Happy September! School is back in session, the days are getting shorter, and fall is creeping in with chilly mornings. But summer maintains a steadfast hold, and by noon each day, that sweater you threw on in the morning suddenly feels suffocatingly hot. There’s still plenty of bug activity in the afternoons, especially if you come by the recently opened Rocky Mountain Gardens. Get out there while you can!
Submit your bug pictures to bugid@missoulabutterflyhouse.org (and remember to include your name, the date, and the location where you took the photo)!
Header Photo: Darker-spotted Straw Moth (Heliothis phloxiphaga). Brenna Shea, September 4th, 2024. Rocky Mountain Gardens, Missoula, MT.
Pine White
Neophasia menapia
These beautiful butterflies are all over the place right now; you just need to look up. From August through September you will notice these white butterflies flying around the tops of pine trees, looking for mates. They range from British Columbia east to Alberta, south through Rocky Mountain states and California to Mexico. The females are much more noticeably “veined” than the males and usually have orange-red edges to the wings. While the adults will feed on flower nectar (as this one demonstrates), the caterpillars feed on ponderosa pine, Douglas fir and true fir trees.
RT Cox, September 4th, 2024. Upper Grant Creek, Missoula, MT.
Pink-faced Jewel Beetle
Buprestis lyrata
This beauty is a metallic wood-boring beetle or jewel beetle (family Buprestidae). This group is so-named because many of its members sport shiny, iridescent colors. Buprestis is a genus of 18 species, and the distinctive markings on the head give this individual away as a Pink-faced Jewel Beetle. The larvae bore through the wood of dead and dying trees in the Pine family, while the adults are often spotted on flowers or crawling over downed timber. The active adults and their meandering flat-headed larvae range throughout western North America and southwestern Canada.
Klara Briknarova, August 31st, 2024. Missoula, MT.
Western Tree Cricket
Oecanthus californicus
You may not have seen this cricket before, but you’ve undoubtedly heard them. Male tree crickets “sing” using their two front wings. A sharp edge or “scraper” is located on the upper surface of the lower wing and is rubbed against a row of bumps known as the “file” on the underside of the upper wing (view a scraper and file here). Chances are you’ve heard their loud chirp or trill before. Males have a cavity on their upper back, sometimes called a “honey pot.” They secrete a liquid into the pot that attracts females, who feed on the liquid. This act perfectly positions the female for mating.
Lisa Cloo, September 3rd, 2024. Clinton, MT.
Lyre-tipped Spreadwing
Lestes unguiculatus
The lyre-tipped spreadwing is a species of damselfly found zipping around ponds and slow-moving streams across north-central North America. The name comes from the unique lyre-shaped paraprocts or “claspers” on the end of the male’s abdomen. During mating, the male will clasp the female behind her head so the pair remain connected even in flight. If the female is receptive, she will lift her abdomen to connect with the male’s accessory genitalia, located just behind his thorax, and the pair wind up in a shape not dissimilar to a heart.
Connie Geiger, September 1st, 2024. Helena Holding Resevoir, Helena, MT.
Mariposa Copper
Lycaena mariposa
The Mariposa Copper is a small western butterfly that inhabits open areas in pine forests and is commonly seen flitting about in meadows, forest edges, trails, bogs, and roadsides. Their larvae feed on plants in the heather family and have a particular fondness for those in the Vaccinium genus, like the coveted huckleberry. The single yearly brood is on the wing for a short period at the end of summer, usually July and August.
Misty Nelson, August 31st, 2024. Fly Lake, Rattlesnake Wilderness, MT.
Banded Garden Spider
Argiope trifasciata
Female orbweavers like this stunning banded garden spider construct the familiar, intricate webs we see in the fall to ensnare their insect prey. Many species in the genus Argiope will add “decorations” to their webs; sometimes, a zigzag pattern like the one seen here, but the various designs change depending on the species. These decorations are known as “stabilimentum,” and the jury is out on their exact function. You’ll find banded garden spiders in open places with tall grasses or shrubs across southern Canada and throughout the U.S. (and many other countries around the world).
Connie Geiger, September 1st, 2024. Spokane Hills, Helena, MT.
White-spotted Sawyer
Monochamus scutellatus
These conspicuous, chunky beetles are hard to miss with their large black bodies and ridiculously long antennae. The male’s antennae can reach up to twice their body length and help them efficiently track down a mate. They inhabit pine forests across North America; their slow-growing larvae (often taking two years to complete their lifecycle) eat their way through damaged pine, spruce, and fir trees, creating extensive, winding galleries. The adults are attracted to the scent of asphalt, as its chemical composition is similar to the compounds released by dead and dying coniferous trees.
Jennifer Wells, September 1st, 2024. Thompson Falls, MT.
Leafcutter Bee
Megachile sp.
These small bees readily inhabit “bee hotels” and other natural tunnels in wood or the ground. They construct several cells in each tunnel from the leaf pieces they collect. Each cell will contain a single egg and a store of pollen to feed the emerging larva. Since the female is on her own (they do not work together as a colony), they are usually swamped, making many trips back and forth with pieces of leaves and pollen. Unlike other bee species that collect pollen in pollen baskets on their legs, leafcutters collect pollen in dense hairs on the underside of their abdomen (called scopa), turning their bellies yellow as they gather.
Brenna Shea, September 4th, 2024. Rocky Mountain Gardens, Missoula, MT.
Grass Spider
Agelenopsis sp.
Grass spiders are large, harmless spiders found across North America, and while their markings are relatively nondescript (superficially resembling several other funnel-web spider species), their webs are easily recognizable. They don’t build the beautiful, circular webs associated with orb weavers; grass spiders build flat, sheet-like webs in the grass and are particularly easy to see on a dewy fall morning.
Brenna Shea, September 4th, 2024. Rocky Mountain Gardens, Missoula, MT.
Western Grape Rootworm
Bromius obscurus
Vintners beware! This is one leaf beetle you don’t want to find in your vineyard. That said, you likely won’t find this beetle in wine country. Despite having a holarctic distribution, they are largely absent from regions where grapes are cultivated en masse and seem to prefer northern climes and mountainous regions. In fact, it is one of the only species in the family Eumolpinae recorded north of Siberia. Despite the name (both common and Latin, with Bromius being an epithet of the Greek god Dionysus), this beetle prefers to feed on fireweed and willowherb.
Misty Nelson, August 31st, 2024. Fly Lake, Rattlesnake Wilderness, MT.
