Robber Fly in Kentucky

While tending to the watermelon plants in Hodgenville, Kentucky, I came across a robber fly (maybe Atomosia puella).  It had taken a grasshopper that was larger than itself and was having trouble flying.  I was able to take these pictures.

One can see more information about these at the University of Kentucky Entomology web site: http://www.uky.edu/Ag/CritterFiles/casefile/insects/flies/robber/robber.htm

This web site shows a number of robber fly pictures which helped determine the species of this insect: http://www.pbase.com/tmurray74/robber_flies_asilidae

Unfortunately, the watermelon crop is one of the worst I have seen in many growing seasons.

Tiger Moth

May Fly at Ohio River

May fly resting at the Ohio River front in Louisville, Kentucky (July 10, 2010).

Eastern Hercules Beetle

Pictures of a male Eastern Hercules beetle (Dynastes tityus) found in Larue County, Kentucky on July 31, 2010.  It was found dead on the black plastic of the garden in between two watermelon plants.  Possible it flipped over on its back at night and then died of exposure from the very hot days we have been having.  I am guessing the surface temperature of the black plastic gets to 120 degrees F during the day.

According to the University of Kentucky entomology web site, this is the largest beetle found in Kentucky.  It belongs to the scarab beetle family (Scarabaeidae).  It is also called Rhinoceros Beetle, Rhino Beetle, Unicorn Beetle, and Horned Beetle.  It is not a pest but eats decaying plants at night.  The protruding horns are only on the males and used to fight other males.  I wonder if the scratches on the front of this beetle are from some of those fights.

This beetle measures 50 mm (tip of horn to back of rear shell) and 23 mm at widest shell point.  I read the largest one reported found was 85 mm in length.

To Bee or Not A Bee

Here is a picture of either a Artogeia melete or Cabbage White Butterfly. I found pictures on the Internet that seem to match it but identified by these two names.

This insect appears to be some sort of wasp or hornet.
Maybe a small sweat bee resting on a double orange day lily.
Another picture of a Cabbage White Butterfly.

Bees in Action

This could be a honey bee. Bees are one of my favorite insects since they help pollinate crops I grow.
The black and yellow bees might be carpenter bees.


Maybe another honey bee.
This bee seems different than the others as it collects nectar and pollen of a purple cone flower.

All pictures taken at flower garden in Memphis, Indiana.

Colorful Insects in the Garden

This is a picture of an orange moth(?) sitting on a pumpkin leaf.

Another picture of the same orange insect perched on a pumpkin leaf.

A large greenish-orange beetle resting on a pumpkin leaf.

A small orange-black fly with iridescent wings parked on the leaf of a cantaloupe plant.
All pictures taken in a garden in Hodgenville, Kentucky.

Insects in the Garden

Unknown beetle sitting on pumpkin leaf.



Red ant traversing the yellow flower of a Charleston Gray watermelon plant.

A line of small ants traipsing across the yellow flower of a cantaloupe plant.


All pictures taken in a garden located in Hodgensville, Kentucky (Larue County).

Praying Mantis on Driveway

Small praying mantis crossing the driveway.

Predation of Cicadas

After seeing so many cicadas appear over the last few weeks I was wondering if they had any predators since they only show up every 17 years or so. At first I did not see any evidence of anything attacking them but ants removing their dead bodies.

This week now that they have pretty much disappeared I have seen a small number of instances of them being eaten by other creatures.

Here is the only picture I caught of it happening in the act. A black jumping spider has captured one. I assumed it was alive when it was caught since it eyes are still red. The cicadas eyes turn dark once they are dead.



From a distance, I saw a red cardinal bird pecking at cicada. Later when I got my camera and investigated I found it was not completely dead but most of its abdomen was gone.


Here is an example of ants removing the pieces of cicada. Every so often I would see that the ants were taking apart a live cicada but only rarely.


The oddest encounter was a chipmunk that ran up to the porch and then picked up a dead cicada and started to eat parts of it or at least take it apart. I guess chipmunks can be carnivores.


Here is another cicada that the same cardinal mentioned earlier decided to eat part of.


Last, this cicada became victim to the air conditioner compressor.

Dead Cicadas

The cicadas die pretty fast after mating and laying their eggs. So here are two pictures of dead ones.

The ants start cleaning up their bodies pretty quickly from what I observed.

The cicada is a pretty tough insect though. None of my pictures turned out but I saw a cicada where the ants had removed its rear abdomen but it was still moving around with ants clinging to it. In its case, I would have hoped for a quicker death.

Cicadas in Tree

Here are some pictures of cicadas on the front tree. I always thought they only went to specific trees but maybe they like Bradford Pears now.

Cicada

A group have cicadas have emerged from their 17 year development phase and are laying eggs and making noise.

They have taken a liking too our Bradford Pear tree and some have landed on our front porch. Here are some pictures.