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  ABC > Home > THE FAUNA PROJECT > Survey September 23, 2010


The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Fauna Project

Six participants conducted this week's survey on the Autumnal Equinox. The cloud cover made it so dark during the early part of the morning that photography, as well as vision (!), was limited, but the sun did eventually make an appearance. We noted that a number of the large Black-and-yellow Garden Spiders have laid eggs. Immediately after doing so, their abdomens look very wrinkled and shrunken. The Camouflaged Looper really does put bits of its food plant on its back, in this case the pretty purple bits of the Blue Mistflower.

Select Photos and Complete List of Sightings:


Argiope aurantia (black-and-yellow garden spider after laying eggs)
photo by Val Bugh


Synchlora frondaria (camouflaged looper)
photo by Val Bugh


Chlorochlamys chloroleucaria (blackberry looper)
photo by Val Bugh


Copestylum avidum (flower fly)
photo by Val Bugh


Lactista aztecus (Aztec bandwing)
photo by Val Bugh


Coccinella septempunctata (seven-spotted ladybird)
photo by Val Bugh


Melanoplus sp. (spurthroated grasshopper)
photo by Val Bugh


Danaus plexippus (monarch larva)
photo by Val Bugh


Enigmogramma basigera (pink-washed looper moth)
photo by Val Bugh


Neoscona oaxacensis (orbweaver)
photo by Val Bugh


Lycus fernandezi (net-winged beetle)
photo by Val Bugh


Schistocerca sp. (bird grasshopper nymph)
photo by Val Bugh


Unknown sp. (land snail)
photo by Val Bugh


Opheodrys aestivus (rough green snake)
photo by Harriett Wolf

  • Birds:
    Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)
    Lesser Goldfinch (Spinus psaltria)
    Black-crested Titmouse (Baeolophus atricristatus)
    Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos)
    Western Scrub-jay (Aphelocoma californica)
    White-winged Dove (Zenaida asiatica)

  • Reptiles:
    Rough Green Snake (Opheodrys aestivus)
    Mediterranean Gecko (Hemidactylus turcicus)

  • Mollusks:
    Black-velvet Leatherleaf Slug (Angustipes ameghini)
    Land Snail (Unknown sp.)

  • Misc.:
    Earthworm (Unknown sp.)

  • Insects & Spiders:
    orderfamilygenus/speciescommon name

    lepidoptera  nymphalidae  Danaus gilippus  Queen
        Danaus plexippus  Monarch (adult & larva)
        Junonia coenia  Common Buckeye
      pieridae  Phoebis sennae  Cloudless Sulphur
      papilionidae  Papilio cresphontes  Giant Swallowtail
      hesperiidae  Systasea pulverulenta  Texas Powdered-skipper (larva)
        Erynnis horatius  Horace's Duskywing
        Pyrgus communis/albescens  Common/White Checkered-skipper
      noctuidae  Enigmogramma basigera  Pink-washed Looper Moth
        Schinia chrysellus  Broomweed Flower Moth
      arctiidae  Estigmene acrea  Saltmarsh Moth
      notodontidae  Schizura unicornis  Unicorn Caterpillar Moth
      geometridae  Synchlora frondaria  Camouflaged Looper
        Chlorochlamys chloroleucaria  Blackberry Looper

    odonata  libellulidae  Pachydiplax longipennis  Blue Dasher
        Libellula croceipennis  Neon Skimmer
      aeshnidae  Anax junius  Common Green Darner
      coenagrionidae  Argia fumipennis  Variable Dancer

    coleoptera  coccinellidae  Coccinella septempunctata  Seven-spotted Ladybird
        Cycloneda sanguinea  Red Ladybird
        Harmonia axyridis  Multi-colored Asian Ladybird
        Unknown sp.  Ladybird Beetle (egg & pupa)
      carabidae  Pasimachus depressus  Ground Beetle
      tenebrionidae  Eleodes goryi  Darkling Beetle
      lycidae  Lycus fernandezi  Net-winged Beetle

    hemiptera  coreidae  Acanthocephala terminalis  Coreid Bug (adult & nymph)
        Hypselonotus punctiventris  Coreid Bug (adult & nymph)
      scutelleridae  Unknown sp.  Shield Bug (nymph)
        Sphyrocoris obliquus  Shield Bug
      lygaeidae  Oncopeltus fasciatus  Large Milkweed Bug (adult & nymph)
        Lygaeus kalmii  Small Milkweed Bug
      pentatomidae  Euschistus servus  Brown Stink Bug
        Acrosternum hilare  Green Stink Bug (nymph)

    homoptera  cicadellidae  Cuerna costalis  Leafhopper
        Homalodisca vitripennis  Glassy-winged Sharpshooter
      aphididae  Aphis nerii  Oleander Aphid

    hymenoptera  vespidae  Polistes exclamans  Paper Wasp
      formicidae  Solenopsis invicta  Imported Fire Ant
      apidae  Bombus pensylvanicus  Bumble Bee
        Apis mellifera  Honey Bee
        Xylocopa micans  Large Carpenter Bee
        Anthophora abrupta  Digger Bee

    diptera  syrphidae  Copestylum mexicana  Black Flower Fly
        Copestylum avidum  Flower Fly

    orthoptera  acrididae  Schistocerca sp.  Bird Grasshopper (nymph)
        Schistocerca nitens  Gray Bird Grasshopper
        Melanoplus sp.  Spur-throated Grasshopper
        Melanoplus differentialis  Differential Grasshopper
        Lactista aztecus  Aztec Bandwing (nymph & adult)
      tettigoniidae  Scudderia furcata  Fork-tailed Bush Katydid (nymph & adult)
        Conocephalus strictus  Straight-lanced Meadow Katydid

    mantodea  mantidae  Stagmomantis carolina  Carolina Mantis

    araneae  araneidae  Argiope aurantia  Black and Yellow Garden Spider
        Neoscona oaxacensis  Orbweaver
      oxyopidae  Peucetia viridans  Green Lynx
      salticidae  Phidippus audax  Bold Jumper
        Thiodina sylvana  Jumping Spider

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