Thrips on Tarweed Flowers
Steve Deaver brought in a sample of tarweed from Valley Springs. We examined it under the microscope. Thrips were common, particularly on the flowers.
Fruit Fly
Fruit Fly. Shawmut Road, Chinese Camp area.
15 September 2020.
Specimen collected by Ryder Richards
Alate Queens of Lasius
Branden Runyan brought these specimens from a customer’s house in Dorrington.
Dr. Philip Ward identified then as alate queens, in the subfamily Formicinae, probably a species of Lasius.
11 September 2020
The Comanche Green Lacewing
9 September 2020
Angela Cordes found this tiny insect on her sleeve while sitting on a bench under a tree near our office. I asked Dr. Catherine Ann Tauber what the species might be (especially since we are looking for that possible lacewing species).
She said it is the “larva of Chrysoperla comanche – an unappreciated biological control agent in western USA, northern Mexico. It feeds on a variety of insect pests – e.g., aphids, scales, lepidopteran eggs, etc., and it is better in warm and dry habitats than other lacewings. It does not carry trash on its back, and it has never been reported to be associated with ants. It is not related to the earlier larvae with large trash packets. BTW: Chrysoperla formerly was in Chrysopa, but it now is recognized as different.”
