One of the most exciting aspects of visiting a new locale is experiencing new flora and fauna. For me, Pennsylvania has not been disappointing in that regard (or any others, for that matter).
Don’t get me wrong, Arizona is chock-full of cool stuff (did you know that every biome – except tropical forest – is represented in Arizona? Think of the biodiversity!), too, but I’ve lived there for most of my life. Scorpions, tarantulas and sun spiders are all old news by now! (Actually, that’s not true at all. I still get super excited any time I see any of those things.)
Anyway, I have seen and caught some super cool things since I’ve been out here that have single-handedly made this trip worth it.
First of all, the fireflies. However, I have written about these magical creatures before, so I will move on, I suppose. *Sigh*
Next, millipedes! I just adore millipedes. I think I have just always had a soft spot for any wormy-looking creepy crawly since my dad and I used to wake up early and go hunting for night crawlers… but I digress.
The millipedes here are fabulous.
The first time I saw N. americanus, I was suuuper excited. However, they were old news to everyone else, because they’re everywhere, as they told me. On our trip to Powdermill Nature Reserve, I found out that they were right. They are EVERYWHERE and I love it. (We do have large millipedes in the desert in Arizona, but they’re rarely seen, because they stay in burrows during the day.)
Micrathena gracilis.
The only other time I have seen a Micrathenid was in Saipan when we would run across these all the time in the jungle:
Next, Panorpids.
Aside from fireflies, I was really excited to get to come to the east coast and see some scorpionflies. They do not occur at all on the west coast, and what a shame! Since I have been here, I have seen two males and a female, and they were everything I had hoped they would be! Unfortunately, I have been unable to get a picture yet. I still have time, though…
Gotta love the Leps!
This is a species that we apparently have in Arizona, but I have never seen one. Either way, I was beyond excited when it came to the sheet when we went night-lighting a couple of weeks ago.
There were probably ten or so of these hummingbird clearwing moths flying around the pollinator garden at the visitors’ center at Powdermill. Sphingids are great as it is, but little tiny day-flying ones with tufts at the end of the abdomen are MAYBE even better. Maybe.
My favorite little baby Lep: Ernesto!!!!
I found Ernesto when we went to Andy’s house to collect a couple of weeks ago. He was just hanging out on the underside of a leaf.
Ernesto is a definite tussock moth, Orgyia definita. I brought him home in the hopes that he would pupate before I left Pennsylvania, but with only one week left here, I very seriously doubt that will happen.
Either way, I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with him, and I know that someday, with or without me, he will become a beautiful (if not slightly dull) imago.
Finally, the small headed fly that I caught.
I found this odd-looking fly sitting on the underside of a leaf. Unaware of what it was, I showed it to Andy, who told me that he has only caught one!
Apparently they’re quite rare. Many specimens that are in collections were collected when a spider that the larvae had parasitized is brought in from the field, and one of these little lovelies emerges. All known species of Acrocerids are spider parasitoids, which is why they are also called spider flies.
I was pretty proud of myself for this one.
I have seen so many other awesome things out here, but I simply do not have time to report on each each specific thing. Overall, Pennsylvania bugs have definitely lived up to and probably even exceeded my expectations.
Well played, PA. Well played.
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