A Field Guide to the North Side of Old Mill Hill, Atlantic Mine, MI
Posts tagged ‘found in house’
Here’s one that probably everybody in North America has at least heard, if not seen: field crickets. I recorded this sound clip on June 17, which was when the spring field crickets (Gryllus veletis) started singing[1].
Chirp of Spring Field Cricket (.wav file)
Sam found this one under her crib on May 27. It’s a rather striking gold-colored beetle with intricate tracery on the wing covers.
This is certainly one of the Calligrapha leaf beetles[1]. Based on the dark green pronotum (the plate between the head and the wing covers), it looks like it is related to Calligrapha alni, the Russet Alder Leaf Beetle. I’m not so sure it is that exact species, though. While the pattern on the wing covers is very close, the examples in Bug Guide show more of a rusty coloration, and a bit less gold.
While cleaning up some stuff in the basement, out of the corner of my eye I spotted something bounding up in the air. And by “bounding”, I mean getting up about two feet off the floor. So I went to investigate, and found this:
Back in November, I posted pictures of a male crab spider, today we have some pictures of a female, for contrast. She probably isn’t exactly the same species, but she’s fairly close.
This wasp was on the window in the entryway last fall, and sadly, it died when I put it in the refrigerator to cool it down for photography.
It appears to be some type of Ichneumon wasp, based on the fact that (a) it looks wasp-like, and (b) its hind trochanter[1] is divided into 2 segments (the next picture is a close-up of the point where the hind leg meets the body).
Continue reading ‘Ichneumon Wasp and the Extended Depth of Field’ »
I’d like to say right now that, if you want to get pictures of all the bugs in your house, you really can’t beat having a 2-3 year old child helping you find them. Sam found this spider on the rug just a couple of weeks ago (in January)[*], and brought it to me alive and undamaged. It even has all of its legs for once!
There are no uninteresting insects, only insects that are insufficiently magnified
S_ found this little larva while cleaning out a cupboard. It was in the back of the shelf, happily chowing down on a dead ant.
This is a species of spider that has successfully colonized the dark corners of our house: so far S_ found me three specimens to photograph in December and January (two females and a male). I could tell that one of them was male because he had enormously swollen pedipalps, which I understand means he was ready to mate. He was within a few inches of one of the females, so we suspect that he was courting her when he was caught.
When I found this beetle crawling across the floor in the basement, I knew what it was right away:
It’s a darkling beetle, Tenebrio molitor.
This crab spider was on the kitchen counter on July 5[1], strolling along just as bold as you please.
It appears to be a male goldenrod crab spider, Misumena vatia.