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Acalymma vittatum: Called a cucumber beetle because of its preferred food in both larval and adult forms,
it enjoys the cucurbitacins cucumbers have developed as a herbivore defense. This one was on one of my Lilium.
Length 5 mm.
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Cicindela sexguttata: This tiger beetle is unmistakable. As you can see from its massive trademark white jaws,
it lives by eating other insects. Length 12 mm.
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Coccinella septempunctata: Both the adults and the larvae of this ladybug are voracious predators of aphids.
It has been repeatedly introduced to North America from its native Europe as a biological control agent to reduce
aphid numbers. Length 5 mm.
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Dyschirius dejeanii: This little beetle is a subterranean burrower, as its massive front leg muscles show.
Length 3 mm.
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Harmonia axyridis: This ladybug beetle was introduced by the USDA from eastern Asia to control aphids on
commercially valuable crops. After numerous attempts over half a century, they finally succeeded in the late 1980's.
Soy farmers are grateful, but the alien now so outnumbers our native ladybugs that I hardly see any of them any more.
Length 6 mm.
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Harpalus affinis: The larvae of this ground beetle feed on small soil invertebrates; adults feed on seeds,
particularly of grasses, Apiaceae and Asteraceae. Length 10 mm.
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Lilioceris lilii: These red-orange beetles appear in May and head straight for the nearest Liliaceae. Native
to Europe and Asia, they arrived in Canada about 1945. They are quick to dodge, but are picked off when spotted.
The larvae are gooey black gobs that carry their excrement on their backs to deter predators. They eat Lilium
to death and are too unpleasant to squash, so a 1¼% pyrethrum-free insecticidal soap solution
is relied on to get rid of them. Length 12 mm.
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Lygaeus kalmii: Milkweed beetles, as the name implies, usually frequent Asclepias in the nearby
meadow, but this one is on Taraxacum officinale. Length 10 mm.
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Meloe niger: Blister beetles are flightless, and discharge oils that blister skin when threatened. Adults
emerge en mass and live only long enough to mate and lay eggs. They
disperse by mimicry: the young
larvae climb up a plant stem and form a cluster that
smells like a female bee.
When the male bee is fooled, they climb aboard, transfer to a female when the male locates a real one, then end up in
the female's burrow eating the pollen and honey stored by the bee for its own larvae, pupating, finally climbing out
to repeat the cycle. It's all encoded in their DNA. Incredible! Length 30 mm.
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Nicrophorus: Burying beetles bury small insects and larvae as food for their larvae. Length 12 mm.
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Orus dentiger: One of the rove beetles (not in Oxypodini below). Length 2.5 mm.
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Oxypodini: These little rove beetles stand out with their sharply-upcurved abdomen. Most are predators of
other insects and live under leaf litter or mulch. Length 3 mm.
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Phyllophaga: These scarab beetles, often called June bugs, eat leaves as adults and grass roots as larvae.
Length 16 mm.
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Popillia japonica: Japanese beetles appear in mid-July, to the torment of those who insist on lawns that look like
plastic. Adults are easily identified by the tufts of white hairs around the abdomen, the grubs feed on grass roots. I'm
no longer worried about things that eat grass, having gotten rid of it, so ignore them. Native to Japan as the name
implies, they arrived in Eastern Canada in 1939. Length 10 mm.
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Tetraopes tetrophthalmus: One of the milkweed beetles, this one's larvae feed exclusively on Asclepias syriaca,
abundant in the nearby meadow. Length 12 mm.
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Anthomyiidae: The larvae of most of this family feed on plant roots, the adults on nectar and pollen; the
adults are important pollinators. This one is a genus other than Phorbia (below). Body length 6 mm.
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Bibionidae: March flies have split eyes; they can look both up and down at the same time. Body length 9 mm.
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Calliphora vomitoria: This blowfly feeds on decaying meat and feces both as adult and larva. Length 12 mm.
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Bombylius major: This bee fly lives off nectar, in my case Forsythia blooms; it can hover in front of a
flower and feed with its long proboscis. Wing span 20 mm.
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Drosophila immigrans: This tiny fruit fly is attracted to over-ripe or rotten fruit, but doesn't damage
produce. Originally from east Asia, it has spread world-wide over the past century. It can only survive Ottawa
winters indoors so is rare in the spring; needing only 14 days from laid egg to egg-laying female, it is
abundant by autumn. Length 2 mm.
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Helophilus fasciatus: Syrphid flies use mimicry to dissuade their enemies, most looking like stinging
Hymenoptera as this one does. The adults live off nectar and pollen, larvae are aquatic. Length 14 mm.
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Hybomitra: One of the horse flies, it gathers in groups hovering above the ground in shafts of sunlight
around the Thuja occidentalis waiting for a female to appear.
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Leschenaultia: Body length 13 mm.
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Lucilia illustris: Blow fly larvae are important recyclers of dead animals; adults can always be found on
Solidago once it is in bloom. Some infest living animals, but this one's larvae live solely on dead tissue.
Body length 7 mm.
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Nephrotoma virescens: This crane fly, unlike most, is a vigorous flyer. Body length 14 mm.
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Orthocladiinae: These midges resemble black flies but they don't bite. They hover in groups of males waiting
for a female to appear. Wing span 6 mm.
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Phorbia: One of the Anthomyiidae. Length 6 mm.
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Pollenia rudis: Cluster flies are imports from Europe. They are one of the first flies to appear in spring
because they overwinter as adults. They lay eggs in moist soil, then the larvae burrow to find (European) earthworms
on which to feed. Length 8 mm.
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Rhagionidae: Snipe flies suck plant juices or body fluids of other insects; a few feed on animal blood. Their
larvae mostly live in decaying wood and eat small invertebrates. This one may be Rhagio mystaceus. Length 7 mm.
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Rhampomyia: This dance fly female swarms to attract males, opposite to usual dipteran behaviour.
Length 4 mm.
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Tanytarsini: These little non-biting midges appear as scraps of white fluff when flying. Length 1.6 mm.
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Tipulidae: Crane fly adults exist entirely to reproduce, most are weak filers and are incapable of eating.
Their larvae eat grass roots.
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Aphis maculatae: Spotted Poplar Aphids, as the name implies, are normally found on Populus but overwinter on
Cornus. Regrettably I didn't record the host plant of these, but it was neither.
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Asopinae: Both adult and nymph of these stink bugs prey on caterpillars and beetle larvae.
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Ceratagallia humilis: These active leaf hoppers are widespread in Canada. Length 2 mm.
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Gerridae: Water striders are present in my small pond most of the summer. This one is checking out an ant grub
thrown in the water.
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Neolecanium cornuparvum: This scale insect begins to coat magnolia trees locally in early August. It is our
largest scale and very visible against the grey bark. They weaken the tree, so while it is getting established the
larger ones are squashed in situ, the small ones that don't have enough inside them to squash are rubbed into the bark.
Female diameter 10 mm.
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Uroleucon obscuricaudatus: These aphids appear late July by the thousands on Helenium helianthoides. Red
aphids have acquired the ability to synthesize red carotenoids by incorporating a gene from fungi; they are the only
known member of the animal kingdom with this ability. Not only that, when they die they turn jet black but maintain
their feeding posture so you think you still have an infestation! Neat bugs. However, in these numbers they will weaken
any plant, so an occasional spray of insecticidal soap followed a few hours later by a blast from a hose nozzle to wash
them off is used to keep them acceptably under control. Winged adult body length 3 mm.
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Agapostemon texanus: These bees are attracted to the salt in human sweat, hence referred to as
sweat bees. This is one of the most common metallic greens here. Length 10 mm.
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Aleiodes: Mummy wasps lay their eggs within host eggs. When the host caterpillar hatches, so does the wasp.
The caterpillar cadaver remains intact and identifiable as the Aleiodes larva feeds and eventually
pupates inside the caterpillar leaving the host mummy intact after the adult wasp emerges. Length 4 mm.
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Andrena rugosa: These bees usually collect pollen as food and often fail to pollinate the flower. They are
my commonest bee. Length 9 mm.
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Apis mellifera: Honey bees were brought from Europe in the 1600's, later from other locations in Asia and
Africa. Besides producing honey, hives are transported to pollinate field and orchard crops, then moved out before
pesticide spraying resumes. This one may have come from a backyard apiary, if so it must be a fair distance away
as they aren't common here. Length 12 mm.
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Arenetra: This little male wasp doesn't sting. It uses its long antennae to listen for females to mate
with; the females use theirs to listen for prey to lay eggs in. Length 20 mm.
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Bombus impatiens: Bumblebees nest in several places in my garden, an advantage of zero tillage. They can
always be found collecting nectar from Clematis tangutica when it's in bloom. Worker length 10-15 mm.
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Bombus ternarius: This bumblebee is rarely seen in my garden. Presumably the resident B.impatiens discourage
them from staying. Length 12 mm.
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Camponotus noveboracensis: This ant is common in wet places and moist rotting wood such as in my bog garden.
Length 7 mm.
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Dolerus nitens: The earliest sawfly to appear here, this one is so covered in sticky Forsythia
pollen that it couldn't fly. No other insects visiting Forsythia here have this problem. Length 10 mm.
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Formica fusca: This is my primary front garden ant. Experts disagree as to whether it is one species or up
to half a dozen; meanwhile it just keeps piling sand up around its nest entrances no matter what we say.
Length 4 mm.
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Halictus rubicundus: A solitary bee here, nesting in the ground; it's social in warmer climates.
Length 11 mm.
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Lasius alienus: This is a common ant in my back garden; the thorax shape is distinctive. Length 2 mm.
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Lasioglossum fuscipenne: This is a eusocial bee - each nests in its own burrow but chooses places near
others of its species. Length 6 mm.
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Megarhyssa atrata: This magnificent wasp stopped by briefly, I've never seen one with such a long ovipositor
before or since. Ichneumon wasps locate a grub buried deep in rotting wood, drill in to it and lay their egg in it.
After the larva has eaten the grub, it knows how to get out. Incredible technology! This one concentrates on Siricid
larvae. Ovipositor length 140 mm.
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Monostegia abdominalis: These caterpillar-like larvae appear early June in their thousands to strip Lysimachia
nummularia bare - they also target Oenothera macrocarpa here. They are called sawflies from the action of the females'
ovipositors, but are stingless Hymenoptera, wasps without a wasp waist. The larvae are far too numerous to ignore their
damage or to turn them
into goldfish food, so those easily accessible are picked off into a bucket then squashed underfoot on the driveway.
The larvae curl up into a ball and drop as soon as they sense a physical disturbance nearby, and reappear in several
waves throughout the summer, so it's an ongoing process. Native to Europe, this species was first recorded in Canada
in Ottawa in 1965, feeding on Lysimachia nummularia (also native to Europe); mine is apparently the first record of it
feeding on a native Oenothera. Larvae length 20 mm, adult 8 mm.
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Myrmica americana: The wrinkled dorsum separates this species from others locally. Its nests are usually
soil chambers at the roots of grasses; the area it was collected was grass until mid-summer last. Length 5 mm.
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Nomada maculata: Cuckoo bees lay their eggs in ground-nesting bee burrows for others to raise. Length 8 mm.
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Ophion: These ichneumon wasps are one of the most common parasites of caterpillars here. They are attracted
to porch lights. Length 15 mm.
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Polistes dominula: This paper wasp originated in Europe and eats a wide variety of insects here.
Length 15 mm.
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Alypia octomaculata: Eight-spotted Foresters are found in spring wherever there is Parthenocissus quinquefolia
for their larvae. Wing span 30 mm
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Carterocephalus palaemon: Arctic Skippers are uncommon visitors in early June; their larvae grow on grasses such
as Bromus inermis that is plentiful in the nearby meadow. Wing span 30 mm.
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Danaus plexippus: Monarchs appear mid-June as Asclepias syriaca begins to bloom in the neighbouring
meadow and continue to visit throughout the summer. They work their way north from winter
hibernation sites in Mexico in three generations; the 4th generation flies all the way back to hibernate.
Silphium perfoliatum is their favourite in my garden. Wing span 100 mm.
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Euphydryas phaeton: Baltimores are rare visitors late June and early July; their larval preference Chelone
glabra isn't found nearby. Wing span 60 mm.
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Feniseca tarquinius: Harvesters are unique in North America in that the adults feed mostly on woolly aphid sugar
excretions while the larvae are carnivorous on woolly aphids themselves. It's believed that they smell like aphids
to deter attacks by ants that normally protect aphids from predators. They appear late May, then mid-July to mid-August.
Wing span 25 mm.
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Glaucopsyche lygdamus: Silvery Blues visit mid-May to late June, and are usually seen settled on the ground to
sun themselves. Their larvae grow on Fabaceae, common in the nearby meadow. Wing span
30 mm.
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Limenitis arthemis: White Admirals are rare visitors mid-June through July. Their larvae grow on Betula which is
not common locally due to unsightly defoliation by Fenusa pusilla. Wing span 90 mm.
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Lycaena phlaeas: Little Coppers visit mid-June and late August; its larvae feed on Rumex, several
of which are plentiful in the nearby meadow. Wing span 25 mm.
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Megalographa biloba: This moth is a migrant here; its larvae love huge monoculture fields of lettuce.
Wing span 40 mm.
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Mythimna unipuncta: The one-spot moth is common at porch lights throughout North America, the larvae
feed on most plants. Body length 20 mm.
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Nymphalis antiopa: Mourning Cloaks are the earliest butterfly to appear here, sometimes as early as the first
week of April since they overwinter as adults. Their larvae feed on Salix and related genera. The bright yellow of
their wings fades fast, as in this example. Wing span 70 mm.
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Orthonama obstipata: A geometer moth that is at the northern part of its range here. Its larvae feed mostly
on Asteridae. Wing span 14 mm.
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Papilio glaucus: Tiger Swallowtails fly by during June; their larvae mostly grow on Rosaceae,
common in non-yellow gardens here. Wing span 120 mm.
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Phyciodes cocyta: Northern Pearl Crescents visit June to early September; their larvae grow on the plentiful
Asteraceae in the nearby meadow. Wing span 35 mm.
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Pieris rapae: Cabbage Whites are native to Europe, first appeared in North America in Quebec in the
1860s and are now ubiquitous across the continent. They appear here early May and are common well into September.
Wing span 50 mm.
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Polygonia interrogationis: Question Marks are rare visitors; their larvae mostly grow on
Urtica, which is uncommon locally. Wing span 70 mm.
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Plutella xylostella: Plutellidae are uniquely identified by the long forward tufts on the second segment of
the labial palps. Diamondback moths originated from the Mediterranean but have now spread world wide to wherever
glucosinolate-containing Cruciferae grow, especially Brassica oleracea (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale,
Brussels sprouts). Wing span 14 mm.
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Pyrrharctia isabella: Woolly Bear larvae eat a wide variety of grasses and leaves and overwinter as caterpillars,
when they survive by producing glycerol in their tissues
as an antifreeze. In the spring they thaw out, then look for a place to pupate, as this one is doing. Adults, known as
Isabella Tiger Moth, live only a few days so are rarely seen. Length 35 mm.
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Syndemis afflictana: Larvae of this leaf roller moth feed on conifers, birches and willows.
Wing span 20 mm.
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Vanessa atalanta: The leading edge of the earliest and largest migration of Red Admirals on record:
17 April 2012. They stayed for several weeks feeding on Ribes nigra and R.aurea blooms.
Wing span 45 mm.
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Zanclognatha pedipilalis: A normally nocturnal moth that flies from May through August. The larvae feed on dead
leaves. Wing span 28 mm.
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