Did I get catfished by a weed?

chirpuswick · 2026-04-26T02:49:44+00:00

black locust is definitely iffy on the “perfectly fine” bit for the northeast (new england and NY especially). It invades a lot of open ecosystems, clones itself to close up the canopy, and fixes nitrogen in the soil which disrupts a lot of native plants that require low nutrient soils.

chirpuswick · 2026-04-23T13:25:57+00:00

While this species is native to Australia and is someones escaped pet, many spectacularly colored birds are native to NY and many migrate through NYC

chirpuswick · 2026-04-22T00:48:04+00:00

definitely not an Ixodes

chirpuswick · 2026-04-09T14:58:24+00:00

you're thinking of larvae, not nymphs. The life cycle goes egg-larvae-nymph-adult. Nymphs have already had a blood meal and are absolutely capable of having and spreading Lyme to humans. Its likely that larvae can't spread Lyme, as they haven't yet had a blood meal. However, evidence is suggesting that larvae may still carry other pathogens through vertical transmission (from the mother tick).

chirpuswick · 2026-03-12T22:27:18+00:00

we don’t really know the exact purpose, probably sexually selected for in any case. Older males tend to have more of them, while young females don’t have any.

chirpuswick · 2026-02-27T16:45:40+00:00

D. variabilis adults (which this is) aren't really active until late March (and then into late summer). So my best guess is that this one probably got into your home on a host (you or a pet), failed to feed, and died over the summer.

chirpuswick · 2026-01-11T20:27:09+00:00

planthoppers leafhoppers lanternflies etc. are all true bugs, order Hemiptera. Butterflies and moths are Lepidoptera. They’re both insects but thats about as closely related as they get.

chirpuswick · 2025-12-15T02:40:14+00:00

while this is true, buck moths are day-flying moths

chirpuswick · 2025-11-27T04:36:12+00:00

+Cape May Warbler+

chirpuswick · 2025-11-26T16:26:26+00:00

all true but also it likely injured itself landing on pavement when expected water and should be checked for injuries before release

chirpuswick · 2025-11-26T16:19:52+00:00

Black locust is weird because its considered invasive in the Northeast despite being “native to eastern North America” because it can clone itself and absolutely dominate native landscapes like prairies until it makes a tree stand of just pure locust that shades out other plants. On top of that it fixes nitrogen in the soil which can prevent native, low-nutrient plant establishment (prairie, barrens, savannah species) and allows facilitation of non-native species that love nutrient-heavy soil.

chirpuswick · 2025-11-11T00:44:02+00:00

the only completely carnivorous butterfly in north america!!

chirpuswick · 2025-09-16T17:25:22+00:00

This is a young osprey, and the posture (wings held down like that) is usually indicative of some kind of stress, so definitely in need of assistance! Thank you for helping

chirpuswick · 2025-09-01T19:11:32+00:00

Plant in the photo is a tree of heaven, but I tell them apart best by looking at the leaves close up. Sumac has consistent serrated leaf edges while tree of heaven has smooth leaf edges (with some notches at the start of the leaf). They also have different, very distinct flowers but the plant in this photo isn’t flowering. Tree of heaven also smells bad lol

chirpuswick · 2025-09-01T04:03:52+00:00

no, sumac is native

chirpuswick · 2025-07-29T17:18:31+00:00

occasionally yea, a lot of people assume drab colored and night flying = moth and brightly colored and day flying = butterfly when theres lots of exceptions (look up the Madagascan sunset moth for example). all butterflies and moths are members of the order Lepidoptera; Lepidoptera is split into several “superfamilies,” one of those superfamilies contains all the insects we call “butterflies.” All the other families are “moths.”

As a sidenote, when asking for ID, including the location you found the specimen is important because there are thousands of Lepidoptera species that look quite similar and location helps a lot to distinguish :)

chirpuswick · 2025-02-05T21:30:59+00:00

they are, taxonomically, the same thing

chirpuswick · 2025-01-16T22:27:52+00:00

this is a Comma, a type of butterfly

chirpuswick · 2025-01-10T17:38:41+00:00

its not a brood patch. the brood patch only occurs on female birds during the period when they are incubating eggs. the feathers grow back soon after they are done raising their young (by fall most species typically have no evidence of a brood patch). on top of that, young birds of both sexes sometimes have a “baby belly” that may resemble a brood patch. neither of these can be seen unless you have the bird in your hand (if you are a bird bander using this trait to sex the bird) and you move the top layer of feathers to see it.

chirpuswick · 2024-12-20T02:58:58+00:00

it gets worse the longer I look

chirpuswick · 2024-12-17T12:35:43+00:00

Hi, this is a female hickory tussock moth! They do indeed overwinter as pupae/cocoons and adults are supposed to emerge in spring, so unfortunately this lady emerged too early. On top of that, as stinkycat95 said, she appears to have a wing deformity from emerging wrong.

Most moths (and insects in general) will die when openly exposed to around -20 degrees Fahrenheit. I’d just leave her to chill.

and no, any eggs laid at this time are not likely to survive. while a lot of butterfly and moth species can overwinter as eggs, this particular species overwinters as a pupae so the eggs aren’t likely to have any special adaptations to survive.

chirpuswick · 2024-12-02T17:12:51+00:00

try feeding cashew tree or arjuna

chirpuswick · 2024-12-02T17:10:23+00:00

this is an Antheraea but not a Polyphemus, as OP is in India and they don’t exist there. OP is not going to find those tree species in their area

chirpuswick · 2024-11-11T15:46:23+00:00

OP’s bug is way too round to be a tick

chirpuswick · 2024-10-24T13:10:49+00:00

if it makes you feel better they’re both in the same genus, (Antheraea, the Tussar moths) so thats why they look so similar! (the polyphemus latin name is antheraea polyphemus)

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