Tips on taking better photos for IDing caterpillars

I use iNaturalist a LOT. And I'm so grateful to the many experts who help identify my observations. Some take the time to share their knowledge. Like Christina Baer, who gave me advise on taking more angles of caterpillars, which will help folks like her ID them. Here's what she wrote on my observation of a crambid snout moth and I asked what "dorsal" meant:

"By a back view, I meant dorsal (the opposite side from the side with the legs/underside—an example). Both these photos are a lateral/side view, which shows the number of prolegs (always useful for caterpillars) and the side pattern (sometimes very important, but usually more at the level of 'Species A in the genus has little black dashes along the sides but Species B doesn't'). The dorsal view shows a lot more of the overall pattern and along with the number of prolegs is usually what identifiers are using to figure out where a caterpillar belongs. Another useful angle is a front shot of the head capsule. For a few specific groups, ventral (underside) photos are also important for ID, but that's less common."

Thank you, Christina! 

What is THAT? Plus a BioBlitz....

So I've been photographing critters and plants for the 2026 Texas Pollinator BioBlitz on iNaturalist. Silly me—I'll never make it again into the top five for "Most Observations" and "Most Species," which I did in the 2016 BioBlitz and 2017 BioBlitz. Because more and more people started getting in on the phone. Under 150 observers participated in 2016 and 2017. That number upped to more than 3,100 in 2018! So I gave up. 

 

But I still have a little competitiveness left in me—I'm trying to stay in the top 100 for 2026 (more than 6,000 observers and counting!). Currently, I'm #82. But I'm sure I'll get bumped down because we'll be out of town for the last few days of the BioBlitz. Oh, well. There's always next year.

 

All that to say, yesterday while I was out hunting, I came across this odd insect. What the heck was it? Well, iNaturalist said Psorophora—a mosquito? Sure didn't look like the ones I swat. Which told me this had to be a male. I was right! Those hairy antennae enable him to "hear" females when they're swarming to mate. This article has information, if you want to learn more.  

 

'Sapphire Showers'

In our back yard, we planted this 'Sapphire Showers' (Duranta erecta) early on in our gardening, like 2007 or 2008. Back then, we weren't into native plants like we are now. I guess we just thought it was pretty. 

 

Since we've had little rain in the past year, I thought it was amazing to see how well it's doing all these years later. Plus, this is the best I've ever seen it look, and I don't think it's ever bloomed as heartily as it is right now. At the start, I would water it during hot summer months, but that hasn't happened in the past many years. 

Party of four

For the past several days, I've been going outside with my trusty phone and macro lens, monitoring flowers for insects and other critters. Awhile ago, I stopped by our goldenrod. First, I spotted a crab spider that had just snagged a dance fly. Then on another bloom, I spotted this party of four—two banded scythris (Scythris trivinctella) moths, a small fly (probably Chlorops sp.) and a black ant (Monomorium genus). It was fun to watch one of the moths and the fly interact on the petals. The ant mostly stayed out of the way.

At one moment, I saw the fly touch "noses" with the moth. Ugh—that moth didn't like that!—and it pulled away. Such blatant rudeness offended the fly, and it also turned away. As for the ant (and me), we found the mini drama to be highly entertaining.  

Search and find

Okay, I have a search-and-find for photo for you. Do you see anything that doesn’t belong in the photo above? Look hard. I just happened to spot it when I was in the back yard, bug hunting for the 2026 Texas Pollinator Bioblitz (which runs through November 1). So do you see it yet?

The next photo zeroes in on the critter…..see it?

What I spotted was a caterpillar well camouflaged with bits of plateau goldeneye flowers that it’d stuck on itself. Cool, eh? I believe this was a species that’s part of wavy-lined and southern emeralds (Complex Syncholora aerata). Here’s a photo of a caterpillar similar to mine. Isn’t nature just so amazing?

Sugar Land adventures....

So James and I spent last week in Sugar Land, where I received low-dose radiation for the Dupuytren's disease in my right hand. For five nights, we stayed on the ninth floor of the Hyatt Place Houston/Sugar Land, which over looks Brooks Lake. Imagine my surprise when I spotted a jumping spider on the outside of our window. Remember—we were on the NINTH floor! Despite all the traffic, asphalt and concrete, we managed to have a few outdoorsy adventures both around the hotel and at other places... 

One day, we drove to Needville and Brazos Bend State Park. Above are some baby American alligators in a tank at the nature center. Of course, I hoped to see a wild alligator in the park. Would I?

James spotted a white-striped longtail (Chioides albofasciatus) outside the nature center.

Pausing for a selfie on a pier at Elm Lake. 

Common gallinule on a lotus pad. 

I was THRILLED when I spotted this butterfly on a trail! At first glance, I knew it wasn't a monarch or a queen. Which meant it was a viceroy (Limenitis archippus)! I was right! My first sighting of one ever! Yay!

And my wish came true! Some folks ahead of us on the trail pointed out this adult American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis). 

Back at Brooks Lake, this mother Muscovy duck sure impressed me. She had a brood of TWELVE ducklings that were nearly grown. That's a lot of kids to keep up with! So many to survive, too. James pointed out that there's probably very few predators there. True.  

During the day, we did a LOT of walking on the concrete trails around the lake, which was really nice. However, we didn't see a whole lot of wildlife on our treks. 

Brown anoles were abundant. 

Turtles in the lake would show up below the bridge, probably expecting snacks from people.

FIREFLIES! Yes, we saw fireflies along the walkway. I couldn't believe it. 

And the bridge across Brooks Lake...everyone (and their dogs) loves that bridge. Plenty of iron benches provide places to sit and relax. We did that several times ourselves. One man sits in on a bench every evening around dusk and reads a book, using a portable light. Nearby his dog, Freka, lays on a blanket and watches people pass by. After dark, tiny orbweavers (probably Metazygia zilloides) like the one above spin their webs between the bridge's metal guidelines. 

We return to Sugar Land in January for five more days of radiation....  

The Insect Epiphany

That, my friends, is Barrett Klein, an author and entomologist who gave a presentation last night based on his book, The Insect Epiphany. He has a dramatic but very knowledgeable style of delivery. The Aldo Leopold Foundation hosted and recorded the webinar. Register here to watch on-demand. You'll love it! P.S. I ordered his book.