tfandre's Identifications

Grasshopper Lifer Drinking Tree Sap
This was a new species of grasshopper for me. So well camouflaged it is a wonder I saw it. It appears to be drinking the tree sap.

I was with Tracey, her observation of this individual is here: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/66002455
@tfandre

Look Who Was Sitting On The Railing
Of course, I could not pass up the opportunity to get a nice shot of him. His eyes match his wings.
Id confirmed in bugguide here: https://bugguide.net/node/view/2312396 @tfandre

It's Fall Webworm Time
These are all over the place right now. This one fell out of the tree above me onto the wooden bench I was doing stretches on.
id confirmed on bugguide here: https://bugguide.net/node/view/2311976 @tfandre

Center Of The Web
This web was huge and stretched across a little game trail I was following. I literally had to duck under it to keep going. The bold spider never budged and stayed put. I was able to get a shot with spider and web lit up by sunshine with pretty greenery behind it. Like other nearby webs, there were tiny water droplets on each of the web spokes. And they sparkle.
ID confirmed on bugguide here: https://bugguide.net/node/view/2227074 @tfandre

Had a wonderful time with a group of naturalists documenting LOTS of things at this new nature preserve in Rockwall. All of this data will be used to guide management of this land by the city of Rockwall.

Spotted Orbweaver With A Snout & Bark Beetle Snack
She had just started wrapping up her meal so you could see enough of it to identify it as a big weevil. Look closely, you can see her shooting silk out of her spinnerets. The web was up in the sky above my head so practically invisible when shooting straight up. There is a smaller tidbit for dessert in the lower left of this shot.
I believe the weevil is in the genus lixus

ID confirmed in bugguide here: https://bugguide.net/node/view/2220576 @tfandre

Had a Visitor Last Night
This happened about 8:30pm last night & my yard cam captured it. That is one plump raccoon although the tail looks a bit strange. Came right up to my front door before going for a drink at my fountain.
33 second video can be viewed here: https://www.kapturedbykala.com/Animals/i-qgmnt67

Rowlett Creek Nature Preserve
They are not aggressive and rarely bite. And that rare bite is less painful than a mild bee sting. This was my first fishing spider and was a small one. This species of fishing spider is found in wooded areas.
Interesting face with a beard worthy of ZZ Top. The eyes are kind of sweet.

Photo 1:
Shore Bird Lifer!
Finally saw some verifiable stilt sandpipers. We only see them during migration. There was a flock a good ways from me on the other side of a mud flat. Most of the larger birds with long bills are the stilts. Possibly a couple of dowagers too. Smaller birds most likely least and/or semipalmated sandpipers. Stilts were lifers for me.
Photo 2:
They are migrating thru on their way to South America. All 3 of these are stilts.

Leafhopper Lifer
My friend spotted this one in the woods. New for us both. No common name. Researched & found out it is fairly rare. Not many reported in North America much less Texas. Not a lot of information about it. Looks very different, more like a spittlebug than a leafhopper.
Same individual as Tracey's in bugguide here: https://bugguide.net/node/view/1871216#3190249 @tfandre

This one is for the katydid which is a lifer. ID confirmed on bugguide here, read all the comments: https://bugguide.net/node/view/2275061 @tfandre
Photo 1:
Mama Goes Grocery Shopping
She landed in front of me with the baby food she had been gathering. I didn't realize it until processing, but she has both an adult and a nymph katydid in her beak. The adult is a large female of what turned out to be a new species of katydid for me.
Broad-tipped Conehead Katydid (Neoconocephalus triops)
Photo 2:
Showing Off Her Catch
It seemed like she was showing off her catch to me. This is not exactly the way I wanted to get a katydid lifer, all squished in a bird's beak. Really amazed the katydid experts in bugguide were able to identify it but they did. She has her tail feathers spread for balance.
Photo 3:
It's BOGO Day
This is the shot where I realized she had 2 bugs in her beak if you look closely. The long pointy ovipositor on the adult katydid lets you know she is female. I am not sure how the top katydid expert knows the nymph is a male with it at that stage but that is why he is the expert.

So glad I spotted it on the leaf. Cooperative subject & I was able to get a good shot that showed off those eyes. Assassin bug with demon eyes.....sounds right.
ID confirmed on bugguide here: https://bugguide.net/node/view/2264792 @tfandre

Who Knew?
When I spotted this tiny baby grasshopper, I thought I'd found something new. I sent it to the grasshopper expert only to find it was quite common and I'd seen several of the adults. I would never have expected a baby this color to turn out to be a green-striped grasshopper.
ID confirmed in bugguide here: https://bugguide.net/node/view/2266828 @tfandre