This was one of the nice discoveries on the first day of March; first for the yard. I keep photographing Eupithecia's in hopes of uncovering something different and it finally worked. This is Bolter's Pug Moth which ranges from AZ east to Central Texas. MPG at present does not show any Texas records:
http://mothphotographersgroup.msstate.edu/species.php?hodges=7500
The species is sparsely recorded in Texas but has been documented as far east as Waco (McClennan Co.). This appears to be a 2nd Travis County record, just a few days after the first one was uploaded to BG: http://bugguide.net/node/view/1343373
The first image is a marked-up version to illustrate key points for identifying this species (based on McDunnough's 1949 monograph and a more recent article by Blanchard & Knudson (1985)*).
Pale unmarked buff/gray areas flanking the discal spot; also the inner 2/3 of HW similarly unmarked (more so than most other Eupithecia).
The black inverted "Y" or 3-bladed "propeller" on the thorax seems to be diagnostic for this species, at least among CenTex Eupithecia's.
These ID notes have been added to the BG species page here:
http://bugguide.net/node/view/1043092
This was attracted to a UV light at night.
This was attracted to a UV light at night.
Leon Creek North Hausman Rd Area
This was a strangely fortunate accident. This small adult male bagworm moth emerged from one of the cases that I had collected a few weeks ago:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/78107299
I don't know which one; I had thrown them all into a single baggy and had assumed that they were all from a previous year and thus unoccupied. This moth probably emerged on/about May 19.
The grid behind the moth is made up of 5 mm squares, so the FW length of this moth is pretty close to 7.5 mm. This moth must have struggled mightly to get out of the baggy because it is lacking 90% of its scales on the wings and body. However, it offers one fortuitous advantage: The wing venation is fairly clearly visible on the FWs in several of my images, including the first two pics here. This allowed me to compare this moth with illustrations in Davis's exhaustive monograph on the family published as a Bulletin of the U.S. National Museum in 1964. The venation of this moth is a good match to the genus Astala as illustrated by Davis (p. 196, Fig. 160) and different from that of Cryptothelea (Fig. 156). I had previously thought all of my small blackish bagworms were Cryptothelea gloverii. With the present example, along with the array of cases shown in the recent observation (which resemble those of Astala in Davis's monograph), and measurements I have made of several of these adults, I can now confidently assign ALL of these to the genus Astala. Two species are widespread in Texas: Astala confederata and A. edwardsi. The first of these is slightly smaller and perhaps more widespread and is a likely candidate for the present moth but details separating the two species require microscopic examination of scales on the wings.
I'm happy to have a proper generic placement for all these small bagworm moths from Salton Drive. To reiterate: The small bags which I documented in the above observation are the ONLY type of bagworm cases that I've seen on the property, and the small blackish adults are the ONLY adults of this general type that I have ever documented at the location. I feel comfortable correlated the two, especially after the emergence of this adult.
A micro moth that I haven't seen before. It seems distinct enough that I might have a shot at identifying it.
This was collected in a sweep net. Each tick mark is 1mm.
This specimen is preserved in isopropyl alcohol.
This specimen came from a sweep net survey.
At least one of the images is on a blue grid paper (1mm spacing) or with a mm ruler.
This specimen came from a sweep net survey.
At least one of the images is on a blue grid paper (1mm spacing) or with a mm ruler.
I found this in my professors pond sample during lab. It was long and green with a circular ball in the middle.
Organism was found at Gilleland Creek Trail on February 9 2020
Weather was overcast and had just rained
This plant was located on a patch of dirt not occupied by grass
Didn't really move until I got about 7in away, was hesitant to move and seemed as though it used its legs to guide itself
I found about 5 of these in the sample I took from my families tank. It was swimming around at a medium pace.
The soil was rich around the area surrounf this plant. The leaves were spread open and the color seemed to attract insects.
This was collected in a sweep net. Each tick mark is 1mm.
This specimen is preserved in isopropyl alcohol.
Diptera
Rimrock Trail
Balcones Canyonlands NWR
Burnet, Co
4/29/19
Growing from soil under mulch. Disturbed area under poplar tree in front yard of country home. Recent heavy rains and humid conditions.
These came by my office window. I thought they were called Mexican eagles but I might be wrong.
A beautiful bird in its natural environment on a tree at Frontera Audubon in South Texas on Thursday, October 9, 2014 at 3:45 pm. The small bird has a brownish body with very distinctive bright yellow markings on its face and body. What is the purpose of its coloring?
Bird ran into the screen door and was stunned, allowing for really close photos(:
Striped tail, caught off the shore on Galveston. My father has grown up fishing in Galveston and has never seen this kind of fish before. Please help with an ID.
Was found right next to a road. We were driving through a forest.
I found this at the UT turtle pond. There was lots of sunlight.
Last photo shows the rattle. Counted 8.