On a punishingly hot and muggy July day, we returned to a property that we had biolblitzed last summer. I was able to last about 90 minutes out in the gardens and meadow, and about an hour down where the Rush River joins the Thornton, but then I had to crash on our hosts’ porch. I was sucking wind just climbing a small rise.
In the garden, I documented my first Snowberry Clearwing (Hemaris diffinis). I tried to expand my horizons by looking for leaf miners.
At the rivers, iNaturalist honcho Carrie Seltzer and I found several species of myxomycetes, including the critter that acts like a puffball mushroom, Wolf’s Milk (Lycogala epidendrum). I got a look at a Rappahannock Darter (Etheostoma vexillare) (a Rapp endemic of cool, clean waters) before the rest of the team charged upstream—I just don’t have the footing to follow.
After dinner, activity at the lighted sheets was great. Our big charismatic beetle, Broad-necked Root Borer (Prionus laticollis), settled in at Jeff and Izabella’s setup and stayed all evening. The Scarlet-winged Lichen Moth (Hypoprepia miniata) was shockingly beautiful.
This is National Moth Week. I’m cogitating on getting my own setup for my cubby-hole of a back yard.