 We went hiking at Beebe Lake in Ithaca, New York for the first time and found a handful of species we had never encountered before. It's been a few days since we posted anything because we have been so busy moving in to our new home in Ithaca, New York. And because we haven't had any insects on us. Today we finally got the chance to go out and get our feet wet again. Cornell University is a huge place known for its natural beauty; there are plenty of natural areas to explore. The first place we went was Beebe Lake, which is the closest place to our dorm. There is a trail that circles the lake covered in trees and wild flower nectar plants. The first things that we photographed were least skippers (Ancyloxypha numitor) which is eerily similar yet completely different that any of the grass skippers we had back in California. The least skippers are very small with long and skinny bodies, which is the complete opposite of the extremely heavyset Californian skippers. This seems to be a common trend when comparing the butterflies of the two regions. We saw at least three of the least skippers circling a patch of wild grass that were most likely females or males looking to court females. We expected there to be eggs, but did not find any; instead, we discovered a first instar larva rolled up in a nest. The way that the nest was fashioned (a few separate white strands going from one side of the blade to the other) and the appearance of the larva is all very similar to the umber skippers (Poanes melane) that we have reared in the past. Although less common than the skippers, we did come across a few hairstreaks, including this eastern-tailed blue (Cupido comyntas). At least that's what we think it is. Another common skipper we found was the silver-spotted (Epargyreus clarus). These things are huge--much larger than any skipper we have ever seen—and quite attractive. The larvae also look amazing and feed on locusts, such as the black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) that is everywhere on campus. We hope to find some one day. Right next to the skipper above, we found a duo of mating hoppers. We believe they are red-legged grasshoppers (Melanoplus femurrubrum), which makes them in the same (huge orthopteran) genus as the devastators (Melanoplus devastator) that we had back in California. The trail actually seems to be thoroughly invested with these grasshoppers and other orthoperans (we hear a ton of chirping in the night and throughout the day). There are some large grey ones that are extremely strong flyers. Their wings are black with white margins when spread. They should be the Carolina grasshopper (Dissosteira carolina). When we made it half way through the trail and decided to head backwards, we found a young tussock moth larva that must of had fallen from a nearby tree. We took a guess and put it on a black walnut (Juglans nigra). We believe the larva could be the white-marked tussock (Orgyia leucostigma), also placing it in the same genus to the species we had in California (western tussock [Orgyia vetusta]).  Authors
Brian Liang
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Timeline 2017–present
Ithaca, New York This timeline is a series of daily posts recording our observations and experiences with various insects (primarily Lepidoptera) around the Cornell University campus in Ithaca, New York, starting from the time we moved here in 2017. As this is a personal blog, we try to keep collections/rearings for university research and course work to a minimum, and mainly focus on just the species we catch and raise for our own fun and interest. Posts prior to this time can be viewed at Timeline 2012-2017: Albany, California, though there is occasionally some crossover when we have returned home during breaks or reared stock derived from home (see Albany, California Updates). Archives (232)
July 2020 (1) August 2019 (2) July 2019 (35) June 2019 (46) May 2019 (20) March 2019 (1) January 2019 (1) November 2018* October 2018* September 2018 (1)* August 2018 (9)* July 2018 (11)* June 2018 (22*) May 2018 (18)* April 2018 (2)* January 2018 (6) December 2017 (5) November 2017 (1) October 2017 (5) September 2017 (26) August 2017 (19) *Currently, a significant portion of 2018 posts are missing. The notes/photos for this time period are saved on our personal files but the posts were never built due to a busy schedule that year. We are still actively building these posts when we have the time. Authors
Full Species List
(Alphabetical by scientific name) Note: - Not every species we encounter is necessarily presented on this site, rather a selection of those that were of particular interest to us and that we felt were worth documenting. - We can't guarantee that all species have been identified accurately, particularly taxa we are not as familiar with. Lepidoptera Actias luna Agraulis vanillae Allancastria cerisyi Amphion floridensis Ancyloxypha numintor Antheraea polyphemus Battus philenor hirsuta Callosamia promethea Colias eurytheme Citheronia regalis Cupido comyntas Danaus plexippus Darapsa myron Diadema inscriptum Epargyreus clarus Erynnis baptisiae Estigmene acrea Euchaetes egle Eumorpha pandorus Hemaris diffinis Hyalophora cecropia Limenitis archippus Liminitis arthemis arthemis Limenitis arthemis astyanax Manduca sexta Orgyia leucostigma Pachysphinx modesta Paonias myops Papilio cresphontes Papilio eurymedon Papilio glaucus Papilio polyxenes asterius Papilio rutulus Papilio troilus Papilio zelicaon Pyrgus communis Samia ricini Smerinthus ophthalmica Speyeria cybele Sphecodina abbottii Vanessa atalanta Vanessa cardui Vanessa virginiensis Lepidoptera Hybrids Papilio polyxenes asterius × Papilio zelicaon Orthoptera Conocephalus sp. Dissosteira carolina Melanoplus femurrubrum Neoconocephalus ensiger Neoxabea bipunctata Phasmatodea Carausius morosus Diapheromera femorata Mantodea Mantis religiosa Albany, California Updates |
