I’ve been to this bit of the C&O Canal at least once before back when I was starting to learn plants, probably more. Wednesday it was very quiet: I think we’re far enough upriver to be out of the flight paths for DCA. Sassafras showing fall reds and yellows, some lingering asters like Symphyotrichum cordifolium. I found an ichneumonid wasp, tentatively Coleocentrus rufus, and an oil beetle, Meloe sp. J. D. Pinto in BugGuide says, “It is difficult to distinguish females of Meloe americanus from M. impressus without examining pygidial structure (americanus females have a narrow apical flange).” (link added)
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theater, natural history and conservation, the utterly mundane, and Etruscan 8-tracks