Onosmodium Insects

The larvae I was monitoring in the False Gromwell flowers have disappeared.  This doesn’t surprise me, because it is the normal conclusion whenever I try to follow caterpillar development in the wild.  Larvae often move to new parts of the plant as they grow and some even move to new plants, so there’s a chance they are alive and well in a different location.  They may have represented some small species and have already pupated.  I suspect they may have been eaten.  If I was able to find them, they should have been easy to discover by some caterpillar predator.

Those larvae may be gone, but something has deposited a bunch of new eggs in the flower whorls.  Maybe these are from the Onosmodium moth I’ve been looking for.

The Onosmodium plants are performing exceptionally well this year.  Many may top four feet once their flower stalks have completely extended.  While searching for my missing larvae, I took the time to examine a few other residents of the Onosmodium plant.

Some insects are found on a plant because of developmental requirements that can only be satisfied by a particular plant species.  Other insects are there just because the plant is a convenient resting place.  The host plant for this Elegant Grass-Veneer moth is grass, which is found in abundance in the prairie areas in which the Onosmodium grows.  To be fair, I have to admit that these moths were so abundant that they were probably resting on every plant in the area.  I couldn’t move without causing a few to take flight.

Small, black beetles were on all of the Onosmodium plants.  Most were doing like this fellow and struggling to negotiate the hairy stalks. 

Fireflies are another insect that just use the plant as a convenient resting structure.  Here is a Photinus species displaying one of the more comical insect faces.  This is a common species responsible for much of the low level flashing seen on summer evenings.

Bumblebees are common visitors to Onosmodium flowers.  Most were carrying impressive masses of pollen.  I often see bumblebees spend the night on nectar plants, so I’m not sure how often they actually return to the nest or how long it has taken to accumulate all of that pollen.

Southern Cloudy Wings were frequent visitors to the Onosmodium flowers.  Most nectar gathering insects tend to concentrate on a single plant species that offers an abundance of flowers.  When blooms fade on that plant species, the insect will begin visiting the next most abundant nectar source.  This habit benefits the plant by increasing the odds that flower visitors will be carrying the right pollen for that plant. The Southern Cloudy Wings consistently passed by other nectar producing species in order to reach the next patch of Onosmodium.

I found many insects in early developmental stages.  The best I could do in identifying this fellow was to determine it to be some type of Hemiptera that is not an aphid.  It was fairly fast moving and continued to evade my observation.

Small flies were particularly abundant on the Onosmodium.  This Rivellia species systematically traveled the plant leaf-by-leaf until I inadvertently scared it off.  It rarely paused and I have no idea what the object of the search may have been.

These two flies were doing a dance on the flower’s exerted style.  One fly would shift its body to one side and the other would match the maneuver.  The body shifts continued for a while and then one fly took off.  As with so many things I observe, I can’t explain the why behind the behavior, but that doesn’t make it any less fun to watch.

Indian Hemp Insects

Indian Hemp, Apocynum cannabinum, is just beginning to bloom.  This plant is one of the first stops for newly emerged Edwards’ Hairstreak butterflies, so I hung around the patch for a few minutes to see if any butterflies were active.  No butterflies yet, but there were plenty of other interesting insects.

The most numerous species was a firefly.  I believe this is Pyropyga decipiens.  This is not one of those species that blinks through the air on warm summer evenings.  Its light producing capacity is more subdued.

I don’t know much of the life history of this species, but this posture must be significant.  Most of the specimens I saw were assuming this same position.

This might be some sort of mating display.  These shots were taken about half an hour before sundown, so this might be a way of exposing its light signal to potential mates.

A Click Beetle had itself wedged between leaf and stalk.  Not a very effective camouflage, but these beetles are pretty well protected from most small predators.

Several brown leafhoppers rested on the stems, although none of them appeared to be feeding.  Leafhopper identification can be a challenge.  There are a staggering number of species along with a bunch of newly discovered species awaiting names and others waiting to be described.  It’s also possible that some of the colorful common species have look-alikes that cannot be separated without strong magnification of hard to find parts.

As the flowers open to attract insect pollinators, predators gather to take their share of the visitors.  Hidden among the flower buds, a small spider is feeding on a fly not much smaller than itself.

Ambush Bugs are already mature and ready to tackle the larger insects coming in for nectar.

Several Soldier Beetles, Chauliognathus marginatus, were moving among the plants.  Adults of this species feed primarily on pollen and nectar.  This one seems to be living up to its name by issuing commands to the rest of the troops.

When you see leaves stuck together, it usually means that there is something living inside.

The leaves were stuck together by webbing created by this larva.  Most of the feeding activity was directed toward the new growth trapped between the two leaves.  I’m not sure what the larva will look like in its adult form.

I try not to be too disruptive in my investigations, so I used a make shift clothes pin to reclose the leaves.  The larva will most likely relocate as a result of this disturbance, but at least I didn’t leave it exposed to the next hungry bird that flew by.