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Posted by Vince Lucas on 17:34:49 10/05/06
In Reply to: Choctawhatchee River area Ivory-billed Woodpecker search posted by Larry Manfredi
That was a good attempt at finding the IBWO. Let's hope that someone, anyone, can get some sort of "concrete" evidence that this bird does in fact reside along the Choctawhatchee! With regard to your pix of the various critters you were able to photograph during your search, I believe that the moth is one of the Underwing Moths (Catocala), probably C. maestosa -- Sad Underwing but without seeing the actual hindwings, it's hard to tell for certain. The larval foodplant of this moth is Carya sp. i,e, hickories as well as pecans & walnuts (Juglans). So with the presence of Water Hickories along the Choctawahatchee, it would make sense that this might very well be your bug. As for the Lubber Grasshopper, I'm not sure that there even is something called a Black Lubber Grasshopper. Lubbers have several instars in which they shed their outer skins on their way to adulthood, and in the process, change color. The grasshopper you photographed is an early instar of the familiar Lubber Grasshopper that we commonly see here in South Florida. The black coloration with orange trim is essentially warning coloration to predators like birds, which might want to eat them. There are records of birds not heeding this warning coloration and ending up dead as a result! Nice pix of the Red-spotted Purple and the Question Mark butterflies. You are also correct in that the while lily/flower is a Spider Lily. . . .
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