Sightings of interest from the past week:
5/30 – Lance saw a Hackberry Emperor butterfly*, Cabbage White*, and a Queen Snake. There was a Fox Squirrel seen at the maintenance shop.
5/31 – Don saw a Woodland Lucy Firefly*.
6/2 – Don saw a Muskrat, Groundhog, Black (Gray) Squirrel, Summer Azure*, and Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (2nd brood).
6/6 – There was an Eastern Eyed Click Beetle on the sidewalk in front of the Nature Center. Click beetles get their name from their ability to produce a clicking sound by using a spine and notch on the underside of their thorax. The spine fits into the notch and the beetle flexes causing the spine to release making a click. If they do this while on their back, they can catapult themselves up into the air and land right side up. Another useful function of the click is to scare predators that may try to pick them up. The large eyespots on this beetle are used to confuse predators. Its real eyes are actually very small near the base of the antennae.
Eastern Eyed Click Beetle (Photo by Lance Jessee)
6/10 – Lance observed a Southern Yellowjacket queen, Widow Skimmer*, Dragonhunter*, Blue-fronted Dancer*, Great Spangled Fritillary*, Wild Turkey, 3 Queen snakes, and a Common Snapping Turtle.
*First of season
Lance Jessee
Steele Creek Park Recent Sightings 