Green June Beetle (Cotinus nitida)          Native

Green June beetles (or June bugs) can be seen flying in the daytime, unlike the brown June beetle. Their coloration is similar to Japanese beetles, but they are larger, about one inch. The green-brown wings are bordered by a coppery stripe. The beetle uses its spiky legs for digging into the ground, where it deposits eggs. The grubs eat roots of grasses, and adults feed on fruits such as grapes and the abundant blackberries in the Park prairie. This American beetle is in the same family as the sacred Egyptian scarabs that are painted on objects in the Museum’s Egyptian gallery.

Locust Borer (Megacyllene robiniae) Native

This colorful beetle is easy to recognize by the black and yellow pattern of the adults. They are often observed, as in our photo, eating goldenrod pollen and nectar in September. The female lays eggs in the bark of black locust trees, which are common in the Museum Park. The borer gets its species name, robinia, from the genus of the tree. The larvae hatch, bore into the tree and feed on the sapwood.

Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia)       Native

The surest spot in the Museum Park to find butterflies is the perennial flower border at the entrance to the building. While it mixes native and non-native flowers, the butterflies are homegrown. The round spots like eyes on the wings of this insect give it the name common buckeye. (Buckeyes are the nuts of trees such as the painted buckeye of the Piedmont that grows along the bank of House Creek in the Park.)

Large Milkweed Bug (Oncopeltus fasciatus)         Native

Large milkweed bugs share with monarch butterfly caterpillars an unusual ability to digest milkweed. Toxins in the plant give both insects a bad taste. Their bright color pattern warns predators away, and the bugs often bunch together to make their identification even more apparent. They feed by sucking juice from milkweed seed pods.

Black-winged Damselfly (Calopterix maculata)      Native

This tiny monster searches for prey on House Creek near the wooden Greenway bridge. Black-winged damselflies are among the most beautiful insects. Damselflies can be distinguished from dragonflies because they rest with their wings folded. The one pictured is a male.  Females are more brownish all over. This species inhabits shady, slow-moving streams, laying eggs in the water and perching as adults on stream-side vegetation. When they detect smaller insects flying by, they grab them with their spiky legs and swallow them whole.

Bluet (Enallagma species)                      Native

There are several species of very similar damselflies called bluets. The one photographed is stationed on a blade of vegetation at the edge of the Museum pond. From there he will scan for smaller insects he can grab with his six legs to make a meal.

Tawny Emperor (Asterocampa clyton)     Native

The larvae of tawny emperors are associated with hackberry or sugarberry trees. Adults have the habit of lighting on human skin to lap salty perspiration, as in the photo with wings folded. The photo of the upper wings shows how different some butterflies appear from above and below.

Chinese Mantid (Tenodera aridifolia)       Introduced

The Chinese mantid is a meat-eating predator of other insects. The fore legs have spines used to snatch their food. The way the fore legs are held gives each of the mantid species the appearance of praying. Like the praying mantis, the Chinese mantid was introduced into the United States over a century ago. A third species, the Carolina mantis, is native to this region. While they consume insects considered harmful, Chinese mantids also eat good ones such as butterflies and bees. Their long, thin bodies can be as much as five inches long. The photo shows the insect with its nimble head turned toward the camera. These predators may be lurking in yards and gardens as well as natural areas.

Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus)                 Native

The life story of the monarch is compelling. The fragile insect migrates from Canada and the United States to Mexico. Its diet and digestive system are unusual and result in protection from predators. Consumption by the caterpillar of the normally toxic juice of milkweed leaves makes the monarch distasteful to birds that enjoy feasting on other butterflies. The egg, photographed on the hairy underside of a milkweed leaf, is about double the size of an aphid.

Ailanthus Webworm Moth (Atteva punctella)         Introduced

The larvae are webworms, living in a colony in a communal web primarily in ailanthus (tree of Heaven) trees, which are exotic to North Carolina. The adult resembles a beetle with its wings closed and is active in daytime. This species may have been introduced or invaded from South America after the Ailanthus tree became common in the eastern US.

Luna Moth (Actias luna) Native

This large moth, seen in the photo just emerged from its cocoon and before taking its first flight, appears to have “eyes” on its wings. The long, twisted “tails” on the wings are distinctive. The larvae eat foliage of sweetgum, hickory, and other deciduous trees on the Museum Park.

Red-spotted Purple (Lemenitis arthemis)  Native

This colorful butterfly is common in the South during late summer. Adults frequent mud puddles and are often found dead along roads. Larvae are attracted to the Park’s black cherry trees. The red spots are less numerous on the upper surfaces than below.

Common Checkered Skipper (Pyrgus communis)

Males of this common skipper protect their territories and will chase away other flying animals. Host plants are members of the mallow family such as hibiscus and wild mallows.

Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus)          Native

Skippers are butterflies that dash or “skip” from flower to flower. This family of many species shares some characteristics with moths. Skippers do have tiny knobs on their antennae, which help distinguish butterflies from moths. Some are more likely than true butterflies to fold their wings when feeding on flower nectar. This habit is helpful for Silver-spotted Skipper watchers because the irregular silvery-white spot is only on the underside of the hindwing. Their caterpillars’ favorite foods are leaves of the pea family such as the Black Locust trees around the Park.

Widow Skimmer (Libellula luctuosa)        Native

The black and white bands on the wings identify this dragonfly as a widow skimmer. Several other species of skimmers share the genus with this one, including the common whitetail, which can be observed almost any warm summer day at the Museum Pond. Skimmers are strong fliers and may even mate on the wing. They defend feeding territories around their favorite ponds, where they deposit their eggs in the water.

Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes)

Black swallowtails are known for caterpillars hosted on foliage of umbellifera plants (parsley family, including carrot/Queen Anne’s Lace and garden herbs). This family of plants grows its seeds in umbels.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus)           Native

Swallowtails, so named because the appendages of their wings resemble the tail feathers of swallows, are large butterflies. The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail is one of the most common and recognizable insects. They are happy in the Park because their caterpillars find their favorite foods in abundance: Tulip Tree and Black Cherry leaves. While most individuals are tiger-colored, some females are mostly black. The color and configuration of the rows of spots must be observed to distinguish them from the black swallowtail.

Garden Webworm (Achyrarantalis)        Native

Garden Webworm moths lay their eggs on a variety of field plants, where the caterpillars spin webs around themselves and munch on leaves. The one in the photo is living on Dogbane leaves, which grow on the Museum Green Trail and in the prairie. While their color may vary from yellowish to green, the triangle of black spots on both sides of each segment identify this caterpillar.