Alfalfa Butterfly

Alfalfa Butterfly

• Wing span measures 1 ½ - 2 ¼ “ (3.5-7 cm)
• The upperside of males are yellow with an orange overlay and yellow veins with a wide black border and dark black cell spot
• Females are yellow or white with an irregular black border surrounding light spots
• Both male and female hindwing spots are silver with 2 concentric dark rings, a spot above it
• Adult diets consist of nectar from flowers like dandelions, milkweeds, goldenrods, and asters
• Caterpillar hosts include plants in the pea family like alfalfa, white clover, and white sweet clover
• They inhabit open sites, especially clover and alfalfa fields, mowed fields, vacant lots, meadows, and road edges
• Females lay eggs singly on top of host plant leaves
• Most feeding occurs at night
• Young caterpillars chew holes in the tops of leaves, then later feed from the leaf tip
• Older caterpillars eat half of the leaf before moving
• Chrysalids overwinter
• They are widespread and common butterflies in North America
• Caterpillars can be very destructive in alfalfa fields

Bumble Bee

• Robust and very hairy, moderate to large bees,.4 - .9” (10-23 mm) long
• Comes in yellow, black, white, brown, or orange bands, but color variations occur within species
• Bumble bees visit a succession of flowers from early flowering willow trees to late summer blooms such as goldenrod
• They are pollinators of crops like tomatoes, watermelons, and blueberries
• Bumble bees inhabit general areas including intensively farmed areas, suburbs, and highly urban areas
• Nests are socially constructed in annual colonies
• Nests consist of ball like, wax brood cells in a small cavity like an abandoned rodent burrow or under a grass tussock
• Cells are unique because they may contain multiple offspring and enlarge as the larvae develop
• At the end of summer most bumble bees die, save a few mated queens to hibernate, queens emerge to found a new colony as a solitary bee
• The queen rears the initial brood; when those workers are ready to take over foraging, she remains in the nest to lay eggs
• There's been a steep decline in bumble bee species due to disease
• In the 1990s American bumble bees were taken to Europe for breeding for United States greenhouse tomato industry
• They contracted a disease that they carried back when they were re-imported and the disease spread to wild populations
• Females carry pollen moistened with nectar in stiff hair baskets on their hind legs
• They are among the first bees to emerge in the spring and the last to disappear in the fall
• Bumble bees can buzz pollinate by grabbing onto the flower and vibrating their flight muscles without flapping their wings

Carpenter Bee

• Robust, often with a hairy thorax but only sparse hairs on the abdomen
• Moderate to large in size, ½ - ⅞ "(13-30 mm) long
• Black colored but may have a metallic sheen of blue or green with blackish wings, yellow pile on the thorax
• Large body size limits them to visiting large or open-faced flowers, the flower needs to be strong enough to support the weight of the bee
• Strong jaws help them bite into the sides of flowers to rob nectar without pollinating
• They pollinate passionflower quite effectively due to pollen being deposited on the thorax; in addition to passion fruit and blueberries they pollinate other crops including blackberry and pepper
• Habitats include forests and areas adjacent with flowers
• Eggs are probably the largest of all insect eggs and can be more than half an inch long, which is more than half the length of the female's body
• Each female lays a small number of eggs in her lifetime (usually 8 or fewer) and compared to other bees invests greater maternal care and more time in raising them; they only live one year
• Most species make solitary nests and are not social
• They can excavate their own nests in wood, using powerful jaws to chew soft wood and plant stems and are well-known for chewing nest cavities in the structural timber of buildings; a good coat of paint will deter them
• Egg laying and tunnel provisioning occurs in the spring; males hover around the tunnel entrance while the female creates the nest and lays eggs
• Males are territorial and may buzz around humans
• They are frequently confused with bumble bees

Firefly

• Called lightning beetles, body is about a ½ inch long with a black head
• The notable feature is on the bottom of the abdomen made up of a tail light segment in green and yellow
• No difference between male and female
• Firefly larvae eat worms and slugs and adults feed on nectar and pollen
• They generally found in fields and at the edges of forests and are nocturnal, spending daytime hours resting under leaves
• Females deposit eggs in the soil, where larvae develop into adulthood and adult fireflies live for about 2 months
• Firefly populations are dwindling throughout the country and world
• Most scientists name 2 factors: development and light pollution
• Turning off outside lights at night, avoiding using pesticides, and when mowing leave lawn grass at least 3 ½ inches high can help
• Fireflies have organs dedicated to light under their abdomens
• Fireflies take in oxygen into special cells and combine it with a substance called luciferin to produce light with almost no heat
• Firefly light flashes in intermittent patterns that are unique to each one
• The blinking pattern is a signal that helps fireflies attract potential mates
• The firefly is the state insect of Pennsylvania
• Fireflies contain an unappetizing taste to potential predators

Green Lacewing

• Bodies are pale green or pale yellow with golden eyes, long slender antennae and long delicately veined wings at about ½ inch - 3½ inch
• Light green color allows them to become camouflage among green leaves and stems, no difference between male and female
• Adults eat pollen and nectar from flowers and honeydew, lacewings sometimes release a bad-smelling fluid when attacked by predators
• Some predators of lacewings include birds, bats, and larger insects
• When adults visit flowers for nectar, they may accidentally help pollinate a plant, which helps it to make seeds and spread
• Adults only move around or fly at night and are not social
• They live in fields, gardens, and forest edges
• Lay eggs on white stalks, hanging from the bottom of leaves and larvae hatch in a few days
• Lacewing larvae, sometimes called “aphid lions" eat many small insects as they grow including caterpillars, butterfly eggs, small beetles, scale insects, leafhoppers, small flies, mites, and other insects and eggs
• Green Lacewings are extremely helpful to people because they eat huge amounts of pests, including aphids and mites
• Some companies even sell lacewing eggs to farmers and gardeners
• They cause no harm to people
• To attract them, plant lots of nectar-producing flowers
• Green Lacewings can sense the sounds of bats and land immediately to avoid predation

Hummingbird Clearwing Moth

• Adult appearance is variable, they lack any banding on the lateral side of the thorax and always have yellowish or pale colored legs and their wing span is close to 2 – 3 inches, no difference between male and female
• Thorax is olive to golden-olive in color dorsally (on top), yellow ventrally, abdomen is dark burgundy (sometimes nearly black), with light olive to dark golden patches dorsally and wings are mostly clear with reddish brown terminal borders and dark scaling along veins
• Adults nectar from a wide variety of flowers including Japanese honeysuckle, beebalm, red clover, lilac, phlox, snowberry, cranberry, blueberry, vetch, and thistles
• Caterpillar hosts include honeysuckle, snowberry, hawthorns, cherries, and plums
• They inhabit open and second-growth habitats, fields, forest edges, meadows, and cultivated gardens
• Caterpillars wrap themselves in cocoons made of leaf litter and spend the winter on the ground and emerge as clearwing hummingbird moths from May through July
• Adults are frequently mistaken for hummingbirds or bees because of their fast-moving wings and coloration
• Adults hover at flowers to sip nectar during the day
• Caterpillars pupate in cocoons spun at the soil surface
• Moths and butterflies do not actively gather pollen; however, while foraging for nectar, pollen grains become stuck to the body or tongue and are accidently spread

Mason Bee

• Robust and are small to moderate-sized bees, 5-20 mm long; round, broad heads, and their round, wide abdomens usually lack conspicuous markings or hair bands
• Most are metallic and brilliant metallic green, blue, or even purple
• They forage for nectar and pollen on a wide variety of flowers and commonly visit flowering shrubs and small trees in the rose family, especially fruit trees in orchards
• They are important pollinators of fruit crops such as apple, cherry, and plum
• These solitary bees usually nest in beetle tunnels in dead wood or the hollow centers of plant stems, but some nest in crevices between stones or in abandoned wasp or bee nests
• Females readily occupy artificial nest sites such as drilled wood blocks or bundles of reed stems, and they do not excavate their own nests
• They emerge in the spring, with males the first to come out; they remain near the nests waiting for the females
• When the females emerge, the first thing they do is mate
• The males die and females begin making their nests and visit flowers to gather pollen and nectar; it will take many trips to complete a pollen/nectar provision mass
• Once a provision mass is complete, the bee backs into the hole and lays an egg on top of the mass
• They then create a partition of “mud”, which doubles as the back of the next cell
• The process continues until she has filled the cavity; female-destined eggs are laid in the back of the nest, and male eggs towards the front
• Once a bee has finished with a nest, she plugs the entrance to the tube
• By the summer, the larva has consumed all of its provisions and begins spinning a cocoon around itself, entering the pupal stage
• The adult matures either in the fall or winter, hibernating inside its cocoon
• These bees are well-adapted to cold winters
• They do not carry pollen on their legs but carry dry pollen in a patch of hairs on the underside of the abdomen
• Often mistaken for flies
• Because they are prize for their efficient pollination of orchard crops in spring
• Will next in existing cavities above ground including garden hoses or faucets and collect wet soil or mud to divide the nesting tunnel into brood cells
• There are no worker bees for this species
• Both native and introduced species have been successfully managed by providing nesting boxes or tubes that can be stored in a sheltered location over the winter

Monarch Butterfly

• Readily recognized and beloved insects in North America
• The butterfly is easily recognized by bold orange and black color patterns
• Caterpillars eat only milkweed
• The larvae stage is the only stage that feeds on milkweed, milkweed allows the caterpillar to grow and keep all of the vitamins needed to transform into a beautiful butterfly
• Adult butterflies consume all sorts of different things including nectar, water, and even liquids from some of the fruits we consume
• They use a small little pipe like a straw which is coiled under its head most of the time is what an adult monarch butterfly uses to suck up all of the nectar from plants, this straw is called a proboscis
• Prior to migration, they are found in fields, gardens, and flower beds
• They migrate south to a given overwintering site every year
• Unlike birds, the Monarchs who go south do not succeed in returning to where they were born, their children or grandchildren do
• Monarchs east of the Rocky Mountains overwinter on forested mountain tops in central Mexico in the Trans volcanic Range
• The four stages are the egg, the larvae, the pupa, and the adult butterfly
• Monarchs lay their eggs on milkweeds and milkweeds contain a potent heart poison, which helps to protect them from browsing animals and leaf-eating insects such as grasshoppers
• They are able to store this poison within their own bodies, making themselves poisonous in turn and are brightly colored to advertise that they are not good to eat
• The chrysalis, or pupal skin, is vivid jade green with little golden bumps, particularly in the horizontal line visible about 1/3 of the way down from the top of the pupa
• In the final day or two before emergence, the chrysalis becomes transparent, allowing one to see the orange and black wings beneath
• Gardeners plant milkweed in their gardens to attract monarch butterflies
• Concerns continue for the Monarch's migration destination in Mexico where forests are jeopardized by over cutting; many residents in the area cut down trees for fuel that Monarchs would winter upon
• There is a concern that pesticide use has effective Monarch populations
• Milkweed is the only food the caterpillar will eat
• Toxins from the milkweed plant make the caterpillar and adult butterfly poisonous to birds and other predators
• In February and March, the final generation of hibernating monarch butterflies comes out of hibernation to find a mate; they migrate north and east in order to find a place to lay their eggs
• In March and April the eggs are laid on mildewed plants; they hatch into baby caterpillars, also called the larvae and it takes about four days for the eggs to hatch
• After about two weeks, the caterpillar will be fully-grown and find a place to attach itself so that it can start the process of metamorphosis and transform into a chrysalis
• The monarch butterfly will emerge from the pupa and fly away, feeding on flowers and just enjoying the short life it has left, which is only about 2-6 weeks.
• They die after laying eggs for generation number two
• The second generation of Monarch butterflies is born in May and June, and then the third generation will be born in July and August and will go through same the four stage life cycles
• The fourth generation of Monarch butterflies is born in September and October and goes through exactly the same process except they instead migrate to warmer climates like Mexico and California and will live for 6-8 months

Cabbage White Butterfly

• The wingspan of this butterfly measures 1-2 inches
• White wings with black tips; females have two black spots on white wings (4 spots total), males have just one spot on each wing (2 spots total)
• Beneath their main wings their lower wings have shades of yellow, green, and gray
• This butterfly feeds on the leaves of cabbage and other vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower; also feed on nectar from mustards, dandelion, red clover, asters, and mints
• They commonly inhabit open spaces including weedy spots, gardens, roadsides, cities, and suburban backyards
• Eggs are laid on plants not in clumps but insolated which is the next phase in the life cycle
• Caterpillar will rest underneath leaves for protection and as it develops into an adult, it will turn into a butterfly that will be an active flyer
• Adults are diurnal and are most active during the day
• Birds are the major predators to the cabbage white butterfly
• Before the female butterfly lays eggs on a plant, she will drum or rapidly move her forelegs against the leaf to check the surface of the leaf to see that is suitable for the egg to develop

Honey Bee

• Found throughout the United States; the stocky striped body is made up of many hairs that pollen adheres to
• Male honey bees are larger than females (known as drone bees), female honey bees are known as worker bees
• Honey bees are both mustard yellow and brown
• Often called a super pollinator, transferring nectar from 1,000 of types of plants including the majority of fruits and vegetables grown for human consumption
• Bees harvest nectar and pollen from flowering plants
• Honey bees are not native to the United States, introduced by European settlers in the mid 1600's; beekeepers imported several additional types of different European types of bees from 1859-1992
• They live in large groups called colonies; open fields and grasslands with a variety of wildflowers provide the best habitat
• The process from egg to adult worker bee takes about 18 days
• A queen bee in the laying season in late spring can lay over 1,500 eggs per day; worker bees direct her to honeycomb and she lays a single egg in hexagon shaped cell
• Size of the cell determines the type of egg she lays: smaller cells become female worker bee, larger cells become male drone bee
• In three days the eggs hatch and larva emerge; nurse bees feed the larva royal jelly to help them grow quickly
• Next the nurse bees switch to honey and on the fifth day the worker bees seal the cell with a wax cap
• The larva surrounds itself with a cocoon inside the cell, similar to a butterfly; here wings, legs, eyes, etc. develop to become an adult
• This process takes 12 days; on the 18th day, the baby bee is fully developed and chews through the way cap
• There is concern that bee population in the United States is decreasing rapidly; reasons include changes in climate patterns, agriculture pesticides, bacterial diseases, and viruses
• 80% of what we eat in the United States is pollinated by honey bees including fruits, vegetables, and seeds
• Honey bees share information about where the best food source is by performing a waggle dance and move in a figure 8 and waggle their body back and forth
• Honey bees are the only insect that produces food eaten by humans

Silver-spotted Skipper

• Wing pattern features a large white spot on the underside and are widespread and most recognizable skippers
• Wings are brown-black and front wings have gold spots, back wings have white spots, metallic silver band outlines each wing; no difference in appearance for male or female
• Adults favor blue, red, pink, purple, and white flowers and like milkweed, red clover, buttonbush, and thistles
• They inhabit dry to moist fields, wet meadows, and edge of woods
• They can fly with startling speed as well as plunge down to a flower or stop abruptly and sometimes dash away like a swift arrow
• The skipper may sometimes be heard in the field; they rapidly beat their wings that produce a whirring sound
• Young caterpillars live in a shelter created by a folded flap of leaf cut from the edge of the leaf and tied down with silk threads; they leave their shelter at night or on cloudy days to feed on nearby leaves
• They have large eyes that appear to bulge out from their head with short antennae with square ends

Isabella Tiger Moth

• Most widely known for their caterpillar phase called the Woolly Bear; woolly bear caterpillars turn into Isabella tiger moth
• They appear in yellow to orange coloration with black legs, and small black spots on wings and thorax
• No difference in appearance for male or female
• The caterpillars are known as generalist feeders of leaves and herbs
• The moths can be found where grasses are abundant and they inhabit the United States and Canada
• The woolly bear caterpillar has 13 segments with brown and black hair
• The caterpillar overwinters from fall to spring by literally freezing solid: First its heart stops beating, then its gut freezes, then its blood, followed by the rest of the body; in the spring it thaws
• The adult Isabella tiger moth usually rests with its wings held like a flat roof over its head or held flat at its sides.
• Wooly bear caterpillars will roll into a ball if disturbed
• Wooly bear festivals are held throughout the United States celebrating the folklore that the varying widths of the caterpillar's bands of color predict the harshness of the next winter

Great Spangled Fritillary

• Smaller than a Monarch, it is the most common fritillary in North America
• Front wings are bright orange with rows of black spots with black dashes that surround a brown body
• Females are larger than males with deeper colors
• They get nectar from summer garden plants like purple coneflower, milkweed, joe pye weed, mountain laurel, and butterfly bush
• They inhabit open sunny fields or pastures with wetland spots
• Females lay eggs in late summer and caterpillars hatch but don't feed and overwinter until the next spring; adults emerge and take flight in June through September
• They are found throughout North America
• Can have similar features to a Monarch
• They enjoy nectar from wetland plants in fields and pastures

Sphinx Moth

• Also known as a hawk moth and its wingspan is almost 4 inches across; sometimes mistaken for a hummingbird in flight
• Some sphinx moths have a proboscis mouth part that measure a foot in length and is able to take pollen for a variety of flowers
• Their thorax, abdomen, and wings are covered in scales and the abdomen tapers to a sharp point hence they are sometimes called hornworm or horn moth
• They come in color patterns with shades of brown, gray, green, black, and purple
• Adults feed on nectar and the caterpillar is recognized by gardens as the green hornworm and can chew through tomato plant leaves
• They search fields for flowers of any type and range in commonly warm climates
• Most species are able to produce several generations a year and evolve from larva, the hornworm, then pupa to adult
• Most moths only fly at night, while the sphinx moth can be diurnal
• Prior to flying the moth will shiver its muscles to warm them up so the body temperature can surpass 104 degrees
• They are known for their ability to hover over flowers like the hummingbird while also swing their body side to side over a flower which is believed to protects them from predators that might lie in wait inside a flower