Some new insect species for Rondeau, and some regulars

 I've been spending a bit more time than usual, on the search for insects visiting things like goldenrods or sunflowers, and that are not well represented at Rondeau. In the process, I have come across some species new to the park, and some that are even endangered! Certainly one of the highlights is this Zabulon Skipper, a new butterfly species for the park.

In no particular order are some of the others, both common and rare to endangered.

Common Eastern Bumble Bee

Common Aerial Yellowjacket

Banded Tussock Moth

Bald Faced Hornet

This next one isn't an insect, obviously, but it is a first for the park. It is Conifer Chicken of the Woods, which is found predominantly on coniferous trees. This was on a fallen White Pine trunk.

Decorated Mop (second record)

Next is a quite attractive fungus called Golden Oyster Mushroom. It is not native however.

Another fungus is this one called Wolf's Milk.

Eastern Yellowjacket

Next is a large caterpillar, of the Elm Sphinx moth. While Elm trees are almost non-existent in Rondeau, it is also associated with Basswood so there are lots of them.

Fall Webworm caterpillar

Hickory Tussock Moth caterpillar

Lemon Cuckoo Bumble Bee

Spiders are of interest, although I don't seek them out all that much. When I wander the trails, or just through the woods, I frequently run into their webs! This one is a Marbled Orbweaver, sometimes found tucked into a rolled up leaf at the edge of their web...

...or sometimes quite obviously out roaming around their web.

This next one is an endangered species, known as a Metric Paper Wasp

Much more common is this Northern Paper Wasp.....

...and a Silver-spotted Skipper sipping on the nectar of this American Hog-peanut.

This next one is fairly distinctive, although small. It is a type of Tachinid fly, with no common name but a long Latin name known as Xanthomelanodes arcuatus. It is the first record for Rondeau. It doesn't have any formal status, although there are very few records across southern Ontario.

Next is a Tufted Cluster Fly, another first for Rondeau.

I'll wrap up this post with a couple of bird species. First is a Hudsonian Godwit that has been hanging around the Keith McLean Conservation Lands fairly reliably over the last few days. It is well away from the closest vantage point, so only distant photos are possible.

The muddy island in the middle of the wetland is popular for shorebirds, including the godwit, but it is also a popular hunting ground for a Peregrine Falcon. It swoops and dives at high speed and makes getting a good photo challenging. These next two are the best I could get so far.

 

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A very rare butterfly, new for Chatham-Kent....

.....and a very rare one for anywhere in Ontario!

A few days ago, Marie was working around in our back yard as she often is. At one point, she popped her head in the back door, telling me that there was a butterfly on our chives, and that she thought it was a skipper. I left the computer, grabbed the camera and went out.

Good call, Marie....a skipper it was, but it wasn't one I was familiar with (there are a few that fit that category :-). I got a quick shot, bent down to get a different angle all the while looking through the viewfinder, and before I got a second shot, the skipper shot out of view. I quickly looked up, but the little rascal was nowhere to be seen.

I waited and watched, and combed through the rest of the yard hoping for another opportunity, but it wasn't to be. So I eventually gave up, went inside and downloaded the single image onto the computer. I checked what reference books I had, and tried to identify it. Even after looking through at least three books, the only one that seemed to match it was a male Zabulon Skipper.

It is rare in Ontario....very rare....could it be that one?

There is apparently a very small population on Pelee Island, and there have been a couple of records in neighbouring Essex County, primarily in the Ojibway area of Windsor. So I sent the image to Paul Pratt, naturalist extraordinaire and retired director of the city of Windsor's Ojibway Nature Centre who would be much more familiar with this species, as well as any similar skippers that I could be mixing it up with. Needless to say, I was pleased when he got back to me later in the day, agreeing with it as a Zabulon Skipper!

Zabulon Skipper

I believe this is the first record for Chatham-Kent, and likely the first one in Ontario beyond Essex County. It normally inhabits the southern, central and eastern US, barely reaching to southern Michigan on occasion. Undoubtedly this one blew in on some of the brisk south/southwesterly winds of a few days earlier.

This discovery has made me even more aware of that challenging group of butterflies known as skippers. So small, so similar to each other unless you get that angle with all the right views, that many of them remain as skipper spp. Without having the camera handy and getting in this one shot, successful identification would not have been made.

Note: an update to this post is forthcoming!