A couple of days ago we had a (relatively) mild, rain-free afternoon and Dan decided it would be a good opportunity to try to move another load of wood from the piles out in the field into our basement, where it’s easy to access two or three times a day (the woodstove being our only source of heat, we burn a fair bit).
The wood in the field was here when we moved in, and our landlord gave us the freedom to use it as we needed it. I’m not sure what the full story is on it, but it’s obviously been stacked there for years – and years and years maybe – because the stuff that was well-covered is incredibly dry, and the stuff that wasn’t as well protected is, in some cases, starting to go a little punky.
Prior to moving it in, Dan had to sort through the pile to separate the dry stuff from the punky and/or wet stuff, and halfway through he came back to the house and called up the stairs: “Seabrooke? Are you looking for blog material?”
I’m always looking for blog material, and of course he knows that. I grabbed my camera and joined him out at the wood pile while he finished sorting out the logs. Hidden amongst them were numerous critters and other interesting things. I decided to make this a Sunday Snapshots because I wouldn’t be able to ID the spiders or beetles, and with a Sunday Snapshots I wouldn’t have to… ;)
The log pile sits under a Bur Oak; many of the burry caps had collected in the gaps.
A white-bellied spider in a silk cocoon, alongside a dead pillbug/sowbug.
A caterpillar... I think?
Gypsy Moth pupal shells - a male hatched out of the one on the left, a female out of the one on the right, as determined by size.
0867 - Agonopterix pulvipennella - Featherduster Agonopterix
tent caterpillar cocoon
Woolly Bear and female Gypsy Moth pupal case
0867 - Agonopterix pulvipennella - Featherduster Agonopterix
Lemon Drops
0639 - Caloptilia stigmatella - Poplar Caloptilia (left) and 0889 - Two-dotted Agonopterix - Agonopterix argillacea
0639 - Caloptilia stigmatella - Poplar Caloptilia (left) and 0889 - Two-dotted Agonopterix - Agonopterix argillacea
All of the sawdust that one moth is buried in came out of these tiny holes, created by some type of wood-boring insect and/or its larvae.
millipede exoskeleton
some type of (dead) scale insect
Helper.
