Quinn's B.I.M.B.Y. Site
(Bugs In My Back Yard!)
Since July 12, 2008
South Austin, Travis County, Texas
Return
to Texas Entomology - Compiled by Mike
Quinn
Passed 150 spp. by Aug. 1, 2008
Passed 200 spp. by Sept. 1, 2008
Passed 300 spp. by Dec. 1, 2008
Passed 375 spp. by Jan. 1, 2009
Area Arthropod Lists
- Close Up Photography
- Other Back Yard Surveys
Oxyopidae - Lynx Spiders
Thomisidae - Crab Spiders
Acari - Mites and Ticks
Anystidae - Whirligig Mites
Parajulidae
Entomobryidae
Ephemeroptera - Mayflies
Baetidae - Small Minnow Mayflies
Lestidae - Spreadwings
Libellulidae - Skimmers
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Orthoptera - Grasshoppers, Katydids, Crickets
Acrididae - Short-horned Grasshoppers
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Gryllidae - True Crickets
Tettigoniidae - Katydids
Blaberidae
Polyphagidae
Dermaptera - Earwigs
Anisolabididae
Psocidae
Alydidae - Broad-headed Bugs
Berytidae - Stilt Bugs
Coreidae - Leaf-footed Bugs
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Cynidae - Burrowing Bugs
Lygaeidae - Seed Bugs
Mesoveliidae - Water Treaders
Miridae - Plant Bugs
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Pentatomidae - Stink Bugs
Reduviidae - Assassin Bugs
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Emesinae - Thread-legged Bugs
Rhopalidae - Scentless Plant Bugs
Rhyparochromidae
Scutelleridae - Shield-backed Bugs
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Thyreocoridae - Negro Bugs
CICADOIDEA
Cicadidae - Cicadas
Membracidae - Treehoppers
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Cercopidae - Spittlebugs
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Cicadellidae - Leafhoppers
- Cicadellinae - Sharpshooters
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FULGOROIDEA
Delphacidae - Delphacid Planthoppers
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Derbidae
Cixiidae
Achilidae
Flatidae
- Flatid Planthoppers
Acanaloniidae - Acanaloniid Planthoppers
Caliscelidae - Piglet Bugs
Psyllidae - Jumping Plant Lice
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Berothidae - Beaded Lacewings
Coniopterygidae - Dustywings
Hemerobiidae - Brown Lacewings
Mantispidae - Mantidflies
Carabidae - Ground Beetles
Haliplidae - Crawling Water Beetles
Noteridae - Burrowing Water Beetles
Dytiscidae - Predacious Diving Beetles
Scymaenidae - Ant-like Stone Beetles
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Staphylinidae - Rove Beetles
SCARABAEOIDEA
Hybosoridae - Scavenger Beetles
Scarabaeidae - Scarab Beetles
- Aphodiinae - Aphodiine Dung Beetles
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Cetoniinae - Fruit and Flower Chafers
- Dynastinae - Rhinoceros Beetles
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Melolonthinae - June Bugs
SCIRTOIDEA
Scirtidae - Marsh Beetles
BUPRESTOIDEA
Buprestidae - Metallic Wood-boring Beetles
BYRRHOIDEA
Elmidae - Riffle Beetles
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Heteroceridae - Variegated Mud-loving Beetles
ELATEROIDEA
Elateridae - Click Beetles
BOSTRICHOIDEA
Dermestidae - Skin Beetles
Bostrichidae - Horned Powder-post Beetles
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- Subfamily Lyctinae - Powder-post Beetles
Anobiidae - Death-watch and Spider Beetles
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CLEROIDEA
Cleridae - Checkered Beetles
CUCUJOIDEA
Nitidulidae - Sap-feeding Beetles
Silvanidae - Silvanid Flat Bark Beetles
Laemophloeidae - Lined Flat Bark Beetles
Phalacridae - Shining Flower Beetles
Cryptophagidae - Silken Fungus Beetles
Coccinellidae - Lady Beetles
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Latridiidae - Minute Brown Scavenger Beetles
TENEBRIONOIDEA
Mycetophagidae - Hairy Fungus Beetles
Mordelidae - Tumbling Flower Beetles
Colydiidae - Cylindrical Bark Beetles
Tenebrionidae - Darkling Beetles
Meloidae - Blister Beetles
Anthicidae - Antlike Flower Beetles
Aderidae - Antlike Leaf Beetles
Scraptiidae - False Flower Beetles
CHRYSOMELOIDEA
Cerambycidae - Long-horned Beetles
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- Lamiinae - Flat-Faced Longhorns
Chrysomelidae - Leaf Beetles
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- Cassidinae - Tortoise Beetles and Hispines
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- Cryptocephalinae - The Casebearers
- Galerucinae - Skeletonizing leaf beetles
CURCULIONOIDEA
Curculionidae - Straight-snouted Weevils
Curculionidae - Weevils
- Platypodinae - Pinhole Bark Borers
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- Scolytinae - Bark and Ambrosia Beetles
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Strepsiptera - Twisted-Wing
Parasites
Myrmecolacidae
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Suborder NEMATOCERA - Long-horned Flies
Limoniidae - Meadow Crane Flies
Cecidomyiidae - Gall Midges
Culicidae - Mosquitoes
Chironomidae - Midges
Psychodidae - Moth Flies
Sciaridae - Dark-winged Fungus Gnats
Suborder BRACHYCERA - Short-horned Flies
Asilidae - Robber Flies
Rhagionidae - Snipe Flies
Stratiomyidae - Soldier Flies
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Suborder CYCLORRHAPHA - Circular-seamed flies
Division ASCHIZA - Muscoid Flies
Syrphidae - Hover Flies
Division SCHIZOPHORA - Muscoid Flies
Section ACALYPTRATAE
Heleomyzidae
Lauxaniidae
Micropezidae - Stilt-legged Flies
Platystomatidae - Signal Flies
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Sphaeroceridae - Lesser Dung Flies
Ulidiidae - Picture-winged Flies
Section CALYPTRATAE
Calliphoridae - Blow Flies
Sarcophagidae - Flesh Flies
Tachinidae
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Tephritidae - Fruit Flies
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Lepidoptera - Moths and Butterflies
Superfamily Tineoidea
Acrolophidae - Burrowing Webworm Moths
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Tineidae - Clothes Moths
Psychidae - Bagworm Moths
Superfamily Gracillarioidea
Gracillariidae - Leaf Blotch Miner Moths
Superfamily Gelechioidea
Coleophoridae - Casebearer Moths
Cosmopterigidae - Cosmet Moths
Elachistidae - Grass Miner Moths
Gelechiidae - Twirler Moths
Glyphidoceridae
Xyloryctidae - Flower Moths
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Superfamily Copromorphoidea
Carposinidae
Superfamily Yponomeutoidea
Plutellidae
Ypsolophidae
Yponomeutidae - Ermine Moths
Heliodinidae
Superfamily Tortricoidea
Tortricidae - Tortricid Moths
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Superfamily Hesperioidea
Hesperiidae - Skippers
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Superfamily Papilionoidea
Pieridae - Whites and Yellows
Lycaenidae
Nymphalidae
Superfamily Zygaenoidea
Megalopygidae - Flannel Moths
Epipyropidae - Planthopper Parasite Moths
Superfamily Pyraloidea
Crambidae - Crambid Snout Moths
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Pyralidae - Pyralid Moths
Superfamily Pterophoroidea
Pterophoridae - Plume Moths
Superfamily Geometroidea
Geometridae - Inchworm Moths
Superfamily Bombycoidea
Saturniidae - Silk Moths
Superfamily Sphingoidea
Sphingidae - Sphinx Moths
Superfamily Noctuoidea
Arctiidae - Tiger Moths
Erebidae
- Calpinae - Fruit-piercing Moths
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Nolidae - Nolid Moths
Noctuidae - Owlet Moths
Notodontidae - Prominent Moths
Superfamily Ichneumonoidea
Braconidae - Braconids
Ichneumonidae - Ichneumon Wasps
Superfamily Sphecoidea
Sphecidae - Thread-waisted Wasps
Superfamily Apoidea
Halictidae - Sweat Bees
Megachilidae - Leaf-cutter bees, Mason Bees, and allies
Apidae - Bees
Superfamily Vespoidea
Vespidae - Yellowjackets, Paper Wasps, and Hornets; Potter, Mason and
Pollen Wasps
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Eumeninae - Potter and Mason Wasps
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Superfamily Formicoidea
Formicidae - Ants
Austin-area Arthropod Lists and References
Total taxa: 14 orders, 138 families, 473 genera, ~1600 species/subspecies
Faunal
and Floral Species Lists - Brackenridge Field Laboratory, University
of Texas at Austin
- Moth list includes over
1200 species! (Eight new moth species were described from this
location.)
- The Brackenridge Field Laboratory moth collection was curated and
compiled by James Gillaspy. The collection is based largely on his work
at BFL (1992-97) supplemented by the earlier species of L.E. Gilbert,
Tim Friedlander, Allen C. Hook, C. Riley Nelson, and others.
Determinations were made by Edward C. Knudson, Texas Lepidoptera Survey, and other United
States and Canadian systematists.
- This is an amazing and essential site for identifying arthropods in central texas.
Taber & Fleenor. 2003. Insects
of the Texas Lost Pines. Texas A&M University Press, College Station.
283 pp.
Austin-area Lep Lists
Travis County Butterfly
Checklist - Mike Quinn
Moths of Medina County - Maury Heiman
I highly recommend the following book to anyone who is serious about
close up photography. It was written for SLR photography during the film era,
but the laws of physics haven't changed significantly since then.
John Shaw. 1987. John Shaw's Closeups in Nature. Amphoto Books, New York.
144 pp.
On
Google Books - John Shaw's Website
The following macro lens is without peer:
"A unique manual-focus lens designed exclusively for macro shooting,
between life-size (1x) and 5x life-size - at its maximum magnification, you
can fill a 35mm frame with a grain of rice."
Here are two reviews: one
- two
but to truly see what this lens can do, just look at the following jaw-dropping
images:
Charles Chien: Incredible
close-up shot of a fly's head - Phenomenal
shot of an ant tending an aphid
Check out the awesome clarity of this sub-millimeter mite along with other
images shot by Scott Justis!!
more
images
Other Celebrated Back Yard Insect Surveys
- Frank E. Lutz. 1941. A Lot of Insects: Entomology in a Suburban Garden. G. P.
Putnam's Sons, New York. 304 pp.
Frank Lutz, an entomologist at the American Museum of Natural
History in New York City, humorously described
his collecting of some 1,402 insect species, including some 260
beetles, in a four-year survey of his 75-by-200-foot yard ...
- Gary Hevel, and entomologist at the Smithsonian since 1969 was
inspired by Frank Lutz to conduct a similar effort on his two-acre
backyard in Silver
Spring, Maryland. Over the course of a four year survey, he collected a half
a million specimens of approximately 4,000 species!
This effort attracted the attention of a public television company in Japan,
which sent a film crew to his residence in September of 2004 to film the story.
The resulting documentary, “Bug-Hunter,” was broadcast nationally in Japan
in December of that year.
That documentary was updated to an English version and appeared as “Insect
Microcosm” on the Smithsonian Channel (Direct TV, Channel 267).
Links and a Smithsonian article discussion his efforts:
Gary
Hevel finds a backyard bonanza of bugs - Smithsonian Institution
"About 70 percent of the insects I catch
come from my traps,@
Hevel explains. The other 30 percent come from Hevel=s
crawling through grass, peeling the bark off of dead trees, flipping over
rocks, wandering through his garden, perusing the woodpile and making certain
to visit specific trees, particularly when they are in flower. Hevel
frequently uses a ladder and a long-handled net for collecting insects living
high in trees.
National
Geographic BioBlitz Blog - Posted on May 18, 2007
Hevel, G. 2004. Bugs Beware. Smithsonian Magazine. Oct '04.
Moth Backyard Surveys
- Comments from Bob Patterson's web page concerning his survey effort
for just moths in his yard and similar moth survey efforts across the
continent:
Bob
Patterson's Entomology Hobby Page - Digital Photos from My Garden and
elsewhere
Apart from the intensive effort that I put forth this year [2004] in
photographing moths, my record of 700+ species in one year is probably nothing
special, and could be duplicated with equal or less effort elsewhere. Almost
everyone lives amidst an abundance of moths.
- David Beadle photographed in just a few years about 300 species of
moths in his tiny yard (15 ft. x 15 ft.) in urban Toronto, Canada.
- Lynn Scott, near Ottawa but in the suburbs, has recorded over 400
species in a few years.
- Larry Line, 20 miles from me here in Maryland (but in a slightly
more upland area), has photographed about 600 species at his
place.
- John Himmelman has identified about 700 species of macromoths on
his property in a suburban Connecticut location over a period of years (and
has probably ignored almost as many micromoths).
- David Wagner, also in Connecticut, had about 200 species attracted
to a light in just one night at a favorable location, and suggested that
almost any location will yield 1,200 species of moths (including micros)
over time.
- Bruce Walsh says that in southeastern Arizona 1,000 species of
macromoths ought to be a possibility almost anywhere.
Butterfly Backyard Survey
Beetle Backyard Survey
- Tim R. Moyer or Medford, NJ
has collected 300 beetle species in his yard as of September 2008.
January 31, 2009
© Mike
Quinn / Texas Entomology