 184,000 observations of Monarchs. You can get more numbers in the Observations page of iNaturalist (but click on …