Sphinx moths are notable for their fast flight and rapid wingbeat. These attributes account for one of their common names — “hawk” moth. Most species of sphinx moths are capable of hovering in front of the flower from which they are drinking nectar, and some species are referred to as “hummingbird” moths.
In their larval form, sphinx moths are notable for the horn which extends upward near the end of their abdomen. Tomato growers are familiar with the Tobacco Hornworm (Tobacco Hawk Moth/Carolina Sphinx Moth) and Tomato Hornworm (Five-spotted Hawk Moth).
Less frequently encountered is the larva of the Great Ash Moth (Sphinx chersis). Named for a host plant of the adult moth, this greenish or pinkish caterpillar has seven long diagonal lines along its body, which are sometimes edged with pink. Its black spiracles (external openings that allow gas exchange) are elongate and ringed with white. Its horn is blue or pink. As an adult moth, it is gray with black markings and has a wingspan of up to five inches. You’re most likely to see this moth at dusk, feeding at deep-throated flowers. (Thanks to Heidi Marcotte and Tom Wetmore for photo op.)
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Gray Treefrogs are often heard but rarely seen, due both to their cryptic coloration as well as the fact that they are arboreal. They tend to perch (grasping trees with their toes which bear large, adhesive, mucous-secreting disks at their tips) in vegetation surrounding swamps and ponds, where their robust, territorial and mating trilling can be heard (males call between 500-15,000 times per hour). To hear trilling Gray Treefrogs go to 
Different species of birds have different numbers of broods (sets of eggs/young). Eastern Bluebirds can have up to four broods per breeding season, American Robins up to three and Eastern Phoebes often two. Chestnut-sided Warblers typically only raise one family in a summer. If weather or predation destroys their first attempt, however, they will re-nest, which is just what the pictured female Chestnut-sided Warbler is doing.
If you take a close look at the Black-eyed Susan blossoms that can be found in unmowed fields and roadsides this time of year, chances are good that you will find a tiny beetle called a weevil. A weevil’s mouthparts are formed into a long snout, with one antenna on either side of it. The snout is used not only for feeding but also for making cavities in buds, fruits, seeds, stems, and roots of plants, where eggs are laid. When the weevil larvae emerge, they feed within the plant.
In summer Beavers spend considerable time on land searching for, cutting and bringing vegetation back to their young in the lodge. Their woody plant preference (they eat large amounts of herbaceous plants during the warmer months, but also some trees) tends towards the inner bark (cambium) of willow, aspen, maple, birch, cottonwood, beech, poplar, and alder trees. This beaver, however, has retrieved a Red Oak sapling for its offspring.
I misworded part of the most recent post on caterpillar molting. For clarification purposes, both butterflies and moths undergo complete metamorphosis: egg, larva, pupa, adult. Butterfly pupae are inside a chrysalis, moths inside cocoons! A butterfly molts for the final time, revealing a chrysalis (containing a pupa). A moth caterpillar spins a cocoon before pupating inside it. (Note shed Monarch caterpillar skin/exoskeleton at top of chrysalis.)
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