After almost five years doing a weekly blog it had to happen. With rainy, cold weather and the fact that over the last several years I’ve already written about most of the noteworthy entomological subjects hereabouts, this week I didn’t see any new critters worth photographing or writing about. So I think I’ll do what […]
moths
Posted inLife + Outdoors
HumBug: Best of the Bugs
After almost five years doing a weekly blog it had to happen. With rainy, cold weather and the fact that over the last several years I’ve already written about most of the noteworthy entomological subjects hereabouts, this week I didn’t see any new critters worth photographing or writing about. So I think I’ll do what […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
HumBug: Late Butterflies, Hornets and Moths
A quick walk along the Van Duzen River turned up one each variegated meadowhawk and shadow darner dragonflies neither of which allowed me to get close enough to get a photo. It’s OK, I have hundreds of shots of the meadowhawk and dozens of the shadow. We got glimpses of a California sister butterfly, a […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
HumBug: Butterflies vs. Moths
One of the most common questions I get as a bug guy is, “What’s the difference between butterflies and moths?” Although most consider them separate clades within the order lepidoptera, another answer is “maybe nothing.” Some authorities regard butterflies as a day flying sub group of moths. Their lifestyles are very similar. Starting life as […]
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Unicorns
Nymphs on patrol I have seen alarmingly few dragonflies along my stretch of the Van Duzen River this year. Where I’m used to seeing dozens in a day, I’m seeing one or none. About the only species I’ve seen recently hereabouts is the large black and yellow western river cruiser (Macromia magnifica) patrolling along gravel […]
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HumBug: Nymphs Patrolling
I have seen alarmingly few dragonflies along my stretch of the Van Duzen River this year. Where I’m used to seeing dozens in a day, I’m seeing one or none. About the only species I’ve seen recently hereabouts is the large black and yellow western river cruiser (Macromia magnifica) patrolling along gravel roads parallel to […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Dragonflies, Daubers and Friendly Moths
Dragonflies remembered Sometimes it takes a little excursion to get back home. A fond memory from childhood was watching eight spotted skimmer dragonflies (Libellula forensis) over the little creek at my great aunt’s and imagining them as World War I fighter planes in dogfights high overhead. I didn’t know their names or what their aerobatics […]
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HumBug: Bugs While You Wait
When the lady at the tire store said it would be 45 minutes before my car was ready, I said, “Thank-you,” and headed for the door. On the way into the parking lot, I ‘d spied a drainage ditch that meanders through Fortuna. It was choked with willows, Himalaya berry vines, Queen Anne’s lace, and […]
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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: Bugs Between the Raindrops
Despite the dreary weather, life must go on. Eager to get along with their lives, our local insects show up even for the brief patches of sunshine that occasionally grace my back yard. Mostly disdained by the local honeybees, oxalis, dandelions and English daisies draw a crowd. Aside from the digger bees mentioned last week, there […]
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HumBug: Going into the Light (Fixture)
In an effort to make one of those yucky housecleaning tasks a tad more interesting, I decided to check out the dead bugs in my kitchen light fixture before feeding them to my goldfish. In the past I’ve found millipedes and, once upon a time, even a potato bug (Jerusalem cricket). How that got up […]
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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 […]