Seasons change, and with them the insects we see. Headed toward winter now, there are fewer dragonflies. It seems the big common green darners are all gone now, migrated elsewhere. But on a recent stroll along the Van Duzen, I saw several others. A solitary dusty, old-looking western river cruiser and a couple too far […]
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HumBug: An Afternoon on the Van Duzen
Trying to stay up to date with the entomological fauna in my area, I went for an extended hike, braving ankle-deep waters and wading upstream from my usual haunts. I saw quite a few pale-faced clubskimmers (Brechmorhoga mendax), one of my many favorite dragonflies. You usually see them flying within inches of the surface at […]
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HumBug: Three Critters on the River
Since I started writing this blog, it has been my intention to be as current as possible so that anyone in the area might have the opportunity to see the critters I was talking about. On my recent trips down to the Van Duzen River, I’ve seen an increasing number and variety of “bugs” as […]
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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: A Day in the Marshes
Last Friday a friend treated me to my first stroll through the Arcata Marshes. Contrary to the preconception the name gave me, I did not need hip boots or have to battle alligators. Although it’s a place well known to local birders, there were few birds to be seen. What I did see were some […]
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HumBug: Beauty
The other day, while waging my perpetual losing battle against garden weeds, I glimpsed a shadow. It was a dragonfly cruising my yard for an afternoon snack. I kept watch and it changed its flight pattern from actively hunting to slowly browsing the bushes near the ground for a place to rest. When it finally […]
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HumBug: A Winter Walk
Tuesday was mostly clear so I put off house cleaning and took a walk. Along the road I saw a few pale lavender colored Milkmaid flowers (Cardamine californica). They are the first wildflower I see every year. Aside from having to extricate myself from quicksand up to my knees, I had a good time taking […]
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HumBug: It’s a Bug’s Life
I should explain I am using the word “Bug” in the generic sense … any small creepy crawly critter born with more than four legs. There is another technical definition for the word: a member of the insect order Hemiptera. The “true bugs” are generally shield shaped, with front wings about half the size of […]
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HumBug: Bugs in Winter
I got down to the river about 2:30 p.m. I was too late; the angle of the sun didn’t light up the ground anywhere. My little dragonflies were nowhere in evidence. In fact, without the sun on the ground I saw one fly and a tiny spider and a baby centipede under a rock. That […]
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HumBug: Neglected Damsels
Whenever I give a talk on dragonflies, I point out that there are two subgroups to the order Odonata. The dragonflies (anisoptera, which means “same wing”) and the damselfiles (zygoptera meaning “different wing”), which I am told refers to the sizes and shapes of the front and hind wings. I guess because they’re bigger and […]
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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: Tourists
Two years ago in early June I got a “County Record” to my name. That’s what Odonata Central calls it when you are the first to report sighting a particular species of dragonfly or damselfly in a given county. You send in an identifiable photograph, the place and date. They evaluate your photo to assure […]