Monarch Butterfly
Common Name - Monarch Butterfly
Scientific Name - Danaus Plexippus
Family - Danaidae
Order - Lepidoptera
Size: Caterpillar = Up to 70 Mm and Butterfly = Wingspan
of 88-100 Mm
Season - Spring
Food - The larvae, or caterpillar, of this insect feed on mostly Milkweed
foliage, flower buds, and milky juice. Adults feed on nectar.
Location Found - On the Track by BVHS caught for tagging to track migration.
Scientific Name - Danaus Plexippus
Family - Danaidae
Order - Lepidoptera
Size: Caterpillar = Up to 70 Mm and Butterfly = Wingspan
of 88-100 Mm
Season - Spring
Food - The larvae, or caterpillar, of this insect feed on mostly Milkweed
foliage, flower buds, and milky juice. Adults feed on nectar.
Location Found - On the Track by BVHS caught for tagging to track migration.
Differential Grasshopper
Common Name - Differential Grasshopper
Scientific Name - Melanoplus differentialis
Family - Acrididae
Order - Orthoptera
Size - Adult males grow to 28–37 mm and females grow to 34–50 mm.
Season - Mating takes place late in the summer or in early fall.
Food - The adults and nymphs feed on a wide variety of grasses and other leafy plants. They also eat crops, including corn, soybeans, alfalfa, cotton, vegetables, small grains and the leaves of fruit trees. When they run out of food in one area, the adults can travel up to 10 miles in a day in search of more food.
Location Found - Within its range the Grasshopper is most often found in heavily weeded areas and grasslands, they can even be spotted in vacant lots and other urban areas.
Scientific Name - Melanoplus differentialis
Family - Acrididae
Order - Orthoptera
Size - Adult males grow to 28–37 mm and females grow to 34–50 mm.
Season - Mating takes place late in the summer or in early fall.
Food - The adults and nymphs feed on a wide variety of grasses and other leafy plants. They also eat crops, including corn, soybeans, alfalfa, cotton, vegetables, small grains and the leaves of fruit trees. When they run out of food in one area, the adults can travel up to 10 miles in a day in search of more food.
Location Found - Within its range the Grasshopper is most often found in heavily weeded areas and grasslands, they can even be spotted in vacant lots and other urban areas.
Harvester Ant
Common Name - Harvester Ant
Scientific Name - Messor barbarus
Family - Formicidae
Order - Hymenoptera
Size - About a Centimeters in length.
Season - Messor barbarus is found to act in accordance with the optimal foraging theory
Food - The main food source for harvester ants usually consists of seeds, which they hoard in great numbers
Location Found - Harvester ants are abundant in the grasslands of North America and Mexico, and are generally present in all grasslands. They comprise a vital part of the grassland ecosystem.
Scientific Name - Messor barbarus
Family - Formicidae
Order - Hymenoptera
Size - About a Centimeters in length.
Season - Messor barbarus is found to act in accordance with the optimal foraging theory
Food - The main food source for harvester ants usually consists of seeds, which they hoard in great numbers
Location Found - Harvester ants are abundant in the grasslands of North America and Mexico, and are generally present in all grasslands. They comprise a vital part of the grassland ecosystem.
Pale Marsh Mosquito
Common Name - Pale Marsh Mosquito
Scientific Name - Ochlerotatus dorsalis
Family - Culicidae
Order - Diptera
Size - Adults usually reach a length of around 16 mm and can weigh as much as 2.0 mg.
Season - All- year
Food - The adult female Ochlerotatus dorsalis is a parasitic sanguivore, meaning it drinks blood as its main food source. Males are nectarivores that drink nectar from plants, plant sap and honeydew produced by aphids.
Location Found - The Pale Marsh Mosquito lives in a variety of different habitats including grasslands, coastal areas, forests, tidal areas, and marshes.
Scientific Name - Ochlerotatus dorsalis
Family - Culicidae
Order - Diptera
Size - Adults usually reach a length of around 16 mm and can weigh as much as 2.0 mg.
Season - All- year
Food - The adult female Ochlerotatus dorsalis is a parasitic sanguivore, meaning it drinks blood as its main food source. Males are nectarivores that drink nectar from plants, plant sap and honeydew produced by aphids.
Location Found - The Pale Marsh Mosquito lives in a variety of different habitats including grasslands, coastal areas, forests, tidal areas, and marshes.
Ladybug
Common Name - Ladybug
Scientific Name - Coccinella magnifica
Family - Coccinellidae
Order - Coleoptera
Size - Rangefrom 0.8 to 18 mm
Season - Usually begin to appear in the autumn when they leave their summer feeding sites in fields, forests, and yards and search out places to spend the winter.
Food - They are known for their diet of aphids, but will eat many other pests such as soft-scale insects, spider mites, mealybugs, and the eggs of many others
Location Found - They occur in practically all the temperate and tropical grasslands.
Scientific Name - Coccinella magnifica
Family - Coccinellidae
Order - Coleoptera
Size - Rangefrom 0.8 to 18 mm
Season - Usually begin to appear in the autumn when they leave their summer feeding sites in fields, forests, and yards and search out places to spend the winter.
Food - They are known for their diet of aphids, but will eat many other pests such as soft-scale insects, spider mites, mealybugs, and the eggs of many others
Location Found - They occur in practically all the temperate and tropical grasslands.
Pea Aphid
Common Name - Pea Aphid
Scientific Name - Acyrthosiphon pisum
Family - Aphididae
Order - Hemiptera
Size - Acyrthosiphon pisum is a rather large aphid whose body can reach 4mm in adults.
Season - In the autumn, female pea aphids lay fertilized eggs that overwinter and hatch the following spring.
Food - It feeds on several species of legumes worldwide, including forage crops, such as pea, clover, alfalfa, and broad bean,
Location Found - The pea aphid is thought to be of Palearctic origin, but it is now commonly found worldwide under temperate climate.
Scientific Name - Acyrthosiphon pisum
Family - Aphididae
Order - Hemiptera
Size - Acyrthosiphon pisum is a rather large aphid whose body can reach 4mm in adults.
Season - In the autumn, female pea aphids lay fertilized eggs that overwinter and hatch the following spring.
Food - It feeds on several species of legumes worldwide, including forage crops, such as pea, clover, alfalfa, and broad bean,
Location Found - The pea aphid is thought to be of Palearctic origin, but it is now commonly found worldwide under temperate climate.
Pharoah Cicada
Common Name - Pharoah Cicada
Scientific Name - Magicicada septendecim
Family - Cicadidae
Order - Hemiptera
Size - The adult insect, is 2 to 5 centimetres
Season - There are two generations per year. The female lays up to three clutches of eggs in a season.
Food - Cicada nymphs suck sap from the xylem of various species of tree, including oak, cypress, willow, ash, and maple. While it is common folklore that adults do not eat, in reality they do have their own sucking mouthparts, and also drink plant sap.
Location Found - It is native to North America, where it occurs in the eastern United States
Scientific Name - Magicicada septendecim
Family - Cicadidae
Order - Hemiptera
Size - The adult insect, is 2 to 5 centimetres
Season - There are two generations per year. The female lays up to three clutches of eggs in a season.
Food - Cicada nymphs suck sap from the xylem of various species of tree, including oak, cypress, willow, ash, and maple. While it is common folklore that adults do not eat, in reality they do have their own sucking mouthparts, and also drink plant sap.
Location Found - It is native to North America, where it occurs in the eastern United States
Common Bluetail Damselfly
Common Name - Common Bluetail Damselfly
Scientific Name - Ischnura heterosticta
Family - Chlorocyphidae
Order - Odonata
Size - Adult wingspans measure from 17 millimeters (Agriocnemis) to 20 centimeters (Coerulatus). Most temperate zone species have wingspans of 5 to 8 centimeters and wings that are from two to twelve centimeters from front to back.
Season - Year long
Food - The adults prey in flight, mainly on small insects.
Location Found -Can be found in freshwater habitats and tropical grasslands.
Scientific Name - Ischnura heterosticta
Family - Chlorocyphidae
Order - Odonata
Size - Adult wingspans measure from 17 millimeters (Agriocnemis) to 20 centimeters (Coerulatus). Most temperate zone species have wingspans of 5 to 8 centimeters and wings that are from two to twelve centimeters from front to back.
Season - Year long
Food - The adults prey in flight, mainly on small insects.
Location Found -Can be found in freshwater habitats and tropical grasslands.