I recently (May 24) found four species of insects that I had never identified before. I came upon them in an area a little east of Grayling, Michigan in Oscoda County. This area that we call Diane’s Bog is a favorite place of mine to photograph nature.

Eastern Pine Elfin

The first species is a butterfly, the little Eastern Pine Elfin (Callophrys niphon or Incisalia niphon by those who split the genus). Its wingspan is about 2.5cm (1 inch). It is similar to the Western Pine Elfin, which is darker and lacks the gray stripe on the hindwing. The larva are found on White Pine (Pinus strobus) and Jack Pine (P. banksiana).

Northern Spring Azure

The next species is Northern Spring Azure (Celastrina lucia). It is another small butterfly and is similar to the Spring Azure. The Northern Spring Azure has gray inside of the blue stripe on the hindwing.

Columbine Duskywing

Our third butterfly is the Columbine Duskywing (Erynnis lucilius). Its wingspan is 3.5cm (1.5 inches). The larva feeds only on columbine (Aquilegia sp.). It is a brown butterfly with tiny semi-transparent windows in its wings.

European Ground Beetle

Our final insect is a large black beetle, the European Ground Beetle (Carabus nemoralis).  I was in what I thought was a fairly undisturbed section of the county and was surprised when I learned that this was an imported beetle. Its antenna are segmented, it has a series of dimples on the wing covers and iridescent purple corners on its pronotum. The pronotum is the covering of the thorax, which is the section behind the head. It is 3.5cm (1.5 inches) long. I found the tracks of this beetle interesting. Thanks to the gang at bugguide.net for the identification.

European Ground Beetle Tracks and Pronotum

I found four insects that I had not identified previously in two hours. I have been to this site many times but there is always something new to see and notice.
Copyright 2014 by Donald Drife

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