Papscanee Island Insects

By Corey • May 7, 2007 • 4 comments

Six-spotted Tiger Beetle

A recent walk around Papscanee Island, on the same day I saw the American Robin’s nest, rewarded me with some cool pictures of insects. A Six Spotted Tiger Beetle is above, an insect with a confusing name not explained by the helpful people at whatsthatbug.com who identified it for me:

This is a Tiger Beetle. More specifically, it seems to be a Six Spotted Tiger Beetle, Cicindela sexguttata. We are not sure why it is called the Six Spotted Tiger Beetle as most specimens appear to have 8 spots, and some have none.

Less confusing is the Mourning Cloak butterfly below.

Mourning Cloak

Next up is a wasp of some kind, I think (maybe a hornet?):

wasp?

And, finally, a Cabbage White, an introduced species, feeding on the invasive Garlic Mustard:

Cabbage White

I think I’m going to buy Kenn Kauffman’s field guide to insects.

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About the Author

Corey

Corey is a New Yorker who has lived most of his life upstate but has spent the last three years in Queens. He's only been birding since 2005 but has garnered a respectable life list by birding whenever he wasn't working as a union representative or spending time with his family. He lives in Forest Hills with Daisy, their son, Desmond Shearwater, and their two indoor cats, Hunter and B.B.

4 Responses to “Papscanee Island Insects”

May 7th, 2007 at 7:49 pm
Kenns book is great! BTW: LOVE the Mourning Cloak photo!
Larry May 7th, 2007 at 9:36 pm
Makes me want to get the guide.-The color on that Tiger Beetle is so vivid and mettalic looking-Nice Job!
Patrick May 8th, 2007 at 10:03 am
Great shots. That last one could be a poster for non-native species.
Mike May 8th, 2007 at 8:04 pm
Great photos, Corey. I had no idea the ubiquitous Cabbage White was introduced. Does that make it a trash bug?

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Asides

A team of researchers has found that the populations of common birds around the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan has plummeted. Most disturbingly, the populations of species that the area has in common with Chernobyl has fallen more in Fukushima than they did in the site of worst nuclear disaster in world history.