Tag: insect

Longlegged fly.

This iridescent member of the Dolichopodidae family is only about 5mm long. With over 60 genera and 1300 North American species, that’s all the identification you’re going to get.

Don’t swat them if you see them in your garden – and you will. They prey on pest insects, especially aphids.

Please click photo for full view. 

Longlegged fly.

This iridescent member of the Dolichopodidae family is only about 5mm long. With over 60 genera and 1300 North American species, that’s all the identification you’re going to get.

Don’t swat them if you see them in your garden – and you will. They prey on pest insects, especially aphids.

Please click photo for full view. 

Dogbane beetle (Crysochus auratus) on hemp dogbane (Apocynum cannabinum), in the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, Suffolk, Virginia. This beetle is an obligate feeder on dogbane plants, relying on its roots during the larval phase, and feeding on its leaves as an adult. 

Etymology Note: The dogbane species name cannabinum refers to the hemp-like fibers produced by this plant. It is poisonous (to people, and presumably also to dogs), but it does not produce the cannabinoid compounds associated with true hemp, to which it is unrelated. Dogbane is sometimes also called Indian hemp; Native Americans used the plant to make twine and nets. 

Dogbane beetle (Crysochus auratus) on hemp dogbane (Apocynum cannabinum), in the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, Suffolk, Virginia. This beetle is an obligate feeder on dogbane plants, relying on its roots during the larval phase, and feeding on its leaves as an adult. 

Etymology Note: The dogbane species name cannabinum refers to the hemp-like fibers produced by this plant. It is poisonous (to people, and presumably also to dogs), but it does not produce the cannabinoid compounds associated with true hemp, to which it is unrelated. Dogbane is sometimes also called Indian hemp; Native Americans used the plant to make twine and nets. 

Blue dasher dragonfly (Pachydiplax longipennis ♂), in Portsmouth, Virginia.

This photo shows the dasher’s bum pointing straight up in what is called an obelisk posture. The behavior is thought to be a heat-regulating mechanism that reduces the surface area of the insect’s body exposed to direct sunlight.  . 

Blue dasher dragonfly (Pachydiplax longipennis ♂), in Portsmouth, Virginia.

This photo shows the dasher’s bum pointing straight up in what is called an obelisk posture. The behavior is thought to be a heat-regulating mechanism that reduces the surface area of the insect’s body exposed to direct sunlight.  .