Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC
Mason Farm used to belong to a family, but now is set aside by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for biological research. You can still see lots of rose bushes among all the wild stuff, but they never seem to bloom. Otherwise, it's wilderness but it's mowed periodically to keep the trees from taking over.
Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC 5/4/08
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| Eastern Box Turtle, up close and at a distance | |
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| This Question Mark has the white "question mark" on its hind wing, only rotated 90° to the right. | Same Question Mark | Silvery Checkerspot | Variegated Fritillary | Red Admiral |
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| Red-spotted Purple | Common Buckeye, with a few pieces missing | Skimmer dragonfly in flight | Casebearer leaf beetle, possibly an Oulema cornutus | Young adult Blue Dasher |
4/18/08
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| Eastern Tailed Blue | Pearl Crescent | Pearl Crescent, quite difference in appearance | Probably male Juvenal's Duskywing |
2/19/08
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| Northern Cricket Frog |
11/21/07
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| Bowl and Doily Spider, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, 11/21/07 |
11/14/07
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| Stink Bug (Brochymena genus; arborea is the most common species) | Multi-colored Asian Ladybug Beetle with prey | This might be a House Spider, but ID is uncertain. | Differential Grasshopper | Spider egg sac, appears to be that of a member of the Argiope genus. |
10/17/07
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| White-backed Garden Spider or Banded Argiope, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 10/17/07 Dorsal view. | White-backed Garden Spider or Banded Argiope, ventral view of the same spider. | Tipulid Crane Fly | Leaffooted Bug (Leptoglossus phyllopus) |
9/23/07
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| Hackberry Emperor. This butterfly landed on my arm and was apparently taking in my perspiration. We never see any hackberry trees there, so maybe sweaty people are the main attraction! | Pearl Crescent. See other Pearl Crescents or see the main Butterflies Page. | Triangulate Orb Weaver. See other spiders. | Mating Differential Grasshoppers. See other Orthopterans. | Crab spider |
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| Braconid wasp (Psyttalia fletcheri), very tiny (about 2 mm). ID based on photo by Scott Bauer, USDA Agricultural Research Service. Family ID provided by Richard Vernier. | Cowkiller, neither wasp nor ant but somewhere in between. It's named for its nasty sting, one informally hypothesized to be bad enough to kill a cow. See other Hymenopterans. |
9/1/07
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| Margined Blister Beetle, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 9/1/07 | Gemmed Satyr, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 9/1/07 | Cowkiller (Dasymutilla occidentalis), a kind of velvet ant, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 9/1/07. See other Hymenopterans (bees, wasps and ants). |
7/22/07
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| Red Admiral, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC 7/22/07 | Cloudless Sulphur, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC 7/22/07 | Question Mark, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC 7/22/07 | Acanalonid Planthopper, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC 7/22/07 | Stilt-legged Fly, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC 7/22/07 |
5/26/07
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| Cloudless Sulphur, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 5/26/07. This butterfly has apparently come a long way! See other Whites and Yellows or visit the Butterfly Index. | Silver-spotted Skipper, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 5/26/07 | Deer Fly. This fly went inside a hat. Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 5/26/07 | Female Sharpshooter (Oncometopia nigricans). The other side also had a white spot. Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 5/26/07. Leafhoppers once were classified as Homopterans, but that order has since been split in two, with the "hoppers" in one and the aphids in the other. See other Leafhoppers, | Weevil, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 5/26/07 |
Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC 5/20/07
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| Crossline Skipper, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 5/20/07 | Male Zabulon Skipper, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 5/20/07 | Adult male Eastern Pondhawk, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 5/20/07 | Green Six-spotted Tiger Beetle, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 5/20/07 | Tiny mystery wasp. Note the little hairs on the leaf. Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 5/20/07 |
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| Tiny jumping spider (about 1 mm long), Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 5/20/07. It was apparently so tiny that it did not see any point in retreating. | ||||
Mason Farm Biological Reserve (area north of creek), 4/28/07
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| Pearl Crescent, Mason Farm Biological Reserve (area north of the creek), 4/28/07 | Male Golden-backed Snipe Fly, Mason Farm Biological Reserve (area north of the creek), 4/28/07 | Ladybug beetle pupa, Mason Farm Biological Reserve (area north of the creek), 4/28/07. Since there were 10+ Seven-spotted Ladybug Beetle adults in the immediate area, it seemed likely that this was one, too. | Adult male Blue Corporal, Mason Farm Biological Reserve (area north of the creek), 4/28/07 | Jumping spider, Mason Farm Biological Reserve (area north of the creek), 4/28/07 |
11/17/06
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| Northern Cricket Frog, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 11/17/06 | Autumn Meadowhawk, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 11/17/06. See other dragonflies. |
10/15/06
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| Question Mark, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 10/15/06 | Seven-spotted Ladybug Beetle, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 10/15/06 | Mystery beetle, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 10/15/06. It was perhaps 3mm long. |
9/29/06
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| Pelecinid Wasp (Pelecinus polyturator), Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 9/29/06 | Tachinid Fly (Trichopoda genus, subfamily Phasiinae, family Tachinidae), Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 9/29/06 | Flesh Fly, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 9/29/06 | Red-spotted Purple, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 9/29/06. This butterfly was unusually small for its species. |
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| Pelecinid Wasp (Pelecinus polyturator), Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 9/29/06 | |
9/21/06
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| Boxelder Bug, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 9/21/06 | Hackberry Emperor, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 9/21/06. This butterfly put its proboscis down, hoping to find some nutritious human sweat, but only encountered a wallet and soon flew off. | Hackberry Emperor, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 9/21/06. The same butterfly returned to a more suitable place, but didn't uncoil its proboscis. | Grasshopper, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 9/21/06. One the biggest grasshoppers I've seen. | Araneus genus spider (an orb weaver), Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 9/21/06 |
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| Micrathena mitrata, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 9/21/06. A very tiny spider, maybe an ⅛ of an inch long. | Jumping spider, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 9/21/06. Just look at those green chelicerae! | Jumping spider, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 9/21/06. Another view of the same spider. | Chinese Mantis, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 9/21/06. A very big insect. Very active and complex mouthparts! |
9/2/06
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| Common Buckeye, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 9/2/06. This was one of many Buckeyes that we saw today. | Dog-day Cicada, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 9/2/06 | Mating Sphecid (digger) wasps (Eremnophila aureonotata), Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 9/2/06. These are very common insects; they should have a common name! | Carolina Satyr, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 9/2/06 | Gray Hairstreak, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 9/2/06 |
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| Triangulate Orb Weaver (rear view), Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 9/2/06 | Inchworm, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 9/2/06. This was a very tiny inchworm, not much more than ⅛ inch, and it was frozen in position. |
7/9/06
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| Delta Flower Beetle, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 7/9/06 | Mating Dogbane Beetles, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 7/9/06 | Robber Fly, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 7/9/06 | Issid Planthopper (Issidae family) nymph, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 7/9/06. These nymphs eventually cover themselves with this white stuff, apparently to protect themselves from predators. | Emerald (Somatochlora genus), Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 7/9/06. ID thanks to Bryan Pfeiffer. |
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| Silvery Checkerspot, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 7/9/06 | Seven-spotted Ladybug Beetle | A very faded False Crocus Geometer Moth, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 7/9/06 |
6/17/06
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| Orange Sulphur. See other Sulphurs and Whites. | Leafhopper (Sibovia occatoria, subfamily Cicadellinae). See other leafhoppers. | Bee fly. | Katydid nymph. See other katydids, grasshoppers, and crickets. | Leaf beetle. See other beetles. |
6/7/2006
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| Web-spinning Sawfly. See other sawflies. | Bee fly, possibly Hemipenthes genus. See other flies. | Solitary bee. See other bees. |
4/29/06
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| Mating Pearl Crescents, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 4/29/06 |
8/24/05
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| Mating Common Buckeyes, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 8/24/05. | Same butterflies. |
5/28/05
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| Appalachian Brown, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 5/28/05. |
5/23/03
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| Phaon Crescent, ventral view. Yes, they aren't supposed to come around here, but this one did! See more Crescents. | Same Phaon Crescent. | Broad-headed bug (family Alydidae). A True Bug. | Carolina Satyr, dorsal view. See more Nymphs and Satyrs. | Eastern Tailed Blue, rather deformed. See Blues (and Hairstreaks). |