This week I started to write about spiders and ended up buying a book on mosquitoes. In the recently published book The Mosquito: A Human History of Our Deadliest Predator, author Timothy Winegard calculates nearly half the people who ever lived died of mosquito bites. To put things into a modern perspective, mosquitoes kill on average […]
Anthony Westkamper
Posted inLife + Outdoors
HumBug: An Autumnal Walk
Walking along the Van Duzen River, we spotted a medium sized black and orange wasp industriously digging a hole in the sand. Although similar in many ways, she was smaller and had a slightly different color pattern than the locally common great golden sand digger. I posted my photo and ID request on www.Bugguide.net and […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
HumBug: Missing Dragonflies
This summer I have been bemoaning the lack of dragonflies along my stretch of Van Duzen River. The number of species is low as is the number of individuals of the few species I’ve seen. They just haven’t been there. My guess is that they, in their incarnation as aquatic larvae, and their prey have […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
HumBug: Caddisflies and Fishing Flies
When I was a boy, my dad introduced me to the joys and frustrations of trout fishing. In his opinion the best bait were what he called “periwinkles,” little bugs that cover themselves with twigs or stones and crawl around in creeks. Skip forward to 1981 and Gary LaFontaine, a noted writer, published a book […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Out of the Water and into the Sky
Mayflies on the Van Duzen Getting a late start, I made my way down to the river after the sun had gone from the canyon. I noted many tiny flying insects 6 inches on either side of the water’s edge. A spotted sandpiper (Actitis macularius) strolled up the minute beach pecking here and there as […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
HumBug: Butterflies vs. Moths
One of the most common questions I get as a bug guy is, “What’s the difference between butterflies and moths?” Although most consider them separate clades within the order lepidoptera, another answer is “maybe nothing.” Some authorities regard butterflies as a day flying sub group of moths. Their lifestyles are very similar. Starting life as […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
HumBug: Mayflies on the Van Duzen
Getting a late start, I made my way down to the river after the sun had gone from the canyon. I noted many tiny flying insects 6 inches on either side of the water’s edge. A spotted sandpiper (Actitis macularius) strolled up the minute beach pecking here and there as it went. The insects I […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
HumBug: Damsels vs. Dragons
At a party I was recently asked the difference between damselflies and dragonflies. Although close relatives (order odonata) that live very similar lives, there are some differences. Both groups spend the majority of their lives as aquatic larvae breathing water. They are all hunters but with varying specialties. Some hide in the detritus in the […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Unicorns
Nymphs on patrol I have seen alarmingly few dragonflies along my stretch of the Van Duzen River this year. Where I’m used to seeing dozens in a day, I’m seeing one or none. About the only species I’ve seen recently hereabouts is the large black and yellow western river cruiser (Macromia magnifica) patrolling along gravel […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
HumBug: New Dragon, Bold Patterns and Teeny Bees
A walk along the Van Duzen River on a warm, sunny day can produce some surprises. Today I spotted a dragonfly which is new to my “life list” (a term I’ve adopted from my birding friends). Libellula pulchella, the 12 spotted skimmer. Named for the total number of black spots on their wings, they are […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
HumBug: Nymphs Patrolling
I have seen alarmingly few dragonflies along my stretch of the Van Duzen River this year. Where I’m used to seeing dozens in a day, I’m seeing one or none. About the only species I’ve seen recently hereabouts is the large black and yellow western river cruiser (Macromia magnifica) patrolling along gravel roads parallel to […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Mandibles and Mosquito Catchers
Like any collector, I have my unicorns. Near the top of my list was Holorusia haspera, the western giant crane fly. Looking like the biggest mosquito you ever saw, this is an impressive critter. I grew up calling them “mosquito catchers.” As a larva, they live near water, feeding on decaying vegetation in the moist […]