With the conclusion of the winter season and gradually warming weather upon entering Spring Break, we decided to take a hike around the Cornell Campus and share some photos of the scenery. Today is the first day of Spring Break here at Cornell University, and the weather is getting better and better as we head into April and spring begins. We've probably seen the last of the frost until next winter, and lately there have been a sprinkle of decently warm days with a tease of sunshine. Since we finally have a break from school, we decided to take a hike around the natural areas on campus. We started at the Cascadilla Gorge Trail near our dorm and walked up to Central to get a view of libe slope. Then we crossed over to the Azalea Garden and made our way down to Beebe Lake. Though it doesn't look like many of the trees have begun to grow leaves yet, we can tell they are getting close based on the leaf buds coming in. Along the way, we also happened to come across some wildlife.... There were some Hymenopteran nests up high on the trees on Central Campus as well as the entrance of Beebe Lake. In addition, the fish at the Azalea Garden were surprisingly still doing very well after all these winter months. What was most interesting, however, was a Hyalophora cecropia cocoon fixed on a small tree at the entrance of Beebe right across the wild black cherry (Prunus serotina) tree we had sleeved some of our larvae last summer. Unfortunately, it was dead though, as there was a small hole on the side of it and it was clearly hollow when we felt it (not sure what killed it?). We assume it must have been an escapee from the larvae we sleeved last year, otherwise this would be the most bizarre coincidence to find a wild cocoon at this place. ![]() Alan Liang Alan Liang is a student at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York pursuing an undergraduate degree in entomology. He is co-owner and a main contributor of the Liang Insects blog and photographs.
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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 |