Expecting this to develop into an Anemone edwardsiana.
Green and black at rock.
Observation set: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?verifiable=any&place_id=any&field:Similar%20observation%20set=145517995
I wanted to practice with the zoom capabilities of my iPhone 14 and a new Xenvo magnifier. I tested them out on some Texas Snakeweed/Broomweed from the neighborhood, a species which is keyed out based on fine characteristics of the achenes and pappus.
The first two (or three?) images were taken with the iPhone at max (5X) zoom. The remaining images of the flowers and achenes were taken with a Clarus 15X Macro attachment (from Xenvo) positioned over the iPhone macro lens. I have annotated a few of the latter images to show characters that are useful in a key in the Flora of North Central Texas for separating species of Gutierrezia. The plants were obtained at the location of the pin on Q Ranch Road; they were photographed under artificial light at home. (I was so intent on documenting the flowers that I forgot to obtain images of the whole plant! Anyway, it looked like all the millions of other annual broomweed plants in pastures across much of Texas.)
Pocket gophers are quite active along this stretch of road, and across many areas of the reserve. This is my first time finding a clear trail, which helped to answer some other recent mysteries.
Flying from one clover to another. Seemed to be heavy as each clover tipped over with this bee. Very sunny, windy, humid, about 93 degrees Fahrenheit.
What a fantastic gathering at Powderhorn WMA!!! Mosquitoes were quite memorable but so was the company.
These observations were from the second night, and WOW, did lots of stuff show up this evening!!! So many new bugs for me that I’d not seen before.
More info about the gathering:
https://www.inaturalist.org/journal/pfau_tarleton/74880-powderhorn-wma-bioblitz-may-19-21
See detailed discussion re differences in leaves of T. cuneifolia vs. T platycarpa as shown here.
Also, I am posting my detailed description of differences in other aspects of these two species, with emphasis on trichomes.
Finally, I am also posting here my data on the comparative height of these two species.
First specimen collection of the species for Balcones Canyonlands NWR. The specimen was collected from a limestone bolder in deep shade of Mason Hollow on the Victoria tract (see 5th image of my field notes for the day, CWS Field J., Vol. 37, pp. 54-55).
Original digital image of specimen from the TORCH database:
https://portal.torcherbaria.org/portal/collections/individual/index.php?occid=30435843&clid=0
I may have taken photos (35mm slides) of these plants in the field, but those slides, if they exist, would be in the Refuge files at the Refuge HQ.
For the bumble bee (? Pretty sure the smaller one is at least)
Associated observation
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/112307709
I have seen specimens in the Genus Catorhinta on or near my house on five previous occasions, ON each occasion, the question "Is this C. texana or C,. selector has come up. Three have been identified as C. texana; the other two simply remain at genus, Jason Botz is quoted in BugGuidenet as follows: "[C. texana] can be recognized by the narrow yellow band at the apex of the third antennomere, along with a slightly wider look to the abdomen and a more orange-colored connexivial stripe. https://bugguide.net/node/view/1131911. Here, the connexivial stripe does appear noticeably orange and several of the pictures show the light (very light) yellow antennna band clearly. I believe this to be C. texana. Compare https://bugguide.net/node/view/2186288. @wongun @pfau_tarleton
Not sure if these are American or Sonoran bumblebees. Were mating in low lying scrub along pipeline easement
Grasshopper
Timberlake Biological Research Station
Mills, Co. Texas
10/5/19
Are they mating? Se estarán apareando?
My Yard in the City of Uvalde, Uvalde County Texas
I can't find a precise match for this small leaf beetle. I assume it is in the Cryptocephalinae.
This bug has a superficial resemblance to Podisus maculiventris but I don't think it's that species. The legs are more richly colored, the scutellum is differently shaped, and the tips of the FWs don't have the dark central band which usually shows on examples of that species.
(My orignal thought:) This keys out perfectly in Banks 1903 revision of the Chrysopidae to E. hageni, described originally from Austin, TX. Note the distinctive dark marks on the face (2nd image) and abdomen. BG doesn't currently have a page for the species.
https://bugguide.net/node/view/2110186/bgimage
Ref: Banks, N. 1903. A revision of the Nearctic Chrysopidae. Trans. Amer. Entomol. Soc. 29:137-162.
Not sure how to tell a few species of this genus apart.
I got intrigued with this rather plain Pyralid moth because of a few distinctive things it shows compared to the vast array of other Phycitine-type moths.
With all this in mind, I went wandering through MPG looking for Phycitines with a black patch at the base of the wings and little other pattern. Some of the genera of cactus-feeding moths and their relatives have a basal black patch. This includes such genera as Melitara, Alberada, and Rumatha. Of these, some species of Rumatha seem to have the narrow wings and other details recited above. None of the Rumatha species are a close match to the present critter but we are hampered by very limited numbers of images of any of them (mostly mounted specimens on MPG and in a Neunzig MONA fascicle) and the descriptions in Neunzig's fascicle are minimal.
A most intriguing aspect of this investigation is that at least one of the species, Rumatha glaucatella, is documented to utilize tasajillo (= Christmas cactus; Cylindropuntia leptocaulis; abundant at Timberlake) as a host plant! In fact that species has been documented from Travis County (Neunzig 1997, p. 75). The present moth doesn't quite match the details of that species as presented by Neunzig, but it suggests to me that the present moth is likely to belong to the same genus.
Saturday night mothing with various light sources at sheets located in several places around the pavilion..