Seasons change, and with them the insects we see. Headed toward winter now, there are fewer dragonflies. It seems the big common green darners are all gone now, migrated elsewhere. But on a recent stroll along the Van Duzen, I saw several others. A solitary dusty, old-looking western river cruiser and a couple too far […]
Anthony Westkamper
Posted inNews (NCJ)
HumBug: Black Widows
I spend a lot of my outdoor time looking for and at bugs. Especially ones that are dramatic looking or interesting to photograph, so when I noted a medium sized spider on the front of the Carlotta post office, I automatically got closer, tilted my head to use the reading portion of my bifocals and […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
HumBug: False Scorpions
A little over 20 years ago, after moving to the country, I noticed a tiny, dark critter, no bigger than a newsprint letter “o” scurry across my counter. I scooped it up and checked it out with a hand lens. It was an animal I had only read about, a book scorpion or pseudoscorpion. After […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Black Light Party
Like Moths to a Black Light Last week I set up a light trap in my backyard with only limited success. Then I tried it with black compact fluorescent lights rather than Coleman lanterns. The old gas lanterns give off a great deal of heat and frequencies in the lower end of the spectrum but […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
HumBug: Uninvited Guests
The black lights of my “light trap” don’t make for a regular trap; the insects are free to come and go as they please. That’s the trick, though — the lights are irresistible. Moths, of course, come by the dozens, but there are others. An opportunistic praying mantis seeks an easy dinner. A burying beetle […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
HumBug: Like Moths to a Black Light
Last week I wrote about setting up a light trap in my backyard with only limited success. At the suggestion of some folks in an entomological chat room, I tried it with black compact fluorescent lights rather than Coleman lanterns. The old gas lanterns give off a great deal of heat and frequencies in the […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
HumBug: Missing Giants
The last couple of nights I’ve been running an experiment to answer a question. When I was a kid, I could leave the porch light on almost any night and there’d be a bunch of insects around it in an hour or so. Lately, I’ve been noticing that there don’t seem to be nearly as […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
HumBug: An Afternoon on the Van Duzen
Trying to stay up to date with the entomological fauna in my area, I went for an extended hike, braving ankle-deep waters and wading upstream from my usual haunts. I saw quite a few pale-faced clubskimmers (Brechmorhoga mendax), one of my many favorite dragonflies. You usually see them flying within inches of the surface at […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Horny Buggers
Three Critters on a River Anyone who has spent much time poking around streams and rivers has encountered the wondrous “Whirligig Beetle.” Shiny black ovals a bit more than a quarter of an inch long, they are a most remarkable animal. Easily seen as they pirouette wildly, skimming along the surface of ponds and slow […]
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HumBug: Silver Spotted Tiger Moth Grows Up
Finally! Early this spring, coming back from the mailbox, I noted a brown glob about the size of my fist on one of my fir trees. On closer inspection, I saw several irregular blobs which all turned out to be bunches of brown furry caterpillars, each a little over an inch long. I wondered what […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
HumBug: Ethics of Annihilation
The Olympics in Rio and the Zika virus have brought an ongoing ethical debate to the fore. If in the future mankind can use genetic engineering to wipe out mosquitoes that carry horrible diseases, should we? Previously, I mentioned that the humble mosquito is considered to be the single deadliest animal on the planet, transmitting […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
HumBug: Who’s Your Daddy?
Late last night, I took the dogs out for their final walk when I noticed a small member of the arachnid family of Opiliones on a rhododendron leaf. This is what I learned as a little kid as “daddy long legs.” Sometimes known as harvestmen, they look like a spider with unusually long legs and a […]