Bugs of the Black Range
Includes all the small critters, 6- and 8-legged,
except Butterflies and Moths.
All photographs were taken in the Black Range of New Mexico.

Agelenopsis aperta (?)
Western Funnelweb Spider
Percha Box Overlook,
E. of Hillsboro
April 8, 2020

Anostraca (sp.?)
Fairy Shrimp
Lake Valley &
Ready Pay Gulch (e. of Hillsboro)

Anthophora (sp.?)
Digger Bee
East of Hillsboro

Apateticus marginventris
Trail 135
E slope of Black Range
April 2020

Aphonopelma (sp?)
Perhaps A. marxi or
A. madera
Tarantula
Hillsboro & Nutt Grasslands
View video of individual from east of Hillsboro, 2021

Aphonopelma madera?
Rabb Park Trail
November 17, 2020

Apis mellifera
Western Honey Bee
Ready Pay Gulch & Silver Creek
East of Hillsboro

Aquarius remigis
North American Common Water Strider
Railroad Canyon
Black Range
New Mexico
March

This small creature of just barely over a centi-meter in length, a small creature that darts about without warning, a bug, a small bug, and thus difficult to identify in the best of conditions.

Aquarius remigis is the water strider typically reported from this area. Aquarius remigis was first described by Say in 1832, although he placed it in the genus Gerris. These photographs were recorded on March 4 in Railroad Canyon, on the west slope of the Black Range.

Dolomedes gertschi, New Mexico Fishing Spider, preys on water striders. According to bugGuide its range is restricted to the Gila River drainage in Arizona and New Mexico. The waters of Railroad Canyon are in the Mimbres watershed, which drains into north central Mexico - but not at the surface. However, there are observations of this species of spider from Albuquerque and the Jemez Mountains listed at bugGuide and on iNaturalist from the Mimbres River. It is safe, I think, to state that fishing spiders found in this area will be of this species - by range.

BugGuide lists the following (unattributed) statement: "(Aquarius remigis) Faces a conflict when deciding which habitat refuge to use when responding to predators. Predation by sunfish (Lepomis) means these bugs need to retreat to the stream banks. But they must move away from those banks when avoiding fishing spiders (Dolomedes).” Now the stream in Railroad Canyon does not have any sunfish, but it is likely to have some fishing spiders.

Araneidae (Family)
Hillsboro

Araneus gemmoides/illaudatus
Common name for
A. gemmoides is Cat-faced Spider
Hillsboro

Arctosa littoralis?
A type of Wolf Spider
Railroad Canyon

Asilidae sp?
Robber Fly
East of Hillsboro

Bombus sonorus
Sonoran Bumble Bee
Hillsboro

Video

Boopedon nubilum
Ebony Grasshopper
Ready Pay Gulch east of Hillsboro

Brachynemurus ferox (?)
Ant Lion (adult)
Dry Creek
Just west of Kingston

Brachystola magna
Plains Lubber Grasshopper
Percha Box, Hillsboro

Brochymena (sp?)
Middle Fork
Percha Creek

Calligrapha serpentina
Globemallow Leaf Beetle
Hillsboro

Camptocosa texana?
(But possibly Entelegynae or Lycosidae)
Hillsboro
August 2022

Carabidae (Family)
Larvae of a Ground Beetle
Ready Pay Gulch
East of Hillsboro

Chauliognathus lecontei
Soldier Beetle
Percha Creek
East of Hillsboro & San Lorenzo

Chelifer cancroides (?)
House Pseudoscorpin
Hillsboro

Compsocryptus (sp?)
Hillsboro

Copestylum mexicanum
Mexican Cactus Fly
On Erysimum capitatum - Western Wallflower
Sawyer Peak

Cotinis mutabilis
Figeater Beetle
Percha Creek
East of Hillsboro

Cycloneda s. sanguinea
Spotless Lady Beetle
Blood-Red Ladybird Beetle
Railroad Canyon

C. s. sanguinea is found as far south as Argentina and is the most widespread Lady Bird Beetle in Latin America. In the United States it is found in the far south, coast to coast. Interestingly, the pupae of this species has what is called a "gin trap". The pupae has "four deep clefts, situated dorsally on the abdomen between the segments. The anterior margin of each cleft is densely beset with tiny teeth.…When the pupa is at rest, with the body flexed and recumbent against the substrate, the traps are agape and ‘set’ for action. Stimulating such a pupa with a brush will cause it to straighten out abruptly, in a quick flipping action that causes the clefts to clamp shut…” Secret Weapons: Defenses of Insects…Thomas Eisner et al, p. 208

Cysteodemus wislizeni
Desert Blister Beetle
Ready Pay Gulch
East of Hillsboro

Dasymutilla magnifica (possibly D. klugii)
Velvet Ant
Ready Pay Gulch
East of Hillsboro

Diguetia canities ?
Desert Bush Spider
Railroad Canyon

Dynastes grantii
Western Hercules Beetle
aka Grants Hercules Beetle
Williamsburg

Erythemis collocata
Western Pondhawk
Percha Creek
East of Hillsboro

Eupeodes volucris
Bird Hover Fly
on Erodium cicutarium
Red Stemmed Filaree
Trail 134, Tierra Blanca Road
April

Euphoria fulgida
Emerald Euphoria
Middle Percha

Frontinella huachuca
Southwestern Bowl and Doily Spider
Hillsboro
December 2021
The body of this spider is about 2 mm long.

Gibbifer californicus
Blue Fungus Beetle
Bloodgood Spring
South of Kingston
& Black Range Crest Trail
July 11, 2017

Synonyms: Erotylus c. & Cypherotylus c.
Range: Southwestern U.S., Kansas, Wyoming, and Northern Mexico
Food: Larvae feed on fungi, Adults feed on some fungi, pollen, & nectar.
Original Description: Jean Théodore Lacordaire (1801 - 1870)

Hippodamia convergens
Convergent Lady Beetle
Sawyers Peak

Hogna carolinensis (?)
Carolina Wolf Spider
Ready Pay Wash
East of Hillsboro
November 9, 2022

Tentative identification. This species is found throughout the United States. This may be a male searching for a female since it was patrolling during the day. A large spider, not as big as most of the tarantulas of our area, but large.

Holocnemus pluchei
Marbled Cellar Spider
Hillsboro
July

Hystricia abrupta
Tachinid Fly
Railroad Canyon
July

Insara elegans
Elegant Bush Katydid
Hillsboro

Latrodectus hesperus
Western Black Widow
Hillsboro
June 22, 2026

Leptoglossus phyllopus (?)
Leaf-footed Bug
Hillsboro

Lestes alacer
Plateau Spreadwing
Hillsboro

Libellula saturata
Flame Skimmer
Percha Box
East of Hillsboro

Lycus loripes
Hillsboro
July

Mastigoproctus giganteus giganteus
Giant Vinegarroon
Hillsboro

Mecaphesa californica (?)
Crab Spider
Railroad Canyon
June

Megetra punctata
Blister Beetle
Hillsboro

Murgantia histrionica
Harlequin Bug
Hillsboro

Myrmecocystus mexicanus
Honeypot Ant
Colony Entrance
East of Hillsboro

Notonectidae (Family)
Backswimmer
Video link

Oepidodinae (Sub-family )
Band-winged Grasshopper
Possibly Lactisa azteca
Aztec Grasshopper
City of Rocks State Park
May

Orthoporus ornatus
Desert Millipede
Snake Mine Road
East of Hillsboro

Paltothemis lineatipes
Red Rock Skimmer
Hillsboro

Parabacillus hesperus
Western Short-horn Walkingstick
Garfield/Butler Group Hillsboro Mining District
April

Pardosa ?
Thinlegged Wolf Spiders
Bald Hill Spring

Pepsis chrysothemis
Tarantula Wasp
San Lorenzo

Pepsis grossa
Tarantula Hawk
Warm Springs Wash
NE of Hillsboro

Perillus bioculatus
Two-spotted Stink Bug
Hillsboro

Peucetia longipalpis
Lynx Spider
South of Hillsboro
Photographs by Matilde Holzwarth

Phidippus johnsoni
Red-backed Jumping Spider
Hillsboro

Philolithus sordidus
South of Hillsboro
New Mexico

Platypedia ?
Nymph of one of the cicada species.
Hillsboro

Dug up - did not come to surface voluntarily.

Prionus californicus
California Prionus or Giant Root Borer
Hillsboro

Stagmomantis californica ?
Praying Mantis
Hillsboro

Stagmomantis limbata
Bordered Mantis
Female (large bodied)
Male (thin bodied)
Hillsboro

Sympetrum corruptum
Variegated Meadowhawk
Hillsboro

Tibicen (sp?)
Annual Cicada
East of Hillsboro

Trimerotropis pallidipennis ?
Pallidwinged Grasshopper
Hillsboro

Triops longicaudatus
Longtail Tadpole Shrimp
Stock Pond East of Hillsboro
and one in Lake Valley

Trombidium sp.
Red Velvet Mite
North Wicks Canyon
East of Hillsboro

Villa
(possibly V. lateralis)
Black Range Crest Trail

Xylocopa californica arizonensis
Arizona Carpenter Bee
Hillsboro