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  ABC > Home > THE FAUNA PROJECT > Survey March 13, 2014


The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Fauna Project

Conditions were cold and sunny as a team of four completed this week's survey. Although the temperature had risen by the time we finished, there was still a dearth of flying insects. Both butterfly and moth caterpillars pupate before becoming adults. Butterflies never make a silk cocoon around their pupa, which is called a chrysalis, but some moths do. The examples below show two very distinctive moth cocoons compared to a typical butterfly chrysalis.

Select Photos and Complete List of Sightings:


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


Lactista aztecus (Aztec bandwing nymph)
photo by Val Bugh


Arethaea ambulator (walking thread-legged katydid nymph)
photo by Val Bugh


Strymon melinus (gray hairstreak, too cold to fly!)
photo by Val Bugh


Eupackardia calleta, Megalopyge opercularis & Euptoieta claudia
(calleta silkmoth & southern flannel moth cocoons & variegated fritillary chrysalis)
photo by Val Bugh


Dargida diffusa (wheat-head armyworm moth)
photo by Val Bugh


Ellabella editha (tropical fruitworm moth)
photo by Val Bugh


Plutella xylostella (diamondback moth)
photo by Val Bugh


Orthonama obstipata (the gem)
photo by Val Bugh


Lycia ypsilon (woolly gray)
photo by Val Bugh


Tornos scolopacinaria (moth)
photo by Val Bugh


Anstenoptilia marmarodactyla (plume moth)
photo by Val Bugh


Unknown sp. (ichneumon)
photo by Val Bugh


Chrysoperla sp. (green lacewing, winter color form)
photo by Val Bugh


Agulla bicolor (snakefly)
photo by Val Bugh

  • Birds:
    Bewick's Wren (Thryomanes bewickii)
    Black-crested Titmouse (Baeolophus atricristatus)
    Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)
    Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis)
    Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus)
    Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe)
    Golden-cheeked Warbler (Dendroica chrysoparia)
    Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus)
    Lesser Goldfinch (Spinus psaltria)
    Lincoln's Sparrow (Melospiza lincolnii)
    Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)
    Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)
    Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos)
    Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)
    White-winged Dove (Zenaida asiatica)

  • Mammals:
    Eastern Cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus)
    Hispid Cotton Rat (Sigmodon hispidus)

  • Misc.:
    Harvestman (Unknown sp.)

  • Insects & Spiders:
    orderfamilygenus/speciescommon name

    lepidoptera  nymphalidae  Vanessa atalanta  Red Admiral
        Euptoieta claudia  Variegated Fritillary (larva & pupa)
      lycaenidae  Strymon melinus  Gray Hairstreak
        Callophrys henrici  Henry's Elfin
      pieridae  Nathalis iole  Dainty Sulphur
        Eurema nicippe  Sleepy Orange
        Anthocharis midea  Falcate Orangetip
      hesperiidae  Pyrgus communis/albescens  Common/White Checkered-skipper
      noctuidae  Psaphida resumens  Figure-eight Sallow
        Dargida diffusa  Wheat-head Armyworm Moth
      geometridae  Eupithecia bolterii  Pug Moth
        Eupithecia miserulata  Common Eupithecia
        Phigalia strigataria  Small Phigalia
        Phigalia titea  The Halfwing
        Lycia ypsilon  Woolly Gray
        Orthonama obstipata  The Gem
        Tornos scolopacinaria  Moth
        Digrammia pallidata  Moth
      saturniidae  Eupackardia calleta  Calleta Silkmoth (pupa)
        Hyalophora cecropia  Cecropia Moth
      pyralidae  Homoeosoma electella  Sunflower Moth
      tortricidae  Chimoptesis pennsylvaniana  Filigreed Moth
      megalopygidae  Megalopyge opercularis  Southern Flannel Moth (pupa)
      lacturidae  Lactura sp.  Moth
      elachistidae  Ethmia semilugens  Ethmia Moth
      copromorphidae  Ellabella melanoclista  Tropical Fruitworm Moth
        Ellabella editha  Tropical Fruitworm Moth
      plutellidae  Plutella xylostella  Diamondback Moth
      pterophoridae  Adaina ambrosiae  Ambrosia Plume Moth
        Anstenoptilia marmarodactyla  Plume Moth

    homoptera  aleyrodidae  Aleuroplatus ovatus  Whitefly

    hymenoptera  apidae  Apis mellifera  Honey Bee
      ichneumonidae  Unknown sp.  Ichneumon

    diptera  syrphidae  Copestylum avidum  Flower Fly
        Toxomerus marginatus  Flower Fly
        Eupeodes volucris  Flower Fly
      calliphoridae  Cynomya cadaverina  Bluebottle Fly
      tipulidae  Tipula sp.  Crane Fly
        Nephrotoma sp.  Tiger Crane Fly

    orthoptera  acrididae  Eritettix abortivus  Texas Short-winged Slant-faced Grasshopper
        Lactista aztecus  Aztec Bandwing (nymph)
      tetrigidae  Paratettix mexicanus  Pygmy Grasshopper
      tettigoniidae  Arethaea ambulator  Walking Thread-legged Katydid (nymph)

    neuroptera  chrysopidae  Chrysoperla sp.  Green Lacewing

    raphidioptera  raphidiidae  Agulla bicolor  Snakefly

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