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Physocephala furcillata Fly

Scientific Name: Physocephala furcillata

Family: Conopidae

Native Range: Northeastern United States and southern Canada, Pennsylvania*

Size: 10-12 mm (0.39 – 0.47 in)*

Active: July – August*

Color and Appearance: “Blackish…but often with subtle bronze or reddish-brown overtones. Discal cell hyaline, costal cell light brown. White spots on shoulder pads small to absent. No white marks on thorax sides. Cheeks black, facial grooves pale.”*

Adults eat nectar. The larva are believed to be parasites on bees.*

*From BugGuide.net (https://bugguide.net/node/view/687895)

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Common Eastern Physocephala Fly

Scientific Name: Physocephala tibialis

Family: Conopidae

Native Range: East United States, Pennsylvania*

Size: I observed them to be about 25 mm (1 in)

Active: July – August

Color and Appearance: “Adult body mostly black, with thin white, posterior bands on abdominal segments one and two; tibiae whitish at base.”*

Common Eastern Physocephala Wasps are flies that parasitize bees. They station themselves near flowers where they can find victims.*

*From Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physocephala_tibialis)

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Asian Tiger Mosquito

Scientific Name: Aedes albopictus

Family: Culicidae

Native Range: Asia, Introduced North America, Pennsylvania

Size:  2 to 10 mm (0.08 – 0.39 in)

Active: Summer – fall, daytime as well as dawn and dusk

Color and Appearance: Notable black and white markings especially stripes on legs

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White-Margined Burrower Bug

Scientific Name: Sehirus cinctus

Family: Cydnidae

Native Range: United States and Canada, Pennsylvania*

Size: Length: 4.0-6.5 mm (0.16 – 0.26 in)*

Active: March – September*

Color and Appearance: Black with a white dorsal margin*

*From BugGuide.net (https://bugguide.net/node/view/6982)

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Dirt Colored Seed Bug

Scientific Name: Pseudopamera nitidula

Family: Rhyparochromidae

Native Range: North and Central America

Size:

Active: Nocturnal

Color and Appearance:

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Green Stink Bug

Scientific Name: Chinavia hilaris

Family: Pentatomidae

Native Range: North America, Pennsylvania

Size: Length:13-19 mm (0.51 – 0.75 in)

Active: May – November

Color and Appearance: Green and stink bug shaped

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Green Lacewing

Family: Chrysopidae

Native Range: Europe and North America, Pennsylvania*

Size:

Active: Spring, summer, fall*

Color and Appearance: Green body with four clear wings*

August 24, 2020: Green lacewings are nocturnal. My photograph was taken under our porch light. While adult green lacewings feed on nectar, pollen, and honeydew, the larva seek out and devour soft-bodied insects such as aphids and caterpillars. As a result, the larva known as aphidlions are used as a form of organic pest control, particularly in enclosed spaces like greenhouses. Female green laceswings lay eggs at the tops of fine filaments to prevent fellow lacewing larva from eating the eggs.*

*From Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysopidae)

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Robber Fly

Family: Efferia

Native Range: Neotropical and near arctic, Pennsylvania

Size:

Active: Ambush preditor

Color and Appearance:

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Stink Bug, Twice-Stabbed

Scientific Name: Cosmopepla lintneriana

Family: Pentatomidae

Native Range: North America, Pennsylvania*

Size: Length: 4.7-6.5 mm (0.19 – 0.26 in)*

Active: Early spring – fall; adults overwinter in leaf litter.*

Color and Appearance: Black stink bug shape, with red detailing on carapace.

August 9, 2020: I watched this twice-stabbed stink bug couple for several minutes as they climbed up an anise hyssop stalk, reached the top, turned and headed back down, all the while clasped in each other’s embrace. It was astonishingly acrobatic.

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Sharpshooter Bug

Tribe: Proconiini 

Family: Cicadellidae

Native Range: Worldwide, Pennsylvania*

Size:

Active:

Color and Appearance:

According to Wikipedia, both adults and nymphs insert their mouths into plant tissue and suck large quanties of sap out. They filter out the trace nutrients and vigorously shoot the remaining liquid out of their bodies, earning the group name of “sharpshooter”.*

*From Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharpshooter_(insect))