26 June 2011

MANCHAC - May 26, 2011

Six of us went to the Manchac Swamp area (including Joyce WMA) on 5/26/11. The drought manifested itself in some noticeably low water in some places (Joyce was about 4 inches down), and there was, for whatever reason, a dearth of certain things we tend to find in good number come late May: butterflies (saw 3 total, of which 2 were dead), wasps, grasshoppers, and the “widow bridge” produced not one such spider for the first time in my experience.

We were able to collect about 50 dragonflies (for cooking at Bug Appétit) and 75 or so lubber grasshoppers to be used on display and at IRF for breeding. We got a pair of wheel bugs, some large bagworms, a few pretty barklice, and an uncommon biting midge that is red and sports long back legs and thickened front leg tarsi. Aquatic collecting was poor (10 whirligigs, 2 water scorpions, and a lone dragonfly naiad), and we did not bust any logs; this may have resulted in a mutiny were it not for a good lunch!

Also of note: 11 ant species, including all three Pseudomyrmex found in LA, a large number of young black and yellow garden spiders, a couple of wolf spiders of 2 species brought back for presentation, a pair of field crickets for the Café table, and a terrific little beetle sometimes called the Delta Flower Scarab (Trigonopeltastes delta).

-Zack

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