With rainy cold days suppressing entomological activity it put my assertion that there’s always, ALWAYS something interesting to find outdoors to the test. So, camera in hand, I went looking. The weather forecast said it would snow down to 1,000 feet elevation, so it was indeed cold out and there was very little activity above […]
crickets
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Throwback Crickets and Darkling Beetles
Bugs from long ago About 30 years ago, I was riding my mountain bike in the desert north of Reno when I saw a large, shiny insect climbing up one of the sage bushes. I stopped, emptied the little container I kept full of bike tools into my pockets and collected it. By that time, […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
HumBug: Bugs from Long Ago and Last Night
About 30 years ago, I was riding my mountain bike in the desert north of Reno when I saw a large, shiny insect climbing up one of the sage bushes. I stopped, emptied the little container I kept full of bike tools into my pockets and collected it. By that time I’d almost given up […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
HumBug: Why No Cricket Choruses?
I recently got a question from a reader as to why he didn’t hear the grand evening choruses of crickets he had gotten used to in other places. Like much in nature, while the question may be simple the answer is not. According to Dolbear’s Law, the chirp rate of a given cricket can be […]
Posted inNews
HumBug: Winter Pygmies
Today, on the front garage door was the tiniest grasshopper you are ever likely to see, its body measuring about ½ inch long. Its general body shape, short antennae, and large hind legs, were unmistakably those of a grasshopper (sub order Caelifera). Its size, coloration and the fact that it was out in the middle […]
Posted inNews
HumBug: Look What the Rains Brought
As the seasons change, the macro invertebrate fauna (aka bugs) change. It’s November, and it finally rained at my house. At night when my dogs take me out for a walk I’m finally seeing my long awaited friends, the glow worms. Rapacious slug hunters, these little firefly relatives are usually found on the ground amongst […]