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Block party at my place. Magicicada species, mostly, if not exclusively:
Riley's 13-year Cicada - Magicicada tredecim (teneral)
Might be an M. tredecassini in there, I suppose.
Location: Durham NC (USA)

LIFER! literally no words, this has to be the rarest snake in the piedmont of North Carolina. Yep! This sighting was in the piedmont of NC! went herping with a buddy, hiked many long hours inside a huge marsh/swamp habitat, not a single snake. We reached the edge of an agricultural field with a nice slow water marsh, and we found this mudsnake at the surface of the water just chilling near the base of a half submerged fallen tree.

this is not what I expected to find at all, not only that but this snake was massive! 3+ feet. I would have never guessed to have found a mudsnake today and a true “lemon head”.

This snake proved to be the hardest to photograph I’ve ever encountered! They cannot sit still and any cover placed on them they will push until it is moved. I also noticed an unusual defense mechanism where this snake used its tails to move as if the tail was its head. Its head sat still while the tail “creeped” around the ground imitating a snake searching the ground/water. I’m not sure if they are known to do this, either way I am super happy with only one snake this week and it’s the rarest around here!

Male? Never noticed one with a white marking.

@juan_sphex

@raycama

Do you guys know if it’s a territorial behavior when two of these will zoom through the air? In the same manner as male X. virginica? Or is that always two females having a dispute over foraging on Asclepias? Or a mating/courtship ritual? It’s a constant and reliable behavior about which I’ve always been curious. Thanks:)

I found this small (~9mm length) velvet ant running down a road in a suburban neighborhood and captured it for some shots. It was identified by an expert on BugGuide as Timulla vagans:
bugguide.net/node/view/68201
Detailed images of this individual posted at:
bugguide.net/node/view/678260
So-called velvet ants (Mutillidae) are actually wasps. The males have wings and broadly resemble other wasps. The females are flightless and often rather hairy. They are parasitoids of other hymenoptera (sometimes other insects) and the females are seen racing around, apparently in search of hosts. Large species have a nasty sting, but I do not know about these. Members of this genus are reported to form a Mullerian mimicry complex:
doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2015.06.053