הזיהויים של tfandre

This one is for the wasp
Autumn Brings Goldenrod Beauty
Fall has its own beautiful wildflowers which let pollinators fuel up for the winter. Goldenrod was blooming along the lake shoreline. A wasp was enjoying the nectar at the top of the golden flowers.
Autumn Brings Goldenrod Beauty
Fall has its own beautiful wildflowers which let pollinators fuel up for the winter. Goldenrod was blooming along the lake shoreline. A wasp was enjoying the nectar at the top of the golden flowers.
Wasp id is confirmed in bugguide along with closer shots here: https://bugguide.net/node/view/2333270 @tfandre

This pretty snail turned out to be another snail lifer for me. I could not find much info on it but did get the id from a snail expert. Apparently, they are not very common & listed as vulnerable.
One more shot by my friend, Tracey can be seen here: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/83196544

Another Sugar Robber
There were several different kinds of large carpenter bees in the pollinator garden. And they were all busy robbing the salvia of its nectar without offering pollination services.

Another cicada lifer for me. I am amazed at how many different species of cicada DFW has.
Here are Tracey's shots of this same individual, we were together. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/90298392

Another Fourth Of July Grasshopper
I found this guy on a fence post in the pasture behind my daughter's land. Only the 2nd of this species I've seen & my first male. He was nice enough to pose briefly for me.
Male Two-Striped Grasshopper

White Rock lake, inside my car in parking lot of Winfrey Point
Photo 1:
Howdy!
I take a bucket of ice to keep my neck wrap cold until I need it. I had returned to my car and was going to get the wrap to cool down. Car windows had been cracked and someone had found the cold wet wrap. I was greeted by this adorable face. I guess she was hot and thirsty.
Photo 2:
Don't Forget To Get All Of Me
I had to get this shot to get the id confirmed later. This is my first female of this species. Smart bug, knows how to find cool water in hot summer conditions. This was in a prairie section of the lake grounds and not near water.
Bugguide confirmed id here: https://bugguide.net/node/view/1980274 @tfandre

This one is for the cottontail in front of the owl that the male delivered to his mate during the night. This is the species we have here, you can recognize the fur and see the cotton of the tail and it is their most common prey.

Grasshopper Lifer Drinking Tree Sap
This was a new species of grasshopper for me. So well camouflaged it is a wonder I saw it. It appears to be drinking the tree sap.

I was with Tracey, her observation of this individual is here: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/66002455
@tfandre

Look Who Was Sitting On The Railing
Of course, I could not pass up the opportunity to get a nice shot of him. His eyes match his wings.
Id confirmed in bugguide here: https://bugguide.net/node/view/2312396 @tfandre

It's Fall Webworm Time
These are all over the place right now. This one fell out of the tree above me onto the wooden bench I was doing stretches on.
id confirmed on bugguide here: https://bugguide.net/node/view/2311976 @tfandre

Photo 1:
Swarming Army Ants
This was a new species of ant for me. I noticed movement in leaf litter in the woods and investigated. A large amount of ants came swarming up from under the ground and leaves. There were both small worker ants and huge winged males. I took photos at a safe distance. This shot is a multitude of workers pouring out of a curled up leaf.
Photo 2:
One more shot of the boiling mess of ants, cropped closer. All workers again. These ants do not have permanent nests. They are nomadic and make temporary camps each night before moving on the next day. They stay underground most of their lives, coming out at night and cloudy days. Found these in a dark area of a woodlands that is a riparian forest.
Photo 3:
Common Army Ants
The ant on the left is one of the worker army ants. The huge, winged ant on the right is a male. In this shot his wings were a blur of motion although he never actually took off & flew.

The last 4 photos added to see if this can go to species. Regarding behavior, at first we thought the smaller ants were attacking what we thought were wasps coming up out of the ground. Later found out the "wasps" were the males. They were emerging from the ground with the workers running all over them while they did so. The males still had their wings so probably brothers to the workers. Read males from other colonies have their wings removed after they enter to mate with the queen. Kind of captive sperm bank? Anyway hopefully I got some detail that helps with species id.

Center Of The Web
This web was huge and stretched across a little game trail I was following. I literally had to duck under it to keep going. The bold spider never budged and stayed put. I was able to get a shot with spider and web lit up by sunshine with pretty greenery behind it. Like other nearby webs, there were tiny water droplets on each of the web spokes. And they sparkle.
ID confirmed on bugguide here: https://bugguide.net/node/view/2227074 @tfandre

Had a wonderful time with a group of naturalists documenting LOTS of things at this new nature preserve in Rockwall. All of this data will be used to guide management of this land by the city of Rockwall.

Spotted Orbweaver With A Snout & Bark Beetle Snack
She had just started wrapping up her meal so you could see enough of it to identify it as a big weevil. Look closely, you can see her shooting silk out of her spinnerets. The web was up in the sky above my head so practically invisible when shooting straight up. There is a smaller tidbit for dessert in the lower left of this shot.
I believe the weevil is in the genus lixus

ID confirmed in bugguide here: https://bugguide.net/node/view/2220576 @tfandre