Insects of Alberta 2

No, of course this gorgeous moth wouldn't land on a large, plain green leaf, LOL! Pretty good camouflage, though, on the gravel parking lot at Brown-Lowery Provincial Park. Saw it flying around, the moment I got out of my car a couple of days ago. Wondered at first if it might be a Red Admiral when I saw the bright splash of colour in the distance, but was happy when I saw that it was an Underwing Moth - only ever seen one of these once before, down in Weaselhead. A lovely treat, made even more so after I searched for fungi and found practically nothing : ) Looks like the mushroom season is well and truly over .... sigh. Time to see if there is a local branch of MA ( Mushrooms Anonymous), LOL. Usually, the Underwing Moth's distinctive colors are only displayed during flight and usually most Underwing Moths are active at night, spending the day resting upside down with their wings open against the bark of trees or stumps.

A tiny Lacewing insect species, seen during a day of botanizing at Patrick Brennan's ranch on 25th July. There are four or so species of Lacewings in Alberta, but I'm not sure which particular one this is. Lacewings are predators, eating mostly aphids. John Acorn, in his book "Bugs of Alberta", describes them as "beautiful, smelly and mean". en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysopidae

A few days ago, I was down on all fours, photographing a handful of dug-over, dried out Bird's-nest Fungi, when I happened to catch sight of this little Ladybug sitting on a shrivelled leaf. Like the Mountain Ash in my previous photo, this little Seven-spotted Ladybug is also a non-native species, which has unfortunately greatly reduced the numbers of our own native Ladybugs. Still pretty though, eh?

Dragonfly faces always make me smile, LOL! Their bodies just seem so complicated and intricate. This one was resting on a leaf down at Shannon Terrace, Fish Creek Park, on 17th September. Just realized - it doesn't appear to be holding on to anything to stay put!

Happened to notice this Hoverfly species sitting on a wild Coneflower petal at the top of Horseshoe Canyon, near Drumheller (the Badlands of Alberta, which is Dinosaur country!) on August 21st. I'm amazed it didn't fly off, the closer my lens got to it : )

This was one very friendly little butterfly! Talk about posing nicely for photos : ) Obviously it hadn't read the description of this species below, ha. Seen while we were botanizing the beautiful acreage belonging to Susan Wright (down south of Calgary, past Turner Valley). Wingspan: 34 to 52 mm. "A quick, active species that flits rapidly about its territory, often along a woodland road. It regularly alights on the ground or on a rock or tree with its wings spread flat. It feeds mostly on sap, rotting fruit, and animal dung, but is also seen nectaring on flowers." From www.cbif.gc.ca/spp_pages/butterflies/species/Milbert'sTor...

This very small caterpillar was hanging from the dried flowerhead of a grass. Noticed when we were on a slightly snowy walk in the Marshall Springs area of Fish Creek Park two days ago. When the birds seem to be in hiding, there's usually (but not always) something else to photograph. Moments later, we saw a couple of beautiful Coyotes in the distance. Does anyone happen to know what this little brown caterpillar will turn into?

I'm so glad that this photo appears sharper on Flickr than when I see it on my hard drive in My Pictures : ) Taken in a dark place, so the quality isn't good, but I can get away with it on the screen. No idea what this tiny bug/beetle is, climbing on a bright orange-capped Bolete mushroom. Found when I went for a walk on September 2nd at Bebo Grove, Fish Creek Park - when there were still mushrooms to be found, sigh ....