Observations by ellen5 on May 27, 2019
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Reticulate-seeded Spurge Euphorbia spathulataObserver
ellen5Description
abundant
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Spotted Cucumber Beetle Diabrotica undecimpunctataObserver
ellen5Description
two examples
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Texas Horned Lizard Phrynosoma cornutumObserver
ellen5Description
biggest one I've ever seen
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Spiders Order AraneaeObserver
ellen5Description
Wish i had noticed at the time the nicely camouflaged spider hiding within the flowers i was photographing
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White-stem Evening-Primrose Oenothera albicaulisObserver
ellen5Description
abundant
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Woolly Plantain Plantago patagonicaObserver
ellen5Description
Hope you can make it out
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Thread-waisted Wasps Family SphecidaeObserver
ellen5Description
quick red wasp, very roughly 1.5 cm in length by comparison to the bladderpod
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Subgenus ParacentrisObserver
ellen5Description
With a great buzzing, this bee sort of scouted the area a bit, then got down to the buzzy business of digging into the soil.
Photos are time-sequential. The very last one gives perhaps the best view of the clypeus
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Spur-throated Grasshoppers Subfamily MelanoplinaeObserver
ellen5Description
blue tibia
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Flies Order DipteraObserver
ellen5Description
same plant as preceding observation, but i'm not certain whether it's the same fly
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Plains Yucca Yucca campestrisObserver
ellen5Description
inflorescence rising well above the rosette of leaves, and with long branches
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Subtribe OncotylinaObserver
ellen5Description
Small bug, roughly 3 mm in length, inside a yucca blossom.
Some relative of these, i think:
https://bugguide.net/node/view/1332838
https://bugguide.net/node/view/283353/bgimage
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Twist Spine Prickly Pear Opuntia tortispinaObserver
ellen5Description
best guess
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Silverleaf Nightshade Solanum elaeagnifoliumObserver
ellen5Description
Ordinarily 5-fold radial symmetry; SEINet admits to occasional 4-fold symmetry. Here are examples of both 4- and 6-fold (!!) symmetric flowers.
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Indian Blanket Gaillardia pulchellaObserver
ellen5Description
Not sure why most of the petals are sliced off, but i wonder if they've been eaten.....the rest of the plant, and neighboring plants, seem to be comparatively unaffected.
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Western Spotted Orbweaver Neoscona oaxacensisObserver
ellen5Description
At sunup these webs were easy to spot, and were quite abundant.
ID according to the characteristic black dashes remarked upon on the BG species page, e.g. https://bugguide.net/node/view/602890
Ventral views also a good match
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Rough Harvester Ant Pogonomyrmex rugosusObserver
ellen5Description
The harsh light is somewhat deceptive; these ants are black in front, red in back
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Plains Beebalm Monarda pectinataObserver
ellen5Description
Branching habit
Bracts not recurved, not pink
etc.
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Black-tailed Jackrabbit Lepus californicusObserver
ellen5Description
On the site of a collapsed prairie dog colony
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Bronzed Cowbird Molothrus aeneusObserver
ellen5Description
two in the photographs; there may have been more present
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Common Buckeye Junonia coeniaObserver
ellen5Description
Can't figure this guy out from the available information. My impression at the time was of a cocoa-brown butterfly such as a buckeye, but that seems a bad match for these photos
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Dainty Sulphur Nathalis ioleObserver
ellen5Description
nectar plants: Physaria gordonii, Aphanostephus ramosissimus
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Cassin's Sparrow Peucaea cassiniiObserver
ellen5Description
Is this a Cassin's?
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Subfamily ProdoxinaeObserver
ellen5Description
Many of these moths hiding inside yucca blossoms
www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/pollinator-of-the-month/yucca_moths.shtml
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Horned Seablite Suaeda calceoliformisObserver
ellen5Description
compare with second example:
www.inaturalist.org/observations/26570352
and contrast with:
www.inaturalist.org/observations/26570076
All in same habitat.
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Little Cat's-Eye Cryptantha minimaObserver
ellen5Description
leafy along the flower spike, distinguishing this from C. crassipela
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Bullock's Oriole Icterus bullockiiObserver
ellen5Description
Awfully difficult to make this bird out; i can only tell you that adult Bullock's were present in this and a nearby tree.
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Bees Epifamily AnthophilaObserver
ellen5Description
Too fast for my lowly camera
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Bordered Patch Chlosyne laciniaObserver
ellen5Description
This little patch was quite a bully toward all the butterflies flocking to Engelmannia blossoms
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Common Nighthawk Chordeiles minorObserver
ellen5Description
my recollection is of 6 or 8 nighthawks wheeling around
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Fineleaf Fournerved Daisy Tetraneuris linearifoliaObserver
ellen5Description
leaves ascend part way up the stem, not all basal as in T. scaposa
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Fineleaf Fournerved Daisy Tetraneuris linearifoliaObserver
ellen5Description
A broad expanse covered with these flowers, and not a lot else.
Last photo is of the soil, suggesting a recent burn.
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Horned Seablite Suaeda calceoliformisObserver
ellen5Description
a woody example
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Gilia Beardtongue Penstemon ambiguusObserver
ellen5Description
First time i've found these in Texas
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Reakirt's Blue Echinargus isolaObserver
ellen5Description
Nectar plants: Xanthisma spinulosum, Teucrium laciniatum
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Silvius pollinosusObserver
ellen5Description
A determined biter, whose bites aren't too painful at the time. Abundant on this particular visit.
This fly looks identical to a lone observation identified as Silvius jeanae: www.inaturalist.org/observations/8182442
It's not clear to me, though, how that species is to be distinguished from S. pollinosus, whose GBIF distribution seems to keep it in the running.
Silvius seems incompletely represented on BugGuide, and I'm having difficulty finding lay resources for this genus.
Help!
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New World Blackbirds and Orioles Family IcteridaeObserver
ellen5Description
Some kind of blackbird in the tree with Bullock's oriole
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Bullock's Oriole Icterus bullockiiObserver
ellen5Description
Immature male
Audio features some oriole chatter
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Northern Mockingbird Mimus polyglottosObserver
ellen5Description
Mockingbird contributes most of what's heard in the audio, over some oriole chatter
