August 18, 2024: Summer's Creepy-Crawlers

Mid-summer is prime time for all kinds of creepy-crawlers.  They've been feeding on plants and other smaller insects for a while, growing larger, and many being quite colorful, they can be easy to spot.  This orb-weaver, a Yellow Garden Spider, is a good example. 

There are several theories about why they make the zig-zag pattern in the web.

This spider, along with dozens more, was in an open field of wildflowers which is their usual habitat, though I have seen them and their webs right  on the eaves of our house.  Both males and females weave webs but the males' webs are smaller. 

There's a huge variety of caterpillars munching on our plants here in August and they're large enough now to be quite visible.  One or more of them is doing quite a job on the oak trees.  

The ground in places is covered with shredded oak leaves.

On a quiet day it sounds like rain as leaves and caterpillar droppings fall to the ground.  One afternoon I counted 25 of this variety of caterpillar on the ground in an area no larger than 10 square feet.

An unknown moth caterpillar.

They must have all just dropped down to go find a place to form their pupae, and I'm guessing these are the ones feeding on the oaks. There are several kinds of moths that have similar larvae and I don't know what these are.

Several colorful and hairy caterpillars are munching on plants too, some on trees, others on smaller plants such as this Milkweed Tussock Moth caterpillar on, yes, a milkweed plant.

Milkweed Tussock Moth Caterpillar on a milkweed pod.

Just like the Monarch Butterfly caterpillar, the Milkweed Tussock Moth caterpillar consumes milkweed almost exclusively.  

Next up is a Banded Tussock Moth caterpillar. 

This tussock caterpillar isn't a picky eater and will consume a wide variety of trees and shrubs including oak, ash, birch, and blueberry.  This one was crawling along the ground, looking for a safe place in the leaf litter to make its cocoon in which it will spend the winter.

Next I saw a Wooly Bear caterpillar.

One of the best known of the caterpillars.

Unlike the tussock caterpillars which should not be touched, the Wooly Bear won't cause skin irritation if it's handled.  This larvae will pupate and overwinter under the leaf litter and turn into an Isabella Tiger Moth next summer.  This species consumes an even wider variety of herbaceous plants:  flowers, shrubs, and trees - most anything but grass.  

Grasshoppers on the other hand, will eat grass, and I've seen lots of flying grasshoppers in dry sunny areas lately; at least that's what we called them as kids.  I don't know what the problem was with this one I saw on a gravel driveway, but it was just buzzing along the ground, making more noise than motion.

The video makes it look like it was moving its wings slowly when in fact they were moving so fast you couldn't see them.  When it finally stopped and tried to hide under a tuft of grass I got a good look at it and I think it's a Carolina Locust.  

Carolina Locust (Dissosteira carolina)

What incredible camouflage for a dirt road.  They're fun to watch but I guess a large outbreak can damage crops even here in New England.

The last crawler I saw was the biggest of all - almost 3" long.

It seems every summer I see one - and only one - of these many-legged, well-armored arthropods.  Arthropods, which includes spiders, aren't insects or bugs, and more closely related to crustaceans.  They don't go through a metamorphosis but remain crawlers all their lives and are harmless to humans.  They are born with only a few of those four legged segments and add more segments as they molt over the five years it takes them to reach maturity.  During that time they are helpful animals, consuming small insects and decaying plant material.  [University of California, Oakland]

Here's yet another creepy-looking insect that is completely harmless.

A Katydid, also called a Bush Cricket.

Katydids, in the cricket family, are mostly nocturnal, using their color and leaf-life patterning to hide on plants during the day.  I have no idea why it was resting on a white deck chair at 2:00 in the afternoon.  

Finally, here's an insect that has completed its metamorphosis into an airborne adult. 

Green Comma (Polygonia faunus)

This flashy Green Comma was flitting around in its primary habitat of a small mountain stream running along the Edmund Path on the flank of Mt. Eisenhower.  It lives in boreal north America, primarily mountain woodlands, so not likely to be seen around Lake Wicwas.

Something I'm watching for but haven't seen yet is a cicada.  But the creepy-crawler season isn't over yet....

P.S:  There was a lot of interest in last week's osprey so I'll share a post from August 2020 which includes another osprey fishing experience.  It was also in mid-August, in the same part of the lake, and within 5 minutes of the same time of day!  7:15pm on a quiet mid-August evening is the time to watch for them!