
Photos / Sounds
What
Red-tailed Hawk Buteo jamaicensisObserver
tristanmcknightDescription
Driving through the mountains, we spooked a golden eagle that was perching on a forest service road. When it took off, it dropped this impressive mostly-dead rattler and then perched nearby to watch us (see second photo). Note how the head was mauled, but within a few minutes this snake scared us all by starting to rattle, then starting to slither, then trying to eat every rock in his agony-laden path.
This observation is for the eagle, the rattlesnake can be found here: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/20929871

Observer
tristanmcknightDescription
Lots of these perching on twig tips in the floodplain of the river in the evening and then the next day. Years ago I keyed the specimens out as Holopogon nigripennis, but I ought to double check that (since it was the early days of my robber fly experience).
TAM_255, CRN_9934, MAIS_2011071601

What
Lasiopogon actiusObserver
tristanmcknightDescription
Typical on the beach dunes of OR and WA. They usually perch on bare dry sand between vegetation clumps, especially around the first dune, not down by the water.
TAM_335. Specimens collected and sequenced.

What
Lasiopogon canningsiObserver
tristanmcknightDescription
Lots of these on the sandy beaches (upper, by the plants, not down by the water) of extreme northern California. Closely related to L. bivittatus, but darker overall (and with a different shape in the male genitalia).
TAM_328. Specimens collected and sequenced.

What
Lasiopogon canningsiObserver
tristanmcknightDescription
Lots of these on the sandy beaches (upper, by the plants, not down by the water) of extreme northern California. Closely related to L. bivittatus, but darker overall (and with a different shape in the male genitalia).
TAM_328. Specimens collected and sequenced.

What
Lasiopogon sierraObserver
tristanmcknightPlace
Little Cow Creek, Hwy 299 turnoff 4.2 km SW jct Oak Run Road, Shasta Co., CA, USA (Google, OSM)Description
At first I thought these western populations of L. sierra were different from the ones on the east slopes of the sierras, but their genitalia are the same. They're not always on rocks, sometimes open sand, too. And at night they go roost in the low willows (I found some near sunset one night).
TAM_325. Specimens collected and sequenced.

Photos / Sounds
What
Lasiopogon sierraObserver
tristanmcknightDescription
Lots of these perching on boulders in the river here and at Verdi. I think I got some with caddisfly prey, among other things.
TAM_322. Specimens collected and sequenced.

What
Lasiopogon gabrieliObserver
tristanmcknightDescription
Several of these in mountain washes of southern California, usually perching on sticks or rocks, but sometimes on bare sand. Black mystax, rich brown colored scutum tomentum, and very curved epandrium help ID.
TAM_395. Specimens collected and sequenced.

What
Lasiopogon gabrieliObserver
tristanmcknightDescription
Several of these in mountain washes of southern California, usually perching on sticks or rocks, but sometimes on bare sand. Black mystax, rich brown colored scutum tomentum, and very curved epandrium help ID.
TAM_395. Specimens collected and sequenced.

What
Lasiopogon drabicolaObserver
tristanmcknightDescription
Lots of these out on the sand of the Santa Ana River near Mt. Rubidoux. I got three with this little scarab beetle prey.
TAM_391. Specimen in collection, others sequenced.

Observer
tristanmcknightPlace
Big South Fork Cumberland River, Hwy 297 at Leatherwood Crossing, 8 mi W of Oneida, Scott Co., Tennessee, USA (Google, OSM)Description
Perching on a boulder in the river. Lots of L. appalachensis out, and we also got one L. chrysotus, but between the two you can tell this is appalachensis by how narrow the grey bands on the tergites are. To separate from the darker L. schizopygus is harder, usually I need to look at the genitalia.
TAM_409. Specimens collected and sequenced.

What
Lasiopogon albidusObserver
tristanmcknightPlace
Juniper Dunes Wilderness, N entrance, 18 mi NE of Pasco, Franklin Co., Washington, USA (Google, OSM)Description
Yeah, another not-so-great photo, but at least this one is fairly diagnostic if you know the species. Dusty grey Lasiopogon with slightly milky white wings and mostly fine hairs (not bristles) living in inland dunes of the PNW. There was a very good population here in the Juniper Dunes wilderness.
TAM_576. Specimens collected and sequenced.

Photos / Sounds
What
Lasiopogon shermaniObserver
tristanmcknightPlace
Little River jct Burnt Tanyard Rd, 3.5 mi S of Salem (direct), sandy forest trail, Oconee County, SC, USA (Google, OSM)Description
Yeah, I know these pictures aren't really good enough to identify, but I figured it would be useful to share these just to get the species on the web-- this was the first time anyone had caught this species in decades! (I've since found them in another site.) You can't really see it here, but L. shermani have a reddish tint to their genitalia and their legs (tibiae, base of femur).
The L. shermani were up on the sandy / leaf littery forest trail and along a seep up there, well above the main river. Along the actual main river banks (both pure sand and rocky) you mostly got a different species (L. schizopygus).
TAM_705c. Specimens collected and sequenced.

What
Lasiopogon puyallupiObserver
tristanmcknightDescription
One of the many places around the Puget Sound area where I've tried hunting for the elusive Lasiopogon pugeti. Never did find them, but got lots of this species (L. puyallupi). This was originally described as a subspecies of L. willamettii, which was elevated to species in my 2020 revision with Rob Cannings.
TAM_784. Specimens collected and sequenced (used for the phylogeny).

What
Stichopogon catulusObserver
tristanmcknightPlace
East Verde River @ Flowing Springs campsite, 4 mi N of Payson, Gila County, AZ, USA (Google, OSM)Description
Tons of Stichopogon catulus out at this site (I see at least four in this shot!) They're tiny little bluish-grey flies.
TAM_737. Specimens collected.

Observer
tristanmcknightDescription
Lots of these Rhadiurgus variabilis perching on the trees and rocks at this site high up (elev. 3257 m) on this mountain. There were also Lasiopogon aldrichii, two species of Cyrtopogon, and a Cophura (that's what my notes say, but I'd better double check that ID!) out here that day.
TAM_821. Specimens collected.

Observer
tristanmcknightDescription
I didn't know there were Mygalomorphs in Michigan! Found this lovely spider running on the trail of the Arboretum. Carried it back to the lab in Ruthven in my hat to show folks, so it probably ended up in the collection (I'm not sure right now).

What
Dusky Slugs Subgenus MesarionObserver
tristanmcknightDescription
A bunch of frogs had died on the gravel road through Glenmeal (my guess is someone must have driven through on a rainy day when there was a lot of migration?) Various scavengers were eating them, including this slug. I didn't know they scavenged dead things?
I also have pictures of silphid beetle larvae eating them.

Photos / Sounds
What
Burying and Carrion Beetles Family SilphidaeObserver
tristanmcknightDescription
A bunch of frogs had died on the gravel road through Glenmeal (my guess is someone must have driven through on a rainy day when there was a lot of migration?) Various scavengers were eating them, notably these carrion beetle larvae. I also have a picture of a slug eating one.

Photos / Sounds
What
Cyrtopogon faltoObserver
tristanmcknightPlace
Snow Bowl State Forest, 4 km SE Colton, forest and openings around sandy blowout, St Lawrence County, NY, USA (Google, OSM)Description
There were a bunch of Cyrtopogon falto females ovipositing in this heathy area (the Cladonia and moss covered margins around an open sandy blowout in the middle of the forest, plenty of blueberries nearby, too). I took videos of a few in action, and photographs of this one.
TAM_1330b. Specimen in collection. I also tried digging up the sand to get the eggs but never found any.

What
Cyrtopogon lutatiusObserver
tristanmcknightPlace
Pierrepont, trailerhouse on CR 24 opposite Glenmeal SF, logging road to N, St Lawrence County, NY, USA (Google, OSM)Description
We find Cyrtopogon lutatius much less frequently than C. falto in the woods around our study sites, but there usually are a few each year. Almost always perching on downed logs. Here's a little female.
TAM_1316d.

What
Cyrtopogon faltoObserver
tristanmcknightPlace
Pierrepont, forest opposite Glenmeal State Forest on CR 24, St Lawrence County, NY, USA (Google, OSM)Description
There are always lots of Cyrtopogon falto in the forest around our study sites. Here's a female I came across wrestling with an Ichneumonid (I think, I'd better check) wasp prey for a few minutes. Lots of motion.
TAM_1318. I think this specimen was collected.

What
Oil Beetles Genus MeloeObserver
tristanmcknightDescription
Nice meloid on the path to the sandy blowout at the Snow Bowl. We left it.
TAM_1288b

What
Lasiopogon curraniObserver
tristanmcknightPlace
Snow Bowl State Forest, 4 km SE Colton, Cladonia openings S of sandy blowout, St Lawrence County, NY, USA (Google, OSM)Description
This is one of the sites where we've done mark-resighting studies on Lasiopogon currani. This is a great site for many types of robbers, and there's always a good hatch of these each spring in the margins around the big sandy blowout. Here's a male perching on a beech leaf. One easy character to tell it's currani is by the dark haltere knob (only species in the northeast with that).
TAM_1312a

Photos / Sounds
What
Asilella londtiObserver
tristanmcknightDescription
I caught a pair of what I've keyed out as Asilella londti. (Though I should probably double check this sometime, since that was in my early days of robber fly experience.) But sharing here so there are some public images of this taxon. Lovely flies! Riley should have nice photos of them; I just took these quick shots while waiting in my tent. Note that date and locality have been adjusted for where / when the flies were caught, not imaged.
TAM_264, CRN_9950, MAIS_2011072001. Specimen in collection.

What
Cyrtopogon anomalusObserver
tristanmcknightDescription
I was looking for a rare undescribed Lasiopogon that had been caught at this site. Never found them (just got boring old L. cinereus), but there were several of this weird Cyrtopogon perching by the river, too. They threw me for a real loop-- they're weird enough that they don't really match the gestalt of Cyrtopogon, but there's nothing else in the key that's better! They even have a weird curved spine at the tip of the fore tibia to throw you even further. Eventually, I asked Eric Fisher for help on the ID and he told me. He even said he'd once had a similar exchange with Joe Wilcox! Ha! So I guess this species really has earned it's name "anomalus"!
TAM_687. Specimen in collection. Note that locality and date have been adjusted to where / when the fly was caught, not photographed. Sorry for the funky color balance.

Photos / Sounds
What
Cyrtopogon anomalusObserver
tristanmcknightDescription
I was looking for a rare undescribed Lasiopogon that had been caught at this site. Never found them (just got boring old L. cinereus), but there were several of this weird Cyrtopogon perching by the river, too. They threw me for a real loop-- they're weird enough that they don't really match the gestalt of Cyrtopogon, but there's nothing else in the key that's better! They even have a weird curved spine at the tip of the fore tibia to throw you even further. Eventually, I asked Eric Fisher for help on the ID and he told me. He even said he'd once had a similar exchange with Joe Wilcox! Ha! So I guess this species really has earned it's name "anomalus"!
TAM_687. Specimen in collection. Note that locality and date have been adjusted to where / when the fly was caught, not photographed. Sorry for the funky color balance.

Photos / Sounds
Observer
tristanmcknightDescription
This is one of the paratype specimens included in the paper describing this new species. This image was even included in Fig 1 of the paper (open access, here: http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4306.4.7).
TAM_509. Note that date and locality have been adjusted to where/when the fly was caught, not the museum where it was imaged.

What
Ragged Nettlespurge Jatropha macrorhizaObserver
tristanmcknightDescription
I don't know plants well, but this seemed plausible when I was comparing to pictures.
Lots of this growing at different elevations in the canyon.
USA: Arizona: Santa Cruz Co., Temporal Canyon, near trailhead ~7 mi NW of Patagonia. TAM_1468.