Insects of Alberta 2

At the end of two consecutive walks down in Weaselhead three days ago (the annual Dawn Chorus walk and then a bird group walk), I came across this little Seven-spotted Ladybug hugging a metal sign. "The Seven-spotted Lady Beetle is probably our most familiar Lady Beetle, being found in gardens, parks and natural areas across the continent. It wasn't always this way though - this, large, attractive beetle was brought over in the 1950's from Europe to the eastern US to supplement the aphid-eating prowess of the native lady beetles. This hardy alien has since spread across the continent. There is concern that this alien lady beetle is causing a decline in some native lady beetle species, particularly of the once common Transverse Lady Beetle. Are the robust Seven-spots out-competing the natives, eating the eggs of the natives, spreading disease or hybridizing with natives? No one knows for sure, but it is another cautionary example of the dangers of introducing alien species. One thing that ecologically conscientious gardeners can do is to refrain from buying alien species as biological controls and purchase native ones instead." talkaboutwildlife.ca/profile/index.php?s=1429

Love these small Police Car Moths (Gnophaela vermiculata) that look like old black-and-white police cars complete with orange lights on their heads. I was so happy to see one when we were botanizing J. Edworthy's acreage south of Calgary on 29th July. Totally forgot to turn off Conversion on my camera after using my macro lens, so my photos came out rather blurry. This was the best of the lot, though still a heavy crop.

Thanks to Susan, we were able to witness this female Subarctic Darner (Aeshna subarctica) with its disgarded nymph casing, when we were botanizing the Elkton Bog, near Cremona. Susan caught the last moment of it emerging, but the rest of us were able to see it resting and drying out before eventually flying off. I have a photo of just the casing that I will upload soon - quite amazing to see - almost looks like it's made of very thin copper. "The Subarctic Darner is restricted to Sphagnum bogs and deep fens that are dominated by aquatic moss. The moss need not be Sphagnum and the water not necessarily very acidic; other aquatic mosses such as Drepanocladus and Scorpidium are more commonly associated with this dragonfly....Eggs are laid directly into floating moss." From www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca .

When we were on a botanizing day at Elkton Bog, near Cremona (north west of Calgary) on 30th July, friend Susan spotted this empty Subarctic Darner nymph case on a low branch and right next to it was the newly emerged dragonfly, wings spread, drying out before flying away. I thought this empty shell was beautiful - almost looked like metal. I uploaded a photo of the Dragonfly lying alongside the empty casing on 3rd August. This short video of how a nymph becomes a dragonfly is interesting to watch - just fast forward a few less interesting bits, or simply be patient : ) www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ezq_JWd1Sd8&feature=related

Not sure if this is simply a female Cherry-faced Meadowhawk or not. Not the best kind of photo for ID purposes, LOL. Seen on 30th July at the Elkton Bog, near Cremona, north west of Calgary. If you have a moment to spare, you can see the detail in the eyes in large size. Haven't looked at the Original size, as I never recommend that size taken with my camera : )

I didn't even notice this Harvestman (Daddy Long-legs) sprawled over a Poppy seedhead, until I got home and downloaded my photos : ) Seen at the Reader Rock Garden on 14th July. By the way, a Harvestman is neither a spider nor an insect. Holy smokes, 4:15 p.m. and we are in the middle of a huge thunder, rain and hail storm!!! SO glad I didn't follow through with my plan to go to the forest this afternoon. It's taken just a few minutes to turn the ground white! Incredible. talkaboutwildlife.ca/profile/?s=1494

This was a fascinating thing to see down at the bottom of Horseshoe Canyon, in the Badlands of Alberta, north east of the city. Several of us spent the day on 21st August botanizing the amazing area. This spider web was so different and very intricate, constructed down in the grass. Too bad the little (?) owner didn't show itself - maybe camera shy?

We were watching this little green Stink Bug (also called a Shield Bug), part way up the trail at Horseshoe Canyon a few days ago. This area is a 1 1/2 to 2 hour drive north east of Calgary, to the Badlands near Drumheller. Famous Dinosaur country : ) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentatomoidea

It was the colour of this little blue spider that caught my eye when we were walking one of the trails at Bow Valley Provincial Park on Saturday. Saw a photo of what appeared to be a similar spider, and the ID given was an Orbweaver, but I could be very wrong : )