Backyard Bugs

Diplotaxis varia

My brother came over yesterday evening to "light up" our yard in order to attract the beetles and moths he collects. It's a pretty simple set up: you throw a white sheet over the picnic table, turn on three strong lights, then sit back and wait for dozens, then dozens and dozens of insects to land on the sheet (and sometimes you) and pick through the ones you are interested in. The main beetle he was interested in was Diplotaxis varia, which are abundant this time of year in the Pine Barrens. He knows someone in Italy who for some reason is obsessed with these beetles and every once in a while Harry sends him a batch. The one to the left I collected early this month and kept in the freezer. At first, we thought this might be the only one he'd get, but by this morning, when he came back to see what had landed on (and under) the sheet, he'd collected so many that he was tossing them back into the woods. 

For the early part of the evening the insects landing on the sheet (and sometimes me) were mostly beetles. Harry kept up a running commentary as he sorted through the bugs on the sheet and this is some of what I picked up.

Scarab beetles

These are scarab beetles. What kind of scarab beetles? We don't know. The most expert entomologist in the world wouldn't know what species they were unless that expert dissected them and examined their genitalia. Obviously, we weren't going to do field surgery last night.

 

Grapevine pelidnota

This is a Grapevine pelidnota. Very common, my brother says, hardly worth collecting. They're all over our backyard and yet, until last night, I never knew it

Psuedo-scorpion

This one is not an insect, it is an arachnid, an example of one of the psuedo-scorpions. The photo is about five times larger than life size. This little guy rides on the inside of the wings of beetles, feeding on mites that live there. It is sort of the oxpecker of the arachnid world. 

Later in the evening, the moths began to be attracted to the lights. As Harry says, no one truly understands why moths are attracted to lights because as soon as they get there, they become stunned and thus potential food. Harry has seen raccoons, turkeys, and various birds eating moths off a wall he has lit up. But I find the moths a lot more interesting than the beetles--especially now that I know that some of the beetles also have the psuedo-scorpion under their wings. 

Hebrew moth

This one is a Hebrew moth.  It is called that because the wing markings supposedly look like Hebrew lettering. Perhaps to a romantic 18th century lepidopterist they did, but to me I at best see a little heart toward the bottom. 

Checkered apogeshina moth

These next two are just interesting moths, no fascinating facts about them.

The first is a Checkered apogeshina moth, while the one below is the Common lytrosis.

Common lytrosis

Finally, this last moth is one my brother got a little excited about: It is a Northern pine sphinx moth:

Can you see it? It blends in perfectly with the  bark of the pine tree, even aligning itself to the grain of the bark. Here's another picture. I was a foot away and could barely make it out:

I won't even speak of the crane flies, ladybugs (all invasive), and various unpronounceable beetles that landed on the sheet. Suffice it to say that more species of insects lurk in a Pine Barrens backyard than there are species of birds in New Jersey.

Hey kids, you too can find bugs in your backyard with this easy to do set up. Of course, you won't know what they are, but they're there!