I struck out looking for the Fork-tailed Flycatcher but my consolation prize ...
... my second grasshopper of the week I can't ID. Note to Bob ........ really try to get a dorsal view image along with the lateral view; it might make ID a lot easier, don't you think? 7/31 ... after looking at my new field guide, I am calling this an Orangewinged Grasshopper and hope to get it positively ID'd by Bugguide.net.
Right below where the Fork-tailed Flycatcher was seen by others recently, this teeny thing appeared. I assumed it was a moth but after looking at the images, I see an orange club on the antenna, a mark of a butterfly. Like the Coffee-loving Pyrausta Moth you see posted above, the wingspan here is also about the diameter of a dime. I'll get the ID from some friends who know these well. UPDATE: Randy Snyder ID'd this as a Southern Skipperling.
26 July 2013, Lake Apopka Bike Trail
Another first? This teeny tiny moth was fluttering near a dragonfly I was studying on the Lake Apopka Bike Trail. When I searched the field guides and checked Orange County's checklist it did not show this species in Orange County.
CLICK ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE, "X" to go back in upper right.
Pyrausta tyralis. It's common name is the Coffee-loving Pyrausta Moth. I submitted the sighting to Butterflies and Moths of North America and I am hoping they confirm it as the first record for Orange County for their records. The wingspan is probably no more than the diameter of a dime. UPDATE 7/30. It was confirmed as the 67th moth species for Orange County, FL.
How many faces can you see in this spider? Besides the scary looking ones at the bottom, check out the orange face that looks like a kitten face or maybe an owl cartoon drawing. I thought this was a Golden Silk Orbweaver but it is missing those black bristle tuffs on its legs. I'm sure there is an explanation and I'll find it.
I saw a lot of American Bird Grasshoppers and two species I could not ID, this being one of them. I hope my handy dandy field guide for grasshoppers that will arrive next week will bail me out. 7/31 ... after looking at my just arrived field guide, I am going to say this is a Clippedwing Grasshopper. I am submitting it to Bugguide.net and I will see what they ID it as.
Our state butterfly, the Zebra.
Always one of my favorites, the White Peacock. The fuzzy white hair in the center is cool.
When you take your kids for a walk, try to get them to describe the colors and patterns they see on butterflies, grasshoppers and birds. Get them a field guide and you may be surprised that they might look forward to going out on the trails. Kids love a challenge. Inexpensive point-and-shoot cameras now have amazing quality. Turn your kids on to nature.
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