July 15 and I’m still in the same place, Slim Buttes, Custer National Forest, Harding County, South Dakota, USA, Earth. I still haven’t had a good night for astrophotography. Today smoke from the Canadian forest fires rolled in, it is not helping. There isn’t much new here. I went into Buffalo this morning for groceries, water, gas and ice. On the highway I saw lots of Chestnut-collared Longspurs that I haven’t seen before. A few nights back, a series of thunderstorms came through, the second storm started dropping hail, some were up to 2 inches diameter. No damage here though, but a lot of rain.
A Rock Wren that has just captured a grasshopper. I watched it dismantle the insect and eat it. Wildflowers are still abundant. The Purple Coneflower is about done but the Wild Bergamot (Horsemint) is coming on strong now. This photo is of Upright Prairie Coneflower, Ratibida columnifera. I put in another night with the blacklight. This is Harris’ Three-Spot, Harrisimemna trisignata. It is a very distinctive moth, nothing to be confused with it. The larvae feed on various woody plants, including wild raisin, winterberry, bush honeysuckle, black willow, white ash and apple, none of which I have seen in the Slim Buttes. This is a more eastern species and will be a first SD record for BugGuide when I get it entered. Also a first SD record for iNaturalist. American Bird’s-Wing Moth, Dypterygia rozmani. Larval food is various docks and smartweed. Another nocturnal species of burying beetle, Nicrophorus pustulatus. It is the only species in the genus Nicrophorus that is known to raise its young on food sources other than carrion. The beetle is known to utilize snake eggs to raise the young. Also reported to be a brood parasite of other Nicrophorus species. Like most burying beetles, this one is carrying a load of phoretic mites. Phoresis by mites serves only as a means of transportation, in this case to a food source, carrion.
One reply on “Mid-July Update”
You’re seeing lots of interesting sights. That tanager is well hidden.
One reply on “Mid-July Update”
You’re seeing lots of interesting sights. That tanager is well hidden.