Nature Moncton Nature News: July 13 2024

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

July 13, 2024

Nature Moncton members, as well as any naturalist in New Brunswick or beyond, are invited to share their photos and descriptions of recent nature sightings to build a fresh (almost) daily edition of Nature News

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**Jane LeBlanc had a busy day in her milkweed patch when the sun finally came out. First, she noticed a female Monarch butterfly laying eggs. Then, a White Admiral butterfly came along. Then some moths, then an Atlantis Fritillary. A Hummingbird Clearwing moth went through but didn't stop for photos. Many different kinds of bees were also at the milkweed. After all the rain, and now with the heat, the scent was almost overpowering.

**Lisa Morris photographed a Common House Spider back on July 2 and has been a while getting the confirmed ID. This spider has been submitted before, so it is possibly a fairly common one and could be potentially observed more as it is more likely to appear in houses.

**Still on spiders, John Inman submitted a photograph of a Ground Crab Spider (Xysticus) which is in the same genera as the colourful ones we see on flowers that are all ambush hunters.

The Ground Spiders tend to be earthy colours of brown, grey, or beige.

**Nelson Poirier had an Elm Sphinx moth and a Blinded Sphinx moth as the special moth guests on Thursday night.

It is the first time he has ever had a visit from the Elm Sphinx moth. It is considered uncommon to rare in New Brunswick.

Surprisingly, the Blinded Sphinx moth was in prime condition. Others seen recently appeared to be quite worn and near the end of the short adult mating cycle of their lives.

Nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Nature Moncton