Thanks to everyone who participated in California Biodiversity Day at the Wilderness Park, and especially the Rangers, who set it all up! On Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 7 and 8, forty-eight new observations were reported to our iNaturalist project. Thirty-seven different species were reported, including 13 species not previously reported to iNaturalist for the Park. Here are a few of our favorites. The ones with * are new species for our iNaturalist project.
*Lorquin’s Admiral (Limenitis lorquini):
The Lorquin’s Admiral is thought to be a Batesian mimic of the California Sister, which is reportedly much less palatable to predators.
Woodland Skipper (Ochlodes sylvanoides) nectaring on *Douglas’s Threadleaf Ragwort (Senecio flaccidus var. douglasii):
The Woodland Skippers were all over Evey Canyon on Sunday. Douglas’s Threadleaf Ragwort blooms later than most and attracts a lot of bees and butterflies in late summer and early fall.
A robber fly (*Stenopogon sp.) with a *Western Yellowjacket (Vespula pensylvanica) prey:
This was a two-fer! Both the Stenopogon robber fly and the Western Yellowjacket were new additions to our project. Isn’t the robber fly a fearsome-looking creature?
A long-horned beetle (*Tragidion annulatum):
With its blue iridescent body and coppery elytra, this large, colorful beetle is an amazing tarantula hawk mimic.
*Genista Broom Moth (Uresiphita reversalis) caterpillar on Spanish Broom (Spartium junceum):
There were quite a few of these on the broom in Evey Canyon – four on this plant alone. Who knew there was a moth that used broom as a host plant? We say, “Go caterpillars! Eat broom!”
If you made observations in the Park but didn’t report them, don’t worry! You can submit them any time, and they will still be counted both for the Park and for the statewide California Biodiversity Day project.
As the name implies, the host for Mountain Mahogany Hairstreak caterpillars is Mountain Mahogany (Cercocarpus montanus), but the adults love to nectar on buckwheat. Like the Bernardino Dotted-Blues, these butterflies only fly in June and July. Look for a brownish-gray butterfly with a white streak on the wings and a little “tail” on the hindwing.
The Ceraunus Blue butterfly is seldom found in this area; its normal range is south and east of here in South Texas, Florida, Mexico, and Central and South America. This year, however, a number are showing up in our area. Look for small bluish-grey butterflies with a series of darker dashes on the wings and one or two “eyespots” near the bottom edge of the hindwing.
The Pacific Burrowing Wasp is a “beewolf”, a solitary, predatory wasp that preys on bees. Female beewolves dig nests in the ground, then hunt bees, which they place in the nest. They then lay their eggs on the bees, which become food for the larvae. The adults, however, eat pollen and sip nectar. These colorful yellow and black, green-eyed little wasps won’t bother people – just bees.
Leafcutter Bees do not live in hives like honeybees; they are solitary and usually nest in pre-existing holes in wood or hollow stems. Females typically cut neat, round pieces out of leaves to serve as separators between cells in their nests. They collect pollen to feed their young. Unlike honeybees and many other bees, which have “pollen baskets” on their legs, female Leafcutter bees have a furry abdomen for collecting pollen. (If you see a bee with a yellow tummy, it’s probably a Megachile.) When the female Leafcutter bee returns to the nest with pollen and some nectar in her crop, she kneads the mixture into a bee loaf, adding some of her saliva, which may contain antibacterial and fungicidal substances. After repeated trips to build the large enough bee loaf, she will lay an egg on top and seal the chamber with chewed-up leaves. Leafcutter bees are good pollinators and unlikely to sting. If you’d like to attract some to your garden, you might try putting a “bee hotel” near some flowers; a Megachile may 
These green-eyed yellow flies actually belong to the insect family of Horse and Deer Flies (Tabanidae), but unlike typical members of this family, Pegasomyia do not drink blood; they eat pollen and drink nectar from flowers. A vegetarian Horse Fly – who knew! The bright colored eyes are iridescent and can look red or green depending on the viewing and lighting angles.
Female Golden Paper Wasps lay their eggs in cells in the familiar “paper” nest, then when the larvae hatch, they hunt caterpillars to feed them. Interestingly, they don’t sting their prey, but use their powerful mandibles to chew the prey into pieces to feed the larvae. The adults, like the one here, generally take nectar. Golden Paper Wasps are generally not aggressive and are unlikely to sting unless provoked. They can actually make a nice addition to your garden, as they will help to control caterpillars.
Friends of the Claremont Hills Wilderness Park 