Celebrating Nature Inspired Comic No. 100 - Exploring Invertebrates by Bernie Paquette

Please join me in celebrating what perhaps is the only occasion I will have to reach 100.
Read what motivated me to get started a few decades ago, how the seed germinated in 2016, and how during 2022 I started at one and continued through Nov 4, 2023, to reach 100. The number 100 is a milestone for me, but more important is the overall goal. For as in age, the number of years is less significant than what one does with each of those years.

Profile of Bernie Paquette

by Bernie 

I write to explore what I am thinking;

  take photos to see what I am looking at;  

both to find out more about life. 

~Bernie

https://vtbugeyed.blogspot.com/2023/09/single-panel-comics-insect-predation.html

https://vtbugeyed.blogspot.com/2023/03/nature-inspired-comics-vol-iv-by-bernie.html

View my insect blog including comics at https://vtbugeyed.blogspot.com/2023/03/nature-inspired-comics-vol-iv-by-bernie.html 

Sharp eyes catch that there is a domesticated, not wild creature in this collage!

Vermont Insects Match Fall Foliage for Vivid Color

    

   Vermont is well known for its Fall Foliage Color Tour otherwise known as Leaf Peeping. Not so well known are the matching colors of the insects and flowers. An excursion in September through early October for colorful insect watching is known as fall "Inverting".

   Where to find the fantastic pockets of color? The magic of it all is that almost any location with flowers blooming (particularly native flowers) and temperatures around sixty degrees Fahrenheit or higher will offer those who look close, a myriad of insects and flowers adorned with the colors of fall foliage and beyond. 

   

   iNaturalist can help identify each of the insects and flowers you observe. Click on the insect names (hot-linked) listed below to view the iNaturalist posting. Once at the posting click on the name of the insect on top of the page for more information about the insect. 

   I hope you enjoy the sampling of my Vermont Fall Inverting photos showing blazing colors that at least equal the Vermont Fall Foliage scenes. 

 White-banded Sweat Bee (Lasioglossum leucozonium) on an aster. Oct 12, 2023

Common Eastern Bumble Bee (Bombus impatiens) on a goldenrod. Oct 2, 2023

Canadian Tiger Swallowtail Papilio canadensis on aster. Sept 21, 2023

A bird or other creature apparently managed a bite out of this butterfly. 

Silky Striped Sweat Bee (Agapostemon sericeus) on blue vervain. Sept 1, 2023

Yellow-collared Scape Moth (Cisseps fulvicollis) on aster.  Sept 26, 2023

Left: Common Flower Flies Genus (Syrphus)  

Right: Common Eastern Bumble Bee on goldenrod Oct 12, 2023

Tricolored Bumble Bee (Bombus ternarius) on clover. Sept. 26, 2023

Spiny Shield Bug (Picromerus bidens) Oct 9, 2023

Common Eastern Bumble Bee (Bombus impatiens) Oct 9, 2023

Subgenus Agapostemon on chicory. Oct 9, 2023

Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) on my finger. Oct 6, 2023

Brown-hooded Owlet (Cucullia convexipennis) Oct 5, 2023

Brown-hooded Owlet (Cucullia convexipennis) Oct 13, 2023

Leafcutter, Mortar, and Resin Bees Genus Megachile on chicory. Oct 2, 2023 

Dark Paper Wasp (Polistes fuscatus) on goldenrod. Oct 4, 2023

Common Drone Fly (Eristalis tenax) on chicory. Oct 9, 2023

Leafcutter, Mortar, and Resin Bees Genus Megachile on common jewelweed. Oct 1, 2023

Virginian Tiger Moth (Spilosoma virginica). Oct 9, 2023

Common Eastern Bumble Bee (Bombus impatiens) on aster. Oct 12, 2023

Autumn Meadowhawk (Sympetrum vicinum) Sept 20, 2023

Eastern Calligrapher Toxomerus geminatus on aster. Oct 8, 2023

Hummingbird Clearwing (Hemaris thysbe) On beebalm. Sept 1, 2023

Tricolored Bumble Bee (Bombus ternarius) On aster. Sept 25, 2023

Subgenus (Zadontomerus) on aster. Oct 1, 2023

Common Eastern Bumble Bee (Bombus impatiens) on green-eyed coneflower. Sept 26, 2023

Red-legged Grasshopper (Melanoplus femurrubrum)

or possibly, 

Migratory Grasshopper (Melanoplus sanguinipes)

 Sept 26, 2023

Angulate and Roundshouldered Orbweavers (Genus Araneus) I think. Sept 9, 2023

Band-winged Meadowhawk (Sympetrum semicinctum) Sept 15, 2023

Northern Amber Bumble Bee (Bombus borealis) On purple coneflower. Sept 6, 2023

American Lady (Vanessa virginiensis) Sept 9, 2023

Hickory Tussock Moth (Lophocampa caryae) Sept 15, 2023

Looks soft and pettable to me. 

Maize Calligrapher (Toxomerus politus) Sept 9, 2023 

Maize Calligrapher (Toxomerus politus) Sept 2023

Bald-faced Hornet (Dolichovespula maculata)  On goldenrod. Sept 7, 2023

Sort of looks like a monkey face to me. 

Of course, I did not say that to the hornet. 

Dressed for the cold - note the long hairs. 

White-banded Sweat Bee (Lasioglossum leucozonium) I think. On aster. Oct 15, 2023

Monarch (Danaus plexippus) on milkweed. Sept 1, 2023

Monarch (Danaus plexippus) On aster. Sept 26, 2023

Woolly Alder Aphid (Prociphilus tessellatus) (On alder. Oct 9, 2023) being farmed by       New York Carpenter Ants

New York Carpenter Ants (Camponotus novaeboracensis) 9/2022

Inverting (insect watching) is observing, 

experiencing the multitude, diversity 

and the daily going ons of LIFE.

No bones about it, I am an 'inverter'!

~Bernie