February flash, flung 1 day late =D

 He is glorious; she has the munchies.

It's that time of year, turkeys parading all over.

I LOVE the percussion males provide to accompany their dance. SO COOL!

Squirrel-y cunning leads to tasty breakfast.

Extremely impressive core strength in this creature.

BIG THING FOR FEBRUARY:

new-to-me species!

Common sharp-tailed snake (Contia tenuis) I found while raking around the grape arbor.

 Pretty gorgeous tummy, eh?

Those are pine needles, so you can see this is a SMALL snake.

It was kinda cold, so I righted the snake for a photo,

then returned it to its home under a bunch of leaf litter.

Such an exciting discovery, and I'm glad it was unharmed (far as I could tell).

For more info on this species, I highly recommend its page at Calherps.

Now that gardening activity is on the upswing (here in the northern hemisphere),

a friendly reminder to CHECK under your row covers

EACH a.m. & release anything trapped w/in. =)

Beautiful male wasp (ichneumon, I believe)

I found under my row cover and released. 

It was 0% aggressive and, btw, males don't have the

equipment to sting. Note LACK of pointy barb @ end. =)

From February 1st--note the snow on the ground.

Seems like FOREVER ago. =)

Super cool stuff soil does when the cold freezes the water out.

I didn't grow up in really cold places, so this is fascinating to me. 

One of the first macro photos I ever took was

of this non-native early bloomer, red-stemmed filaree.

Changed my view of the world.

I'm a sucker for visible pollen grains, especially on purple anthers! =)


A lovely little flower...

Gorgeous small beetle I saw clambering across the greenery as I photographed the above flower.

So glad I got to see it.

Wildlife prints I found at the work site:

best part is the gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) print...

you can SEE the fur on the underside of the fox feet. SO cool!

K. That's some of the myriad delights that transpired in spring.

March onward!!! =)

xoxooxbb

Returning home late last night fm. fieldwork, I see this out the bathroom window

Some little greenish light glowing from the grass.

Is it a shiny beetle, spotlighted by the bathroom light?

Did my husband drop his cellphone?

So, despite the late hour, I go out w/fast fading flashlight, and see this:

Just a wee thing, and here you can see the bum-bum glowing (left)

despite the bright flash I'm using.

It's a California glowworm! Maybe Ellychnia californica, tho' I really don't know.
It's much smaller than I thought it would be.

Here it is the next day, by my pinky (appropriately enough):

Honestly, SUPER thrilling for me.
I NEVER thought I'd get to see one.

Cute little face...

Myrmecos has an interesting blog entry
about how glowworms, which are actually beetles,
 retain their larval form into adulthood.
An uncommon strategy, as you might imagine.

I feel super fortunate to have seen this very interesting animal.


M.I.A.
So, this a.m. I had to relocate it 'cause of Bear's weed whacking plans.
A little later, having learned that it prefers moist habitat,
I return to its dry location to move it to damper spaces.

And cannot find it.
Make several attempts, sifting through leaf litter.

Then I see a shadow move in front of my head.
Looking up slowly, I see a female western bluebird watching me closely.
Silently, from six feet away...

*sigh*

She was probably looking to see if I was going to lay out
any additional tasty pink morsels for her.

Drat. =( My bad.

Well, perhaps the glowworm is now part of
a tiny western bluebird chick?


Next time I relocate something larval-looking,
I'll be sure & hide it from busy bird parents.

xoxobb

"I'm ready for my close up, Mr. De Mille": wee cuties in the garden.

Garden teeny tinies, up close and personal.

This guy is not a lot larger than a dot when you're out there.

A 2-3 dot bug.

Therein lies the beauty of macro lenses! 

And cropped. There was NO WAY I could see these antennae in person.

How is THAT for a color palette from which to glean your breakfast?

Your little buggy office.

Nice!

Earlier looked into it, but there are SO many kinds of beetles,

I decided I'd post that pup, even not knowing who it was.

Finally got a clear shot of a crab spider face.

That spider could rest comfortably on my pinky nail, fyi.

And, just 'cause it's super cute, a bee, comin' in for a landing...

So adorable.

And how can you not love a plant with blue pollen?

That's why this bee's legs are blue...

What a delight to see this small, beautiful world.

xobb

anudder bug to ID -- fanTAStic antennae

  

Photos are big....

Wow.

TOTALLY made my night.

Bug belly.

=)

About an inch and a half long,
based on memory, and no ruler.
Was clinging to window screen last night,
presumably attracted to the light?

Went to bed soon thereafter, and shut all lights off,
so it could go its merry way.

bb

P.S. Looking at Bugguide.net, I'm thinking that the genus Selonodon looks best, though I really don't know, and on some of the species pages therein they talk about how these beetles are very hard to identify. Apparently there is a LOT of variation. If anyone knows better, or just has another idea, I'd love to hear it. =) Comment away!

Innovative animation: (VW) beetle blowing by buggy world

 
This is just FUN. If you watched the Superbowl this year, it may be familiar...

bb

ps Thanks, Bug Girl's Blog! =)

Ooops, HAVE to add this "making of" video (also from Queen Bug Girl). Notice throughout the interviews of the makers, there's nary a wrinkle to be seen. Looks like a young, hip dude endeavor. I cannot believe how they made the set (and brought it to London?!?). WOAH! Apparently it's tough work replicating nature ('cause it's so boss!).

just learned about this loss: Tom Eisner, amazing entomologist

 
A truly delightful article, "The Man Who Dreamed He was a Beetle," explains a bit about the phenomenon that was Tom Eisner. Found it at NPR.org, written by Robert Krulwich, that same (seems-to-be-fabulous) writer I just discovered this a.m. through the tall trees article.

STUNNING tiger beetle I chased in Kansas, 2007. WOW.

Color changes depending upon angle.

Tom Eisner passed away last month.

But, not before contributing a TON to our understanding of insects (seriously, mind-boggling contributions).

Or, before taking an early-days cross-country exploration of the inverts of the U.S., a veritable transect-on-wheels, with his buddy-in-bugs, E.O. Wilson, where they discovered many new species and had QUITE the adventure (brief account of same in article). Epic.

Not necc. a beetle, but cool lookin' Kansas bug.

Tom Eisner's also taken SUCH amazing photographs of bugs, which I first noticed in the Xerces Society's Wings magazine. IN-CRED-I-BLE! It's totally worth it to join JUST for that magazine.

Beetle I found in the Anza-Borrego desert in California.

I have a friend who does just this. It's ("Wings") SO beautiful, small, with conversation-starting, full color, STUNNING photographs of the most amazing creatures, & short, fascinating articles aimed at the lay person. JUST charming. My friend reads it then passes it all around 'cause everyone loves it.

The Xerces Society (which you join if you subscribe to the mag, which we do) is also an awesome cause* and heaven knows inverts could use a voice on this planet which they, largely, run. Anyhow, you will see Mr. Eisner all over that magazine.

(same individual as 1st tiger beetle pic--see what I mean about different color

depending upon the light? swoon!)

Tom Eisner sounds like he was an unusual,
uniquely perceptive person.

Like Horton Hears a Who, but for beetles.

NOT the greatest pic, but tiger beetles (different one than previous)
are FAST, so you don't always get close or much time to shoot.

And I'm so glad for the bugs that he was here.

And so grateful that he shared his insights into their world with us.

Again, not a beetle, but tiny, charming, voiceless, and important.

biobabbler

*"The Xerces Society is a nonprofit organization that protects wildlife through the conservation of invertebrates and their habitat. Established in 1971, the Society is at the forefront of invertebrate protection worldwide, harnessing the knowledge of scientists and the enthusiasm of citizens to implement conservation programs." (from www.xerces.org)

barking up the right tree

 

arf!

 

bb

coleopteran and Calochortus careening...

   
in the wind, yesterday:

 

Perusing bugguide.net I find this creature who looks similar, and was found crawling around inside California poppies, so the closest option so far is some relative of Amartus tinctus. That means possibly a member of the family Kateretidae, the short-winged flower beetles. I find the name of that family very encouraging!

However, I can't really clearly see my guy's antennae, and can certainly see 3 of what I expect are four pointy things by it's head, and cannot see its eyes.

Thoughts, oh entomologically-gifted folks?!?

Then Ted MacRae (see comments) suggests Hoplia genus (from within scarab beetles). 

Here's a different close up which seems to support Ted McRae's thoughts re: Hoplia genus (see comments). Check out the hook-like leg ends.

Woah! I just noticed if you click on the picture above, you can see a TINY bug on the petal above our beetle.

A look inside what I believe is the redundantly named butterfly mariposa lily (Calochortus venustus):

Zoom in on amazingly complex center. The stigma is amazingly hard to see given how close we are, but it's that Mercedes-symbol-shaped thing (minus the circle) just above the center. The six anthers are much easer to see--look like white, solid feathers. The anthers are propped up on wide, flat-looking filaments that are PINK! Never saw that before...

If you look at this species at CalPhotos, the variation in pigment is CRAZY. From super pink, deep yellow, to white for the fat part of the petals.

So, so much life and complexity in such a small space.

biobabbler