It’s a jungle out there It rained the other morning, giving me an excuse to not mow and enjoy the little English lawn daisies a little longer. Small flowers attract small critters and there was drama aplenty among the blades of grass. First off, the zombie dung flies (Scathophaga stercoraria) are back right on schedule. […]
HumBug
An exploration of invertebrates and nature photography
Posted inLife + Outdoors
HumBug: It’s a Jungle Out There
It rained this morning, giving me an excuse to not mow and enjoy the little English lawn daisies a little longer. Small flowers attract small critters and there was drama aplenty among the blades of grass. First off, the zombie dung flies (Scathophaga stercoraria) are back right on schedule. The fungus Entomophthora muscae infects some […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
HumBug: A March of Butterflies
It’s been a long, wet and cold March, but one sunny day brought out the early spring butterflies. I watched half a dozen California tortoise shells (Nymphalis californica) feed and chase each other among the flowers clothing my green gage plum trees. I’m not sure if these aerial acrobatics were part of a mating ritual […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
HumBug: Wings of the Fly
A reader recently suggested I write about a particular anatomical feature of the order diptera, which contains about 60,000 known species including flies, mosquitoes, crane flies, midges and gnats. Unlike most other flying insects with four wings, members of this group have only two. Evolution has reduced their rear wings to tiny club-shaped structures called […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
HumBug: Bumbling into Spring
It snowed here Monday night and has been cold for the rest of the week. Because insects are cold blooded, this means there just weren’t many out and about, but I did get buzzed by a bumblebee feeding on the newly emerged pussy willows. I don’t think they get much nectar from any individual catkin, […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
HumBug: Home Again
Returning from a two week vacation near Olympia, Washington, where I saw practically no bugs at all, I was greeted with a large millipede and a spider at my front door. It’s good to be home. Spring, I find, is springing all around. Judging by daffodil blooms here in Humboldt County, we’re about two weeks […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Bugs on (and Under) Wheels
Spiders in a car What do you do when you’re driving and a spider runs across the inside of your windshield? Like any good entomological photographer, I pulled over at a safe place and took its picture, of course. Done with the photo shoot, I herded it onto an envelope and ushered it outside. Really, […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
HumBug: Spiders in a Car
What do you do when you’re driving and a spider runs across the inside of your windshield? Like any good entomological photographer, I pulled over at a safe place and took its picture, of course. Done with the photo shoot, I hearded it onto an envelope and ushered it outside. Really, spiders are nothing to […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
HumBug: By the River and Under the Sand
Here we are, middle of winter and once again I’m finding variegated meadowhawk dragonflies along the Van Duzen River, where I regularly walk. Although this is a small dragonfly, it is the largest insect I see flying this time of year. I find them perched on rocks in open sections of river bar, often 20 […]
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HumBug: Pushing the Limits of Small
Taking a break from splitting firewood, I noticed dozens of tiny creatures flying in the sunlight. Curious, I captured first a gall wasp, then a tiny rove beetle and, finally, a creature too small for my eyes to discern anything other than a black speck crawling on my hand. A session with my dissecting microscope […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
HumBug: Winter Butterflies
The winter solstice is passed but I can’t see any lengthening in the days yet. It’s almost not worth waking up for — at least it might seem that way to an overwintering butterfly. I have spotted at least three species flying on recent warm winter days: a painted lady, red admiral and mourning cloak. They’re […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
HumBug: Heartworm
I caught a new bug recently. Unfortunately, it was not the kind I could skewer with a pin and put in a frame, but the kind where you’re supposed to drink plenty of fluids and get some rest. So I took the opportunity to do a bit of online research to answer a question recently […]