The walk started off noticing my neighbor’s elm tree is infested with mourning cloak caterpillars. They’re going to town on one of the branches, stripping the leaves right down to the tough ribs. I didn’t tell him. It’s a big tree and I doubt loosing a few leaves is going to have much effect on […]
butterflies
Posted inLife + Outdoors
HumBug: Back to the River for Swallowtails and Sawflies
As the weather begrudgingly warms up, more bugs are emerging. Lately along the Van Duzen River, I’ve noted pale swallowtail (Papilio eurymedon) and Lorquin’s admiral (Limenitis lorquini) butterflies among others. You can find quite a few stonefly (order Plecoptera) exuvia, or cast off husks, near the water’s edge as naiads emerge, shed their last larval […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
HumBug: Oregon Butterflies and Wasps
One good thing about insects as a hobby is there are so many of them and they’re everywhere. The high desert environment of central Oregon is so different from our coastal rainforest it gives opportunities to encounter entirely unfamiliar species. So, I took my cameras on a trip last week. It was easy to add […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
HumBug: Safer to Look Like Crap
First day out with my new Canon 6D Mark II today and so far I’m happy. I used my Sigma 150/600-millimeter lens and, after a slow start, managed to find a few subjects. I watched as a smallish dragonfly searched among the willows looking for someplace to dine on its catch. As soon as it […]
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: 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
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: October Dragonflies and Butterflies
I started looking for one of my favorite dragonflies, the pale faced clubskimmer (Brechmorhoga mendax), in July. That’s when my files showed them flying along the flat stretches of the river where I see them dipping the tip of their abdomens into the water, depositing eggs. This year the first I’ve seen were in mid […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
HumBug: Orange is the New Butterfly
The local butterfly population is showing its fall colors and orange is the order of the day. Woodland skippers (Ochlodes sylvanoides), Mylitta crescent (Phyciodes mylitta) and California tortoise shells (Nymphalis californica) are all on display. The tortoise shells are particularly interesting. I’ve been seeing them for a week or so now, and they are always […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
HumBug: The Butterfly House
Scoping the North Coast Journal’s calendar, I noticed a post about the Butterfly House at the Humboldt Botanical Gardens. Of course I had to check that out. Just north of the College of the Redwoods campus, the botanical gardens are a nice place to while away a few hours among tidy, well-maintained flower beds. The butterfly […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
HumBug: Butterfly vs. Spider
Some time ago, I mentioned in passing that butterflies and moths are covered with scales and fine hairs. They are easily dislodged and I theorized that these easily discarded structures might serve them as a release mechanism from sticky traps like a spider’s web. Last night I noticed a small cross orbweaver (Araneus diadematus) in […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
HumBug: Getting Butterflies
Hurray! The recent warm days have brought out the butterflies. One of my favorite butterflies is the red admiral (Vanessa atalanta). It was pictured on the cover of my first little bug book the, Golden Guide of Insects. That was before the advent of bar codes and ISBN numbers. Unfortunately, it was not common in my […]