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  ABC > Home > THE FAUNA PROJECT > Survey March 27, 2014


The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Fauna Project

It was cool, heavily overcast and drizzling as three participants completed this week's survey. This is the season when we see many species of crane flies in our area. They might look like overgrown mosquitoes but they are harmless; the lethal looking mouthparts on the crane fly shown below are used for feeding on nectar, not blood.

Select Photos and Complete List of Sightings:


Lissohypnus texanus (rove beetle)
photo by Val Bugh


Diplotaxis sp. (scarab beetle)
photo by Val Bugh


Paria sp. (leaf beetle)
photo by Val Bugh


Ditemnus perforatus (soldier beetle near moth eggs)
photo by Val Bugh


Euchlaena marginaria (moth)
photo by Val Bugh


Pseudexentera spoliana (leafroller moth)
photo by Val Bugh


Acronicta lepetita (dagger)
photo by Val Bugh


Metria amella (live oak metria)
photo by Barbara Ribble


Lochmaeus bilineata (double-lined prominent)
photo by Val Bugh


Schizura errucata (prominent)
photo by Val Bugh


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


Limonia sp. (limoniid crane fly)
photo by Val Bugh


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


Unknown sp. (braconid wasp)
photo by Val Bugh


Neivamyrmex sp. (legionary ant male, extremely wet!)
photo by Val Bugh


Leiobunum sp. (harvestman)
photo by Val Bugh


Schizocosa sp. (wolf spider)
photo by Val Bugh


Otala lactea (garden snail, immature)
photo by Val Bugh

  • Birds:
    Bewick's Wren (Thryomanes bewickii)
    Black-crested Titmouse (Baeolophus atricristatus)
    Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)
    Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus)
    Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum), tail feather
    Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe)
    Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus)
    House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus)
    Ladder-backed Woodpecker (Picoides scalaris)
    Lincoln's Sparrow (Melospiza lincolnii)
    Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)
    Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)
    Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos)
    Orange-crowned Warbler (Vermivora celata)
    Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)
    Western Scrub-jay (Aphelocoma californica)
    White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys)
    White-winged Dove (Zenaida asiatica)
    Yellow-rumped Warbler (Dendroica coronata)

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

  • Amphibians:
    Rio Grande Leopard Frog (Rana berlandieri), adult & tadpole

  • Misc.:
    Harvestman (Leiobunum sp.)
    Julid Millipede (Unknown sp.)
    Pillbug (Armadillidium vulgare)
    Garden Snail (Otala lactea)
    Land Snail (Rabdotus sp.)

  • Insects & Spiders:
    orderfamilygenus/speciescommon name

    lepidoptera  hesperiidae  Pyrgus communis/albescens  Common/White Checkered-skipper
      noctuidae  Rachiplusia ou  Gray Looper Moth
        Metria amella  Live Oak Metria
        Spodoptera ornithogalli  Yellow-striped Armyworm Moth
        Agrotis malefida  Rascal Dart
        Charadra dispulsa  Moth
        Crambodes talidiformis  Verbena Moth
        Galgula partita  The Wedgling
        Acronicta lepetita  Dagger
      arctiidae  Estigmene acrea  Saltmarsh Moth
        Cisthene sp.  Lichen Moth (larva)
      notodontidae  Schizura errucata  Prominent
        Lochmaeus bilineata  Double-lined Prominent
      saturniidae  Hyalophora cecropia  Cecropia Moth
      geometridae  Eupithecia bolterii  Pug Moth
        Eupithecia miserulata  Common Eupithecia
        Euchlaena marginaria  Moth
        Holochroa dissociarius  Moth
        Digrammia californiaria  Moth
        Glena quinquelinearia  Five-lined Glena
      crambidae  Achyra rantalis  Garden Webworm Moth
        Urola nivalis  Snowy Urola
        Nomophila nearctica  Lucerne Moth
        Euchromius ocelleus  Grass-veneer Moth
      pyralidae  Homoeosoma electella  Sunflower Moth
      tortricidae  Pseudexentera spoliana  Leafroller Moth
      lacturidae  Lactura sp.  Moth
      elachistidae  Ethmia semilugens  Ethmia Moth
      gelechiidae  Battaristis sp.  Moth
      coleophoridae  Blastobasis sp.  Moth
      unknown family  Unknown sp.  Moth (eggs)

    coleoptera  chrysomelidae  Paria sp.  Leaf Beetle
      elateridae  Unknown sp.  Click Beetle
      coccinellidae  Hippodamia convergens  Convergent Lady Beetle
      cantharidae  Ditemnus perforatus  Soldier Beetle
      scarabaeidae  Diplotaxis sp.  Scarab
      staphylinidae  Lissohypnus texanus  Rove Beetle

    hymenoptera  apidae  Apis mellifera  Honey Bee
      halictidae  Unknown sp.  Green Sweat Bee
        Lasioglossum sp.  Sweat Bee
      braconidae  Unknown sp.  Braconid Wasp
      formicidae  Neivamyrmex sp.  Legionary Ant (male)

    diptera  bombyliidae  Hemipenthes scylla  Bee Fly
      pyrgotidae  Boreothrinax maculipennis  Pyrgotid Fly
      chironomidae  Unknown sp.  Midge
      limoniidae  Limonia sp.  Limoniid Crane Fly
      tipulidae  Tipula sp.  Crane Fly

    orthoptera  acrididae  Lactista aztecus  Aztec Bandwing (adult & nymph)
        Schistocerca sp.  Bird Grasshopper (nymph)
      tettigoniidae  Unknown sp.  Katydid (eggs)
        Arethaea ambulator  Walking Thread-legged Katydid
        Dichopetala catinata  Spoon-tailed Short-winged Katydid (nymph)

    isoptera  rhinotermitidae  Reticulitermes sp.  Subterranean Termite

    neuroptera  chrysopidae  Chrysoperla sp.  Green Lacewing

    araneae  lycosidae  Schizocosa sp.  Wolf Spider

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