Insects in Essex

I've spent the last couple of days in Essex County for work and although my tasks focused on vegetation surveys, the insect diversity stole the show.

My co-worker Nathan is great with his odonate identification and pointed out this pair of Blue-fronted Dancer (Argia apicalis).

An attractive sedge, Gray's Sedge (Carex grayii).  The large, round mace-like structure is hard to miss.

I found this Katydid walking v-e-r-y slowly in a woodlot chock full of Shumard Oak.  The Ojibway Nature Centre website lists some of the Katydids known from the Ojibway Prairie Complex.

Giant Swallowtails seem to be fairly abundant this week, I counted 5 in a small meadow.

An interesting marsh/wet meadow in an oxbow contained a few clumps of Torrey's Rush (Juncus torreyi).

Cooling off in our vehicle on the side of the road, Nathan blurted out "Bronze Copper!", nice find!

Duke's Skipper were found at a couple of spots

I think this guy stole the show.  We were pretty excited to have a Common Checkered Skipper dart across our path.  And I thought Silver-spotted Skippers were skittish!  This species is an infrequent migrant to Ontario and even established a short-lived colony in Thunder Bay a few years back.  It's known from a handful of locations in Southern Ontario between Toronto and Windsor.

After work, a brief stop for a growler fill of Ampelmänn Dunkel at Walkerville Brewery was followed by a visit to a favourite prairie spot in Windsor.  Put a bug on a blazingstar in bloom and it's a sure thing that I'll take a picture.