Summer's bounty--flowers & bugs, living fast & hard

Summer.

Time for county fairs and beautiful nights...

and for plants to leap skyward,

providing room and board for the myriad bugs that live among them.

Turquoise-eyed flies (probably related to horseflies)

none of which I noticed when I took the photo. Flies 4, bb 0. =)

In a quest to improve my attitude about summer

(it gets bloody hot here & I'm the first to drop)

I'm shining a light on summer-associated goodies that I adore.

Tiny plume moth. I've NEVER seen one before last week. SO exciting.

 ID thanks to Chris Grinter (@skepticalmoth). That body is less than a centimeter long.

A small ant (lower left) to provide scale for this wee, tiny moth.

Spotted assassin bug (Rhynocoris ventralis) on gaillardia.

First time I think I've seen this particular, dashing predator.

Nicely color coordinated with the gaillardia, eh?

Tarnished plant bug (Lygus hesperus).

A tiny little charmer.

A day later, the same species played peek-a-boo with me

Here you get a better idea of how tiny it is. =)

Crab spider dining upon an earwig, underneath a chrysanthemum bloom.

So many mysterious (and frequently tiny) creatures

to find and try to name.

An assassin bug (that I cannot ID, so far) dining on an unlucky bee or fly of some sort.

An ever-changing populace of

invertebrates in the garden. 

Ants, seemingly obsessed with carrot flowers.

For the plants

the plant pollinators,

the plant eaters,

and plant-associated-bug predators,

summer is no joke.

Lovely, little lynx spider female living on a mint plant.

She's so spiky.

Live life now,

for tomorrow is never guaranteed.

Which reminds me of two views I gained from the Ferris wheel:

the quick,

and the dead. 

It's always good to have a reminder.

Nature will do that for you.

xoxobb

TINY mothies: apparently I've been DYING to see them & I DID!!!

I've REALLY wanted to see 

a really small moth ever since I learned about them

from Chris Grinter (@skepticalmoth).

Last night I DID spy tiny moths & got some photos.

Dark thing in lower left corner is a small ant, for scale...

Nectaring on a gaillardia...

Same moth, with flash... sparkly!

Only took a few shots w/automatic flash--seemed to upset the poor creature.

Paparazzi--SO gauche.

Here's a different (slightly larger) individual w/in (my) reach of the 1st.

That body plan confounds me.

Chris thinks these are probably plume moths, from the family Pterophoridae. 

He is ALL about these tiny little animals,

plus lots of other fabulous inverts, has a great blog,

and takes SUCH great photos, you may want to slap him.

Here's just one example of the

amazing images he shares of microleps

(what the pros call the TINY lepidopterans).

Meanwhile, back on the ranch...

The wings!!

Flying tiny apparently poses different challenges,

hence microleps are known for narrower, feathery wings

versus the big, dusty plates of their larger brethren.

Like feathery oars...

If I remember correctly, when you're REALLY small,

the air is relatively more viscous (thicker),

so different structures work better to move your tiny bod.

When they fly, you just see a wee blur,

drifting past, like plankton.

And you think, "What the heck was that?!?"

Legs, legs, legs.

So spiky.

I'm guessing all those spikes help them hang on,
and not get blown away by the tiniest breeze?
Although the other one's legs aren't nearly so spiky.

Can you tell I'm fascinated?

*sigh*

So, didn't get to sleep until LATE (for me) 'cause I was SO pumped about this. =)

I've been SO richly rewarded for the pollinator-attracting seed mix I planted years ago.

I HIGHLY recommend it. Best part of summer, IMHO.

Well, that and perfectly ripe peaches.

=)

xoxoxoxo bb

Bugs on my house, inaugural edition

If you've not noticed, I added a new page to this blog

(see BB Pages, right column)

explaining #BugsOnMyHouse, a campaign to

document & learn about bugs wherever you are.

EASY-style.

EVERYONE is welcome to participate. =)

Bloggy, tweety, instagram-y, tumblr-y, however you wish.

#BugsOnMyHouse will unite them.

Feel free to "comment" links to your work if you like. =)

*********

Here's First Batch, from Saturday, 31 May.

Beautiful bug: guessing it is a hemipteran,

that is, a member of the Hemiptera order, true bugs.

 As with the rest of these, will look them up as I have time.
I've already updated this post once to improve the IDs.

Here's another hemiptera candidate, 2 views:

 My SUPER unscientific 1st guess was stink bug,

'cause I tend to think they're cute. And this guy was cute.

Update: looking at Laws Fieldguide to the Sierra Nevada and bugguide.net,
I now think it's a shield bug, in the genus Eurygaster.

Side view of same.

This one was SO dark, I had to lighten it a LOT to see anything.

Some kinda beetle?

Guessing it's a treehopper or a planthopper... 

 Those beautiful wings are almost iridescent.

Ladybird beetles are having a banner year. 

Maybe because it didn't freeze forever so there are 10 million aphids.

Update: best guess is convergent lady beetle, Hippodamia convergens.

Mayfly. Pretty intricate, when you look closely.

 the Ephemeroptera order.

Update: it may be a female Callibaetis ferrugineus hageni,
one of the small minnow mayfly species
(btw, the photo at that link is AMAZING).

I remember from water quality monitoring (looking at benthic macro-invertebrates),
finding this species indicated good water quality. =)

DONE.

See?!? EASY.

That's the point:

photograph, post, guess & go.

=) Happy Summer Bug Time!

xoxobb

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

Quiz answer plus power petal & bug hits for your soul...

Photo by Kropsoq

This is an ootheca.

Per Merriam-Webster, "a firm-walled and distinctive egg case (as of a cockroach)."

In this instance (above & my instance which inspired said quiz),

it's a mantid or mantis egg case.

Every time I'd see one in our yard,

"ootheca" would pop to mind,

tho' I really wasn't sure that's what it was.

Apparently, my brain is smarter than I am. =)

Speaking of smart:

Sara NAILED it, exactly--woo-hoo!! We bow to your brain.

Imperfect and Tense and Jen were totally on the right eggy track,

Sue's guess was delightful (& seasonally appropriate),

and Cindy's guess (a rock with round things popping out of it)

was EERILY close (rock-hard egg case). =)

Thank you to ALL quiz participants: YOU ROCK!!

Flowers 'n' bugs: obsessed

Delightful hits of color, pattern, and bugs

I've been indulging in via our irises & their fans.

 (how cute is that little buggy shadow?)

teeny weeny invertebrates

 crab spider (I'm pretty sure) eating said teeny weeny invertebrates

 *munch munch*

Can you see how, if one is hyper visual,

a color & pattern freak, and a giant fan of bugs,

these irises and their complement are a special kind of heaven?

Oh, and they smell amazing.

Can't stop; won't stop.

Sunday I ordered seven more irises.

I can pick them up in 5 months.

Then plant & wait another 6 months to see them bloom.

This is my new obsession.

I already know 7 more I want to order next year.

*sigh*

I think I'm going to have to start earning more money to support my habit.

Is it just me? Anyone else similarly obsessed by something?

xoxoxobb

WHAT IS THIS?!? MUST post this freaky thing NOW.

 

So, THIS was on my sunflower plant.

!!!

What is it?!?!

It's SOO cool!

It's wee, less than 1 cm.

Check out the amazing clear wings,

and cute, chubby body.

A serious little expression on his/her face.

I think I'm in love.

*sigh*

My day is MADE.

Everything else is gravy.

So cute!

Seriously, though, anyone know what this is, I'm all ears.

Ooh, and if we get an answer, I can file it in the species pages!!

sweet

Heavens, nature is an endless source of delight.

xoxooxbb

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!

adult katydid in the garden, lovely green, with red eyes

These are all large photos, so clicking on them will be rewarded.

Based on my reading, this is a female.

It moved gingerly, once I made it nervous,

moving slowly forward on the cosmos flower.

I left, so it could continue doing whatever it needed to do.

I remember thinking "Hm, I thought they'd be faster."

Only when I looked at the photos on the computer

did I realize it was missing 2 of 6 legs.

One of the missing legs was its giant jumping rear leg. Yikes!

I'd say if you're missing 1/3 of your walking appendages,

being ambulatory at all is an accomplishment.

Will try and figure out its genus (or whatever I can) soon.

Anyhow, three (apparent) katydids in a week.

Cool!

=)

biobabbler