The fifth of June invited me to take my favorite stroll along the Van Duzen River. Things are at last heating up in the insect world. While I was checking out some daisies, a shadow flitted past me. It was member of the well-known migratory dragonfly species, the common green darner (Anax junius). This is […]
butterflies
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HumBug: A Walk in the Woods
When I looked out today the sun was shining and the bugs were out. I set my computer and camera to acquire a stack of photos of a snail hunting beetle I’d collected on a late night walk, and out the door I went. I managed to identify four different species of butterfly and the […]
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HumBug: Spring Bug Break
Spring is finally, really, underway. I took a walk along the Van Duzen River got nearly 100 photos of invertebrate wildlife. There were three different kinds of dragonfly: California darners, variegated meadowhawks and a single female red rock skimmer. This is the third year I’ve photoed the latter species here despite the fact that in […]
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HumBug: Partial Sun, Chance of Butterflies and Bees
Well, at least we had one sunny day. Along with the rest of us, the insects crawled from their hidey holes in bark crevasses, burrows in the ground and old wood. A couple of days ago I got a brief glimpse of what I suspected was a California tortoiseshell butterfly (Nymphalis californica). Sometimes, for reasons […]
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Spring Revival and Indoor Death
Spring at last After a few false starts it feels like spring is finally underway. Days ago, a walk in the woods with my dogs produced a tick. I’ve said before I do not like ticks but as a community service I try to give a heads up when I see them about. I also […]
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HumBug: Spring May Have Finally Sprung
After a few false starts it feels like spring is finally underway. Days ago, a walk in the woods with my dogs produced a tick. I’ve said before I do not like ticks but as a community service I try to give a heads up when I see them about. I also kicked up what […]
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HumBug: Winter Critters
Five years ago I started reporting seeing a small dragonfly in the middle of winter on sunny days, even following frosty nights. Dragonflies usually spend the cold months as larvae in the water. Up until then, none of the other dragonfly enthusiasts were reporting anything at all. I’ve been able to photograph and report this […]
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On the Wing
Damsels in fall The unseasonably warm and dry weather seems to be allowing some species of insects to linger later in the year than I’ve seen before. Among them are two damselflies. I checked my archives and this is the latest date in the year I’ve ever noted either the rubyspot or California spreadwing (Archilestes […]
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HumBug: Creepy, Cute and Unusual
Looking closely at more crawling critters than most folks, you’d think I’d get used to them. But there is one critter that still holds a Class 4 creep factor for me: the common centipede. If you could cross a spider and a snake, centipedes would be the result. Flexible, fast and venomous — in their […]
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HumBug: Honeybees are Loveable and Love Plums
Honeybees are everyone’s favorite. After all, they pollinate our crops, make wax and honey, their language is a dance and they are the perfect model of a socialist society. They toil tirelessly gathering nectar and pollen, cleaning and building their home, and tending to the needs of the queen, who in turn produces eggs which […]
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HumBug: A Mixed Bag of Beauties
It’s getting late in the season, the time when all the insects that overwintered as eggs have hatched, grown through their larval stages and are now wearing their adult colors. There were quite a few of one my favorite late season butterflies out today. A fritillary (genus Speyeria) was nectaring on thistle blossoms. I looked […]
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HumBug: Underfoot
On a recent walk through a local redwood grove, my young companion, knowing I’m interested in bugs, pointed out a beetle on the path. It was dead and, although it was in the middle of a footprint, externally undamaged. So I collected it. Hey, it was dead when I got there. Interestingly enough, it was […]