Red-banded Hairstreak (Calycopis cecrops)

There's something truly special about spotting a red-banded hairstreak (Calycopis cecrops). This beautiful Blue butterfly, native to the southeastern United States, is a member of the hairstreak (Theclinae) subfamily and is known for its incredibly fast flight.

While they may not be the most common sight, the thrill of encountering one makes the search worthwhile. Their quick, darting movements are a challenge to follow, but when you do catch a glimpse, the sight is simply stunning. The brilliant flash of red against their wings is a memorable sight, a brief but beautiful encounter with a true jewel of our natural world. I feel so lucky to have seen one right outside my apartment.

Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus)

The Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) is a common resident throughout the Eastern United States and one of the most frequent encounters here in Gainesville, Florida. Though you can hear them all the time, getting a good look and a clear picture is always challenging.

These fascinating birds belong to the Wren family (Troglodytidae), which comprises about a hundred species, mostly found in the New World. Most wrens are visually inconspicuous, though they are renowned for their loud and often complex songs.

Today, I had a particularly engaging encounter. If you've ever watched a Carolina Wren, you know they are incredibly vocal, active, and acrobatic birds, whether they're flitting along the ground or darting up tree trunks. Their agile nature makes them notoriously difficult to photograph in action, but today, I decided to take on the challenge. I followed a flock of them, hoping to capture some of their fascinating movements.

A fun fact about Carolina Wren: It is the state bird of South Carolina and is also featured on the South Caroline State Quarter coin in year 2000.

Reakirt's Blue (Echinargus isola)

Reakirt's Blue (Echinargus isola) is a small butterfly that can be found fluttering gracefully in various regions across North America. It belongs to the monotypic genus Echinargus belonging to the Lycaenidae family of butterflies. Its mesmerizing wings span just under an inch, adorned with a delicate blue hue that captures the essence of tranquility. Despite its unassuming size, this species possesses an undeniable charm that draws the attention of nature enthusiasts and researchers alike.

Reakirt's Blue is native to the western parts of the United States all the way to Nicaragua, primarily dwelling in open grasslands, meadows, and prairies. I met this butterfly in California for the first time feeding on the flowers of White Trailing Iceplant (Delosperma litorale).

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Zebra Blue Butterflies (Leptotes)

Genus Leptotes in the butterfly family Licaenidae is group of species with intricate patterns on their underwings. Linnaeus encountered this genus and described as Papilio pirithous in 1767 in his Systema naturae. Later Scudder grouped two American species into genus Leptotes. Worldwide there are now about 25 species in this genus, distributed mainly in Afro-tropical and Neo-tropical regions, but the lone Indo-Australian species placement is a bit uncertain.

So far I met four species of these group. The first one is obviously the Indo-Australian species: Leptotes plinius or the Zebra Blue. This was in India, however it has a very wide distribution. I have interacted with this butterfly numerous times.   

Second species of the group that I have met is Leptotes cassius or the Cassius Blue. This species is distributed in Florida and Texas all the way down to South America. This butterfly can be seen around Plumbago or few other Fabaceae plants. 

The third species is Leptotes pirithous or the Lang's Short-tailed Blue, who I met in Haifa, Israel. When I saw both these species in Florida and Israel, I thought, "Oh the Indian species is here too," but then I found out that they are all actually different species which look very similar.

The fourth one I met recently in California. This is the Marine Blue (Leptotes marina) which is distributed more on western USA and Mexico. 

Sexual Cannibalism in Praying Mantises

Insect world continues to fascinate us with the diversity in all aspects. Insects have amazing adaptability, strength in comparison to body size, ability for metamorphosis, and so on.

Praying mantis are one cool and photogenic group due to their eyes, face posture and forearms. I love watching them and can spend a lot of time just looking at their movement or feeding style.

While walking casually between two university buildings, I noticed some insect in the grass. From a distance I thought it was a grasshopper or Katydid. But I decided to take a closer look. It was a Praying Mantis. 

But it looked a little different. I then realized it was not single insect but was a mating pair. But then the male looked weird. It took some time for me to realize that the head of the male was missing.

I immediately remembered reading about sexual cannibalism in mantises. But I was thinking it happens after the mating is complete. The females many times catches and eats the males. There are different theories about this. In most predatory species this is observed. It is a very high percentage in captivity but is known to occur in the wild in about a fourth of times. 

I never thought that I would get to see such an event in wild myself. Most interesting thing was the mating was still in progress even though the male was headless. And half an hour that I observed the male was still in the same position and the female was not attempting to attach further. 

Update:  It is a Carolina Mantis (Stagmomantis carolina) in Mantids Family (Mantidae) thanks to Kris Anderson (Author of: “Praying Mantises of the United States and Canada” ISBN# 978-1717825735 Second Edition) for confirmation of the identification.

I also got some really informative notes from Kris:

"It appears to give the female a boost of energy needed in order to properly produce eggs. The males are aware of this, and there have been tales from the mantis-keeping community of males cutting off their own heads and offering it to the female before mating. It's also the reason why mating takes so long. Insemination of the female only takes about 15 or 20 minutes, but males are scared to get off, so they often stay attached for several hours, even days.

Bear in mind that cannibalism during mating is a species-specific behavior. Many (most) Mantodea species do not engage in this practice at all. For those that do, the behavior generally occurs <25% of the time and almost always involves a nutritionally starved female. The duration of copulation itself is also a species-specific endeavor, as is courtship. There are multitudes of variations and combinations with courtships, copulation, and cannibalism with the absence or presence of each behavior among the myriad species for various evolutionary benefits. Regarding the species photographed, Stagmomantis carolina:

Females readily mate 1-3 days after their final molt. Males demonstrate interest in mating 1-5 days after their final molt. Mature males will visually track receptive females for a few seconds to several minutes before rapidly pouncing upon them, which may evoke aggression from the female. Rarely will males stalk the female for an hour or more. Males typically mount the female from behind and may remain clinging to her for several hours before copulating. Occasionally, males will temporarily invert their position while initially mounting atop the female to seemingly examine the female’s genitalia. They will then right themselves and continue clinging onto her body or initiate copulation. Mating generally lasts for 6-8 hours but occasionally spans 1-2 days. Multiple males may mount a female simultaneously but only one can engage in copulation. Cannibalism during mating occasionally occurs with most well fed females showing no aggression throughout the process. Surviving males will typically slough off the female after copulation and feign death for several minutes or simply fly away. Males may also remain mounted to the female after copulation has been discontinued, which further endangers them to cannibalism regardless of the female’s appetite. Both sexes may mate multiple times with the same partner or with different conspecifics. Rarely, males will mount other males and may attempt to copulate. Males have also been noted to mount immature females and demonstrate no impairment in mating behavior with their antennae removed, suggesting that visual cues alone, not necessarily pheromones, are highly influential toward locating females. Males that survive copulation die naturally approximately 1-3 days later. Unmated males will usually perish approximately 1 month after final molt regardless."

and Tyler Christensen:

"Very cool observation! This behavior is probably to help increase the fecundity of the female, but the male is usually not self sacrificial (unlike some Lactrodectus species). It appears to be related to the number of potential mates a male can have. If a male can have multiple mates, it’s better to try and survive a mating attempt than to submit to sexual cannibalism. However, this can change depending on how many mate encounters a male has. The fewer mates encountered, the more risks a male will make when mating."

References:

• iNatrualist record
• iNaturalist blog

Skiff Moth (Prolimacodes badia)

The skiff moth (Prolimacodes badia), is a moth of the Limacodidae family. It is found in Americas from Southern Canada, USA all the way up to Costa Rica and Beliz. In North America, it reaches west to southern Ontario, Missouri, Arkansas and Mississippi.

The larvae feed on the leaves of a wide variety of trees and shrubs, including birch, blueberry, cherry, chestnut, oak, poplar, willow and even poison ivy.

Specific name badia comes from the Latin "badius" (reddish-brown or bay-colored); probably refers to the color of the patches on the forewing, and skiff perhaps from the resemblance of the caterpillar to one of those small boats.

References:

• Prolimacodes badia (Wikipedia)
• Bug Guide
• Moth Photographers Group

Phaon Crescent (Phyciodes phaon)

Phaon crescent (Phyciodes phaon)  or mat plant crescent, is a species of butterfly of the family Nymphalidae, found in Florida, neighboring states, west to New Mexico and south to Cuba and the Cayman Islands where is it known as the crescent spot. Typically encountered in early spring to late fall in most of the range, and all round the year in peninsular Florida.

Genus Phyciodes commonly called as Crescents or Crescent spots, has more than 10 species mainly in North Americas.




























References:

• Phyciodes (Wikipedia)
• Phyciodes phaon (Wikipedia)
• Record on iNaturalist

Poey's Furrow Bee (Halictus poeyi)

Poey's Furrow Bee (Halictus poeyi) is member of family Halictidae, commonly called as sweat bees, halictid bees. Halictids display the most diverse gradation in social behavior (Michener 2007) as species can be solitary, communal, semi-social or eusocial.

Most species are polylectic, or gather floral resources from multiple plant species. There are a few oligolectic species and subgenera that feed from a single plant family.  Adult halictids eat nectar, and collect nectar and pollen for the larvae.

References

• Halictid Bees (Featured Creature)
• Halictidae on Wikipedia
• Michener CD. 2007. pp. 6-11, 23-29, 57-58, 319-412. The Bees of the World, 2nd Edition. The John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD. 952 pp.

Ceraunus Blue (Hemiargus ceraunus)

Ceraunus blue (Hemiargus ceraunus) is a butterfly in the Lycaenidae family. It is found in the southwestern United States, southern Texas, Florida.

Like most Lycaenidae members, the upperside of the males is light blue with a darker narrow border. Female are dark brown, often with blue wing bases.

The larvae feed on the flowers and seedpods of various woody legumes like Cassia and Abrus. Adults feed on flower nectar.

Lyre-leaf Sage (Salvia lyrata)

Lyreleaf sage, Wild Sage, Cancer-weed (Salvia lyrata), is a herbaceous perennial in the family Lamiaceae that is native to the United States, distributed from Connecticut west to Missouri, and in the south from Florida west to Texas.

It was described and named by Carl Linnaeus in 1753.

Typically found roadside and in open fields. Though it flowers almost whole year, profuse flowering is seen during April to June. Sometimes grown in gardens though it can quickly become weed. Native Americans used tea of whole plants for cough and cold. Common name Cancer-weed is due to misconception of the plant being used for cancer treatment.


















References:

• Salvia lyrata (Wikipedia)
• iNaturalist records 10605303, 10602632, 10602462