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  ABC > Home > THE FAUNA PROJECT > Survey March 10, 2011


The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Fauna Project

We had seven participants on this week's survey. The morning began rather cool but the sun later produced one of those perfect Austin spring days. Moths continue to be high in diversity around the security lights. The tiny red insects appearing on Texas Mountain Laurel are plant bug nymphs (miridae: Lopidea major), which feed by sucking juice out of the plant. They will grow to about 6 or 7 mm in length.

Select Photos and Complete List of Sightings:


Lopidea major (plant bug nymph)
photo by Val Bugh


Acronicta lepetita (dagger moth)
photo by Val Bugh


Horisme intestinata (brown bark carpet)
photo by Val Bugh


Hyles lineata (white-lined sphinx)
photo by Val Bugh


Unknown sp. (bee)
photo by Val Bugh


Pyrgus communis/albescens (common/white checkered-skipper)
photo by Val Bugh


Pyrgus philetas (desert checkered-skipper)
photo by Val Bugh


Ellabella editha (tropical fruitworm moth)
photo by Val Bugh


Strymon melinus (gray hairstreak)
photo by Val Bugh


Unknown sp. (plume moth larva)
photo by Val Bugh


Eupithecia bolterii (pug)
photo by Val Bugh


Eritettix abortivus (Texas short-winged slant-faced grasshopper)
photo by Val Bugh


Liris sp. (cricket wasp)
photo by Val Bugh


Unknown sp. (ichneumon)
photo by Val Bugh

  • Birds:
    American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)
    American Robin (Turdus migratorius)
    Bewick's Wren (Thryomanes bewickii)
    Black Vulture (Coragyps atratus)
    Black-crested Titmouse (Baeolophus atricristatus)
    Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis)
    Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum)
    Crested Caracara (Caracara cheriway)
    Ladder-backed Woodpecker (Picoides scalaris)
    Lincoln's Sparrow (Melospiza lincolnii)
    Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus)
    Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)
    Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)
    Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos)
    Orange-crowned Warbler (Vermivora celata)
    Swainson's Warbler (Limnothlypis swainsonii)
    Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)
    Western Scrub-jay (Aphelocoma californica)
    White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys)
    White-winged Dove (Zenaida asiatica)
    Yellow-rumped Warbler (Dendroica coronata)

  • Amphibians:
    Rio Grande Leopard Frog tadpoles (Rana berlandieri)

  • Insects & Spiders:
    orderfamilygenus/speciescommon name

    lepidoptera  nymphalidae  Phyciodes tharos  Pearl Crescent
        Junonia coenia  Common Buckeye
        Vanessa atalanta  Red Admiral
      papilionidae  Battus philenor  Pipevine Swallowtail
        Papilio polyxenes  Black Swallowtail
        Papilio multicaudata  Two-tailed Swallowtail
      pieridae  Colias eurytheme  Orange Sulphur
        Eurema nicippe  Sleepy Orange
        Colias cesonia  Southern Dogface
        Nathalis iole  Dainty Sulphur
      lycaenidae  Atlides halesus  Great Purple Hairstreak
        Callophrys henrici  Henry's Elfin
        Strymon melinus  Gray Hairstreak
      hesperiidae  Erynnis horatius  Horace's Duskywing
        Pyrgus philetas  Desert Checkered-skipper
        Pyrgus communis/albescens  Common/White Checkered-skipper
      noctuidae  Lacinipolia erecta  Moth
        Acronicta lepetita  Dagger Moth
        Galgula partita  The Wedgling
        Cissusa sp.  Moth
        Apamea sp.  Moth
        Xerociris wilsonii  Wilson's Wood-nymph
      geometridae  Horisme intestinata  Brown Bark Carpet
        Eupithecia bolterii  Pug
        Chlorochlamys chloroleucaria  Blackberry Looper Moth
        Phigalia strigataria  Small Phigalia
        Phigalia titea  The Halfwing
        Lycia ypsilon  Woolly Gray
        Iridopsis defectaria  Brown-shaded Gray Moth
      lacturidae  Lactura sp.  Moth
      nolidae  Meganola minuscula  Confused Meganola
      notodontidae  Lochmaeus bilineata  Double-lined Prominent
      elachistidae  Ethmia semilugens  Ethmia Moth
      unknown family  Unknown sp.  Moth (eggs)
      pterophoridae  Unknown sp.  Plume Moth (larva)
      tortricidae  Pseudexentera spoliana  Leafroller Moth
        Chimoptesis pennsylvaniana  Filigreed Moth
      sphingidae  Hyles lineata  White-lined Sphinx
      copromorphidae  Ellabella editha  Tropical Fruitworm Moth

    coleoptera  coccinellidae  Harmonia axyridis  Multi-colored Asian Ladybird
        Coccinella septempunctata  Seven-spotted Ladybird
      chrysomelidae  Asphaera lustrans  Flea Beetle
        Omophoita cyanipennis  Flea Beetle
      scarabaeidae  Euphoria inda  Hairy Flower Scarab

    hemiptera  reduviidae  Zelus luridus  Assassin Bug
      miridae  Lopidea major  Plant Bug (nymph)
      lygaeidae  Nysius sp.  False Chinch Bug (adult & nymph)

    hymenoptera  vespidae  Polistes exclamans  Paper Wasp
        Polistes carolina  Red Wasp
      crabronidae  Liris sp.  Cricket Wasp
      cynipidae  Unknown sp.  Gall Wasp
      ichneumonidae  Unknown sp.  Ichneumon
      formicidae  Solenopsis invicta  Imported Fire Ant
      apidae  Apis mellifera  Honey Bee
        Ceratina sp.  Small Carpenter Bee
      unknown family  Unknown sp.  Bee

    diptera  syrphidae  Toxomerus marginatus  Flower Fly
        Copestylum tamaulipanum  Flower fly
      tipulidae  Tipula sp.  Crane Fly
      scathophagidae  Unknown sp.  Dung Fly

    orthoptera  acrididae  Eritettix abortivus  Texas Short-winged Slant-faced Grasshopper
        Chortophaga viridifasciata  Northern Green-striped Grasshopper (adult & nymph)
        Lactista aztecus  Aztec Bandwing (adult & nymph)
      tettigoniidae  Scudderia furcata  Fork-tailed Bush Katydid (nymph)

    araneae  lycosidae  Rabidosa rabida  Rabid Wolf Spider
      dictynidae  Dictyna sp.  Meshweb Weaver

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