Unidentified Fly
Flies like this seem pretty common in the woods around here. They do not bite in my experience, but sometimes they will land on me by the dozens and just walk around tasting. At least that’s what it seems like, as I see a little probiscus(?) coming down from where their mouth should be. It just touches whatever the fly is walking on and then the fly moves on.
European Ground Beetle
Carabus nemoralis
Rowan discovered this beetle under a rock. Even after chilling, this beetle didn’t really slow down, so it was tough to get pictures of. I think I’m going to have to switch to a smaller container. As the name implies, this species has been introduced from Europe as a biological control. I’m not sure what it eats, but I would guess one of the pests it targets is slugs.
Leaf Beetle
Syneta sp.
I noticed this beetle crawling on my pants when I sat down for a break. I managed to get a couple of shots of it before it flew away. It looks like it’s probably the same beetle species I noticed last summer on top of Verstovia.
Thanks to Rob W. via bugguide.net, I have a genus for this beetle
Sixspotted Orbweaver
Araniella displicata
I have seen spiders like this a couple of times before. I was thinking it might be a Crab Spider of some sort (probably because I associate them with the bright colors), but upon checking a little further, that didn’t seem likely. I was eventually able to determine (with the help of bugguide.net and Slowik’s paper on the spiders of North Chichagof) the species.
Beach Green Bug
Until I get a better name for this species, I will name it after the plants I saw it growing on. I think this is a true bug, but I have no idea where to go from there. There were several of them on the leaves of the Beach Greens and Cleavers. They would duck under the leaves if I approached too close, but before too long they would be back on top soaking up the sun. A couple of times I saw a couple of them apparently get a little aggressive toward each other, but I’m not really sure if it was aggression or something else.
As always, any help with identification would be appreciated.
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