A small group of Humboldt State University’s largest-ever freshman class got a VIP-worthy introduction to the county last week through one of the North Coast’s most important resources: the Klamath River. More than 60 students cut their summer breaks short to head up to Arcata early this year as part of an experimental new program […]
Science
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HumBug: The Most Unlovely Insects
Butterflies and dragonflies can entrance us with their beauty. Praying mantises carry themselves with a slender, lethal elegance. At the other end of the insect spectrum, you can find the order of flies. Unlike all other winged insects, members of the order Diptera have only two wings not four. Di meaning two and ptera meaning […]
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HumBug: Jumping Spiders!
Even people who do not like spiders can find much to love in the red backed jumping spider. First of all they are cute.(well, cute for a spider). Stocky and fuzzy, with eight eyes positioned across a broad face, they are somehow a little less spidery-creepy than a black widow. If you are impressed by […]
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HumBug: Tiny and Primitive
If you have sharp eyes or good glasses, pick up a potted plant and you might see a tiny gray thing, not much larger than the period at the end of this sentence, scurry away or even leap. This particular kind of critter has been hiding under rocks for a very long time. These are […]
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Humbug: Two Different Strategies for Prosperity
I can be sure it’s summer now that I’ve seen two of my favorite butterflies. Considered as a pair, they show two very different survival strategies. One is gaudy, covered by nature with large clown eyes, the other is a very “plain Jane” butterfly. You can see them both on any sunny Summer or Fall day. […]
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HumBug: Giddyup!
Having rained the day before, the sky hung low and menacing over the warm, muggy, quiet clearing. Strangely at that moment there were very few insects in a place I expected to see many. I was reminded of an old jungle movie. The words – “It’s quiet. Too quiet!” – ran through my mind. Where […]
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HumBug: That’s No Lady
Male Ladybugs must have a hard time of it. The familiar orange, black spotted beetles are represented by both sexes. Without a great deal of technical knowledge and a good strong hand lens, you’re unlikely to tell the difference. While insects don’t seem to mind what we humans call them, from time to time I have […]
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HumBug: Artful Dodgers
Today, faced with the humdrum task of taking old stuff out to the compost bin, I grabbed a camera on the off chance I might see something more interesting than rotten potato peels. Flying low and fast, dodging between grass stalks and tangled branches was a Common Whitetail (Plathemis lydia). With their dark wingspots, agile […]
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HumBug: The 40-year-old Mystery
When I was in the Navy I never minded midnight topside watch on the ship I was on in Long Beach. I’ve always loved glow-in-the-dark things, and I never tired of looking into the faintly luminous blue fire swirling in the warm bay waters. That was before the Internet and Wikipedia, so my options to […]
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HumBug: What’s Up, Tiger Beatle?
One of my favorite beetle species is out and about now. You might see them by the dozen hunting on sandy stretches of river bar. Cicindela oregano, commonly known as Western Tiger Beetle. About half an inch long and gray, they dart here and there and are among the fastest running creatures for their size. According to […]
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Seeing Tomorrow’s Eclipse an “Iffy” Proposition
If you’re planning on prying yourself from your covers before dawn tomorrow to catch a glimpse of the lunar eclipse, you might be heading back to be disappointed. The eclipse will begin at 4:57 a.m., when the earth, moon and sun align in the sky, with the earth blocking the sun’s rays and casting the […]
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HumBug: Killer Wrigglers
Last night I mercilessly killed a couple hundred of the deadliest animals on the planet, maybe averted a plague and fed the hungry. I hardly worked up a sweat. Statistically, more human deaths (not to mention misery) are caused annually by mosquito borne diseases than those carried by any other critter. At last count they […]