Our party of five conducted this morning's survey under mostly cloudy skies which, coupled with a nice breeze, kept the already warm temperature from rising too quickly. Highlights included finding Pipevine Swallowtail eggs on the Swanflower in the Oculus beds, getting a close-up view of a Great Plains Rat Snake, and watching the intense activity (butterflies, bees, wasps, and flies) around the blossoming Scorpion Tail near the metal tank pond in the Display Gardens. Select Photos and Complete List of Sightings: Polistes aurifer (paper wasp) photo by Val Bugh Agrilus sp. (metallic wood-boring beetle, family Buprestidae) photo by Val Bugh Junonia evarete (tropical buckeye) photo by Val Bugh Amblyscirtes celia (Celia's Roadside-skipper) photo by Val Bugh Pyrgus communis/albescens (common/white checkered-skipper) photo by Val Bugh Ocyptamus fascipennis (flower fly) photo by Val Bugh Thyanta custator (stink bug) photo by Val Bugh Vespula squamosa (southern yellowjacket) photo by Val Bugh Urbanus dorantes (dorantes longtail) photo by Val Bugh Hylephila phyleus (fiery skipper, male) photo by Val Bugh Asterocampa celtis (hackberry emperor) photo by Val Bugh Sympetrum corruptum (variegated meadowhawk, male) photo by Val Bugh Battus philenor (pipevine swallowtail eggs) photo by Val Bugh Icerya purchasi (cottony cushion scale with acrobat ant) photo by Val Bugh Elaphe guttata emoryi (Great Plains rat snake) photo by Val Bugh Unknown sp. (spur-throated grasshopper, nymph) photo by Val Bugh Rabidosa rabida (rabid wolf spider, gravid female) photo by Val Bugh Zelus tetracanthus (four-spined assassin bug) photo by Val Bugh Oxyopes salticus (striped lynx, male) photo by Val Bugh Birds: Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) Black-crested Titmouse (Baeolophus atricristatus) Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis) Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus) Hummingbird (Archilochus sp.) Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) White-winged Dove (Zenaida asiatica) Reptiles: Great Plains Rat Snake (Elaphe guttata emoryi) Insects & Spiders: order family genus/species common name lepidoptera   nymphalidae   Danaus gilippus   Queen       Phyciodes texana   Texan Crescent       Junonia coenia   Common Buckeye       Junonia evarete   Tropical Buckeye       Agraulis vanillae   Gulf Fritillary       Asterocampa celtis   Hackberry Emperor    pieridae   Eurema lisa   Little Yellow       Eurema nicippe   Sleepy Orange       Phoebis sennae   Cloudless Sulphur    lycaenidae   Strymon melinus   Gray Hairstreak    papilionidae   Battus philenor   Pipevine Swallowtail (eggs)    hesperiidae   Lerodea eufala   Eufala Skipper       Lerema accius   Clouded Skipper       Erynnis horatius   Horace's Duskywing       Amblyscirtes celia   Celia's Roadside-skipper       Pyrgus communis/albescens   Common/White Checkered-skipper       Hylephila phyleus   Fiery skipper       Chioides albofasciatus   White-striped Longtail       Urbanus dorantes   Dorantes Longtail    arctiidae   Estigmene acrea   Saltmarsh Moth    limacodidae   Euclea incisa   Oak Slug Moth odonata   coenagrionidae   Ischnura ramburii   Rambur's Forktail    libellulidae   Pachydiplax longipennis   Blue Dasher       Sympetrum corruptum   Variegated Meadowhawk coleoptera   chrysomelidae   Asphaera lustrans   Flea Beetle    tenebrionidae   Eleodes goryi   Darkling Beetle    coccinellidae   Harmonia axyridis   Multi-colored Asian Ladybird    buprestidae   Agrilus sp.   Metallic Woodborer hemiptera   coreidae   Acanthocephala terminalis   Coreid Bug (adult & nymph)       Narnia femorata   Cactus Bug (adult & nymph)       Leptoglossus phyllopus   Leaf-footed Bug       Leptoglossus sp.   Leaf-footed Bug (nymph)       Chariesterus antennator   Euphorbia Bug       Chelinidea vittiger   Opuntia Bug (nymph)       Chelinidea tabulata   Opuntia Bug (nymph)    rhopalidae   Harmostes sp.   Scentless Plant Bug    reduviidae   Zelus tetracanthus   Four-spined Assassin Bug (adult & nymph)    pentatomidae   Thyanta custator   Stink Bug       Chlorochroa ligata   Conchuela (nymph) homoptera   cicadidae   Tibicen texanus   Cicada    cicadellidae   Cuerna costalis   Leafhopper    aphididae   Unknown sp.   Aphids    margarodidae   Icerya purchasi   Cottony Cushion Scale    dactylopiidae   Dactylopius sp.   Cochineal Insect hymenoptera   sphecidae   Sceliphron caementarium   Yellow-and-black Mud Dauber    crabronidae   Bicyrtes sp.   Sand Wasp    formicidae   Crematogaster sp.   Acrobat Ant    pompilidae   Pepsis sp.   Spider Wasp    braconidae   Unknown sp.   Braconid Wasp    vespidae   Polistes carolina   Red Wasp       Polistes exclamans   Paper Wasp       Polistes aurifer   Paper Wasp       Vespula squamosa   Southern Yellowjacket    apidae   Bombus pensylvanicus   Bumble Bee       Apis mellifera   Honey Bee    megachilidae   Megachile sp.   Leaf-cutter Bee       Unknown sp.   Leaf-cutter Bee    halictidae   Unknown sp.   Green Sweat Bee diptera   dolichopodidae   Unknown sp.   Long-legged Fly    syrphidae   Copestylum mexicana   Black Flower Fly       Copestylum sp.   Flower Fly       Ocyptamus fascipennis   Flower Fly orthoptera   acrididae   Lactista aztecus   Aztec Bandwing       Chortophaga viridifasciata   Northern Green-striped Grasshopper       Schistocerca nitens   Gray Bird Grasshopper       Schistocerca obscura   Obscure Bird Grasshopper       Schistocerca sp.   Bird Grasshopper (nymph)       Melanoplus sp.   Spur-throated Grasshopper       Melanoplus differentialis   Differential Grasshopper       Unknown sp.   Spur-throated Grasshopper (nymph)       Mermiria sp.   Slant-faced Grasshopper (nymph)       Mermiria bivittata   Two-striped Mermiria    tettigoniidae   Scudderia furcata   Fork-tailed Bush Katydid (adult & nymph)       Pediodectes bruneri   Bruner's Shieldback neuroptera   mantispidae   Unknown sp.   Mantisfly mantodea   mantidae   Stagmomantis carolina   Carolina Mantis (nymph) araneae   araneidae   Argiope aurantia   Black and Yellow Garden Spider    oxyopidae   Peucetia viridans   Green Lynx       Oxyopes salticus   Striped Lynx    salticidae   Anasaitis canosa   Jumping Spider       Phidippus arizonensis   Arizona Jumper       Phidippus audax   Bold Jumper    lycosidae   Rabidosa rabida   Rabid Wolf Spider