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 […]
Science
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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 […]
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In Celebration of National Moth Week
In observance of National Moth Week, I thought I’d mention a few of our unusual local mothy residents. Together with butterflies, moths comprise the order “Lepidoptera,” roughly translating to scale wing. A good rule of thumb to distinguish between the two is that butterflies have thin antennae terminating in a club shape, while moths (with a […]
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Williams Grove, Avenue of the Giants
Saturday was the annual picnic of the Redwood Camera Club on the Avenue of the Giants. The majesty and beauty of the Sequoias always makes for an enjoyable ride. This was my first time to visit Williams Grove. It will not be my last. There are many good picnic spots, toilets and river access. I […]
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HumBug: Gold Diggers
In more than 300, trips I have yet to go on a walk down to the Van Duzen River and not see something interesting. Today was no exception. Because I got a late start I expected all the dragonflies to be perched high up in trees for the night. The puddle I’ve been watching had […]
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HumBug: Water Babies
One of the most remarkable things about many insects is their ability to completely change their lifestyles through the process of metamorphosis. Like us, the most primitive insects start out as small copies of their adult parents. Their lifestyle will be the same throughout their entire lives as to where they live, what they eat […]
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HumBug: Scary Scenarios
If you like the Alien movies with Sigourney Weaver, you’ll love the solitary wasps. Take one of my favorites, Eumenes, the potter wasp. She flies up and down tiny branches, diligently seeking small caterpillars. When she finds one she darts down, grabs it and paralyzes it with a sting. Once it’s immobilized, she takes it to […]
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HumBug: Feed Me, Seymour
Once, when I was a kid, my mom sent me out to the garage to get some hamburger from the old chest freezer. When I opened the lid I was nearly bowled over by the smell. Someone had left it unplugged for weeks and the half side of beef had turned nasty. You may wonder what […]
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HumBug: Little Blue Butterflies
While most everyone is delighted by the recent rains, I await warmer weather. Since insects are ectothermic (cold blooded) they maintain a low profile when it’s cold. In the brief sunny interludes we’ve had recently, I’ve seen California hairstreaks, Acmon blues, and several other small, blue to gray butterflies that didn’t hang around long enough […]
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HumBug: Bugs at the Refuge
After dropping off 20 years worth of household hazardous wastes, I rewarded myself on the way home (camera in hand of course) with a stroll through the Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The neatly laid out and maintained gravel paths offer a great place to relax and soak up a bit of nature. There were […]
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HumBug: Ants
One of nature’s most successful designs has to be the ant. Judging by their numbers and the number of species occupying different niches they are one of evolution’s biggest success stories. It is estimated that they account for about 10 percent of the biomass in some environments and 10 percent of the carbon dioxide in […]
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HumBug: Gardeners’ Woes
Standing up to work the kinks out of my back brought on by bowing in submission to the dandelions, oxalis, and the nameless red-stemmed running weed among my strawberry plants, a tiny flash of orange caught my eye. When it landed in a nearby pear tree, I saw how its red and black elytra covered […]