Our third visit to this property in Rappahannock County, and there were still some new pockets of habitat to explore. It got pretty muggy and hot in the afternoon, and I slowed down, but I didn’t feel incapacitated like I did last year.
My top observations:
In a heretofore unexplored meadow, American Harlequin (Xanthogramma flavipes), a syrphid fly, and Riley’s Clearwing Moth (Synanthedon rileyana), both species sporting “don’t mess with me” yellow and black stripes. On a bit of wood in that same meadow, fruiting bodies of Physarum viride.
At the lights after dark, Carolina Pine Sawyer (Monochamus carolinensis), a longhorn beetle, Four-spotted Owlfly (Ululodes quadripunctatus), a nocturnal predator in the Neuroptera, and a very handsome tussock moth, Halysidota sp. I gotta invest in a field guide for moths.
I didn’t lose anything this time, but there was an hour and a half of panic when I realized I didn’t have my flip phone. Did I not pick it up from the charger in the morning? Yup, I did not.