Tree crickets are awesome!

This is a tree cricket (Orthoptera: Gryllidae Oecanthus sp.). 

Tree crickets, like all crickets, are closely related to grasshoppers and katydids (see this previous post for some info on how to tell them apart). You may not see tree crickets as often as some other kinds of crickets because they usually blend in with the vegetation that they hang out on. I was lucky enough to find this one on a pink flower. Tree crickets are very interesting but poorly understood insects. Here is a link to a great website created by an amateur entomologist that is very enthusiastic about them. Tree crickets feed on a variety of things from plants to other insects and even fungi. Some species are more predaceous than others, but they are rarely considered pests in the garden.
Tree crickets hear through special membranes on their forelegs.

Hearing is very important for crickets, because they use sound to find their mates. In tree crickets, the male calls females by chirping with his wings. Once, the female locates a male, they engage in some very interesting mating behavior.

Not so cute bug.

I'm pretty sure this is the same species of caterpillar (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae Eumorpha pandorus) that I wrote about in another post last year. The title of that post was, "cute bug?", but I don't think this caterpillar is nearly as cute as the ones that I took photos of last year. This photo is from just a few days ago.

This caterpillar is also much larger and more mature than the bright red one that I saw last year.

Based on the size and shape of this one, I'd say its just about ready to form a chrysalis and pupate. It was munching away on a wild grape vine and frankly could have used a napkin. 

Robber Fly

I caught this robber fly (Diptera: Asilidae) with my camera a few days ago. 

Robber flies are predators of a lot of other insects. They aren't particular about what they eat, if they can catch it they'll eat it. They sit and wait for prey to fly by and then attack them on the wing. 

They kill their prey by injecting them with a toxic saliva. The robber fly's mouthparts fit together to form the proboscis that they use to inject the saliva. Robber flies can be distinguished from other similar flies by the distinctive notch on the top of their heads between the compound eyes. There is a great deal of variation in body shape, size, and color among the species of Asilidae. For example, some robber fly species are excellent mimics of wasps or bees, which helps protect them from predators. Robber fly larvae can be found in the soil or in decaying wood where they feed on the larvae of other insects.
In the garden, robber flies are generally considered beneficial predators of pests. However, they are not picky about diet choices and will sometimes be seen eating other beneficial insects such as honey bees, wasps, spiders, and even other robber flies.

Dance Fly! Dance!

This is a long-legged fly (Diptera:Dolichopodidae), so named because their legs are rather long in proportion to their bodies compared to other flies. 

My friend sent me this picture of one the other day. 

Unfortunately, that one was deceased. 

Long-legged flies are beneficial insects that you have probably seen around your yard or garden this summer. They are predators of insects and other small invertebrates. They are pretty easy to identify since they are shiny green and metallic with very prominent compound eyes and a thinner body than other green metallic flies. You can tell them from green metallic bees by the fact that they only have one pair of wings. I sometimes confuse them with closely related fly family called dance flies (Diptera: Empididae or Hybotidae), because I see them "dancing" on leaves more often than I see "dance flies". Long-legged flies are very fast runners and you may see them scooting quickly around on leaves in search of their tiny prey. Dance flies on the other hand, got their name from the aerial maneuvers that the males perform in mating swarms.

Some members of these fly families have very interesting courtship behavior. For example in some species the male will kill another insect, bundle it up and bring it to a female as a gift. Biologists call this a nuptial gift and if the female accepts it she will often allow the male to mate with her and use the nutrients in the gift to nourish her offspring. Like many insects, they also perform elaborate behaviors that resemble dances during courtship. Here is a video of the courtship behavior of one species that I downloaded from the Dolichopodidae Wikipedia page.

Long-legged flies are one of my favorite insects to see during the summer and I hope that you will enjoy seeing them too!