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Daily Bucket - Different Mississippi insects [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-07-01
The Daily Bucket is a nature refuge. We amicably discuss animals, weather, climate, soil, plants, waters and note life’s patterns. We invite you to note what you are seeing around you in your own part of the world, and to share your observations in the comments below. Each note is a record that we can refer to in the future as we try to understand the phenological patterns that are quietly unwinding around us. To have the Daily Bucket in your Activity Stream,visit Backyard Science’s profile page and click on follow.
The cicada in the title photo is an annual emerging species. As nymphs, they crawl from underground and climb anything nearby. The metamorphosis begins when they halt and an adult cicada escapes the husk of it’s youth. A common name for these insects is “Dog Days” Cicada.
The loud buzz that rises and ebbs as they call for mates, is a defining song of the Deep South.
Most of you know I spend a lot of time and energy hunting Dragonflies and Damselflies during the Summer months. I have had great success for the last few years. My total species count for Dragons are 30 confirmed with photos while I still need 16 more to fill the State listings.
My Damsels are 16 confirmed with photos, but too many evade my camera.
Ebony Jewelwing male — Calopterynx maculata
I wanted this diary to include other insects that fill the semi-tropical environment I live in. Here are some crawlers, jumpers and fliers that cross my path.
Red Spotted Purple Admiral — Limenitis arthemis
Butterflies still flit between blooms for those wonderful flavors. Red Admirals are still active while other butterflies have moved on for the year.
Green Eyed (Deer) Fly female — Tabanus fulvulus
The proboscis of the Deer fly is built like a rasp and when dragged across a surface it scrapes into the lower epidural and then laps the fluids easily into the ravenous mouth of the fly. These little demons have been scraping the hides off mammals for centuries.
The larva tube of a Mud Dauber attached to a Red Mulberry leaf.
The Yellow-legged Mud Dauber — Sceliphron caementarium, below is one of the species still collecting mud from the abundant water sources here. Any surface that can hold the weight of a nest/tube is utilized.
Yellow—legged Mud Dauber
As days grow hotter and the sun lingers longer in the sky, insects migrate to better accommodations. The Audouin’s Trapdoor Spider — Ummedia audouin’s, crawled from the woods toward my house. A Grey Mockingbird ended the spider’s journey abruptly.
Not long after I witnessed the Trapdoor spider’s demise, I saw another large beast crossing the driveway. This furry mass is a Georgia Wolf Spider — Tigosa georgicola. I decided to help this one with it’s journey by collecting it in a dustpan and flipping it back into the woods.
Moths are seen everyday here. Mornings and evenings will have irregular flutter/bugs in the air. Day light hours are when most moths are stationary. The pretty little triangle below is a Discolored Renia Moth — Renia discoloralis. The Summer months are a prime time for plant material to decay and the larva of the Renia Moth loves a meal of detritus.
Zooming by my head (more noisily than seen) are the aerial predators in the Robber fly family. The photo below shows a Red-footed Cannibalfly — Promechus rufipos.
The double talons at the tip of each leg gives an extra advantage to catching prey. This insectivore seldom misses a meal.
The cycle of Dragonflies is from early Spring to early Fall months. I caught this Calico Pennant as it had emerged from it’s nymph’s husk. The procedure can take a few hours to complete.
There is a youtube video (condensed to 55 seconds) by Nigel Harper of the event. I hope you’ll take a look at this fascinating process. The link is below.
My last entry is a flying insect that I have not identified (yet). It has characteristics of both wasp and fly. Hairy legs, fat body and fur all over indicate fly. Eye structure, wing configuration and antennae look like a wasp. I’d appreciate some remarks for you after you study the two photos of this odd creature. Thanks in advance for participating in today’s Bucket.
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