Bugs & Critters
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Eight-Spotted Forester
The eight-spotted forester, is a day flying moth. It is a fast, darting flyer and dazzles the eye when it flitters around flowers. The 8 large white patches on the black wings of the Eight-spotted Forester Moth are hard to miss.
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Rustic Sphinx Moth Caterpillar
These caterpillars closely resemble the more commonly encountered caterpillars of the closely related tobacco hornworm. Larvae feed among the leaves and branches of the host plant, and can often be found in what is known as a sphinx position.
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Margined Warrior Beetle
The Margined Warrior Beetles are great pollinators in gardens, fields, and meadows. Females lay fertilized eggs in the soil near plants. Larvae hatch and prey on other insects. Their large consumption of pest insects makes them a benefit to gardeners.
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Colored Bald Cypress Sphinx Caterpillar
The host plant for this species is the bald cypress tree. The adult caterpillars have short tongues and probably do not feed.
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Phantom Crane Fly
Phantom Crane Flies are named for their long legs, aand probably for the way that they appear and disappear when flying in patches of light and shadow. They eat little or nothing, and they are not biting mosquitos.
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Forest Tent Caterpillar
The forest tent caterpillars do not make tents. During molting these caterpillars weave a silky sheet where they lie together in a group. They also make silk trails as they move over branches. The larvae feed on deciduous trees or shrubs. Outbreaks of high numbers of larvae tend to recur every decade or so and usually lasts two to three years. At this time trees and shrubs may loose many leaves due to the feeding. Fortunately, most plants replace the lost leaves without permanent damage.
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Five-Lined Skink
The five-lined skink is not a snake. It is a species of lizard. It is small in size, about 5 to 9 inches. It prefers to live in moist, wooded habitats. Their diet is mostly spiders, crickets, beetles or other insects. These skinks are not venomous and are completely harmless to humans. However, a dog could get sick if it ate one because the skink has salmonella in their stool.
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Glass Lizard
Glass lizards are legless and their long tails make them look similar to a snake. They are not venomous or poisonous. They aren't known for biting, and their jaws are not powerful enough to break human skin. They have movable eyelids and external ear openings.