Very docile, once they settled down. Tended to drop to the ground if disturbed (perhaps a defense mechanism against bats?), but happy to perch on a finger. Picked this one up and placed on this leaf for a nice photo op. Wingspan 8 cm.
Best viewed large
Nymph, 7.5 mm long.
Tiny little thing growing as a lawn weed in sandy soil.
Spotted this improbably beautiful flower one morning on my walk to the train, growing in a gap between the brick walkway and a lightpost. But it only has 1 flower at a time, & they only last the morning. So I stalked it for weeks, watching to see if it had buds that looked about to bloom, and toting my camera & trying to leave early for the train if it did.
I love the seed capsule, too -- that's a developing one next to the flower, & a couple of mature ones out of focus below.
IDed on BugGuide by Lloyd Gonzales via Roger Rohrbeck. We are ~0.5 km from the Raritan Estuary here.
An early spring species typically found near sandy lakes & ponds (as here, probably a couple hundred meters from Helmetta Pond).
Andy Hamilton says Ceresa lutea is "the common eastern 'hornless' species with dark legs", & confirms the ID on this specimen. On Bracken Fern in pine barrens understory. Seriously camouflaged -- apparently this sp. feeds on lots of other plants, but it sure looks perfectly designed to resemble one of the fern leaflets!
