Lagoon Life!
Not exactly a tropical paradise, but the Strathroy Lagoons host lots of different life forms at this time of year. Insects are larger and easier to see in the fall since they have been eating and growing all summer. The lagoons are an important rest stop for migrating waterfowl.
Finding the Larva of a Snowberry Clearwing, was one of the highlights of my walk. Although I have seen many at the adult stage, this was my first larva. Usually blue/green on the top and yellow/green along the side, the caterpillar that I found was the much less common 'brown' form.
Adult Snowberry Clearwing, (found in mid-July)
One of the first caterpillars that I noticed was shiny in the morning light. The Asteroid Moth caterpillar was nibbling on New England Aster.
Dogwood Sawfly
The larva in the above 2 photos are both Dogwood Sawflies. They don't look the same because they are at different instar stages. Sawflies resemble smooth, hairless caterpillars with six pairs of prolegs. Moth and butterfly caterpillars (almost) never have more than 5 pairs of prolegs.
Isabella Tiger Moth caterpillar
Virginian Tiger Moth
Familiar Bluet was the most common dragonfly species that I saw.
Red speckled Dun, a small species of Mayflies, were abundant, often landing on my clothing or backpack.
Honey bees were active on the knapweed.
Some waterfowl, including these Wood Ducks were on the water. Any shorebirds I noticed were too far away for photos or identification. I also saw several Pied-billed Grebes and Mallards, a Green Heron and some Cedar Waxwings. All in all, a nice morning for walk!
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