From Zack..... -j
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OK, guys, I finally visited the Bugmuda Triangle with intent to post, but I have not logged on in forever and have no idea how to proceed. Instructions would be appreciated.
Meanwhile, here is the skinny, if someone wants to post it for me:
Audubon insect hunting update, week of March 16 – This Monday I went to Des Allemends with 4 others folks and picked up an eyed click beetle, 2 ox beetle larvae, and about 10 patent-leather beetles all in a very small amount of wood and in a very short amount of time! Then, in the rain, we got about two dozen whirligig beetles, 20 water scorpions, and 10 Belostoma (our smaller giant water bugs). Not bad work for a quick afternoon – this all took place between 2p.m. and 4:30. A note about aquatics...I usually keep them overnight in damp sphagnum moss, as they can drown in water if sloshed while driving (especially the hemipterans). But with whirligigs, on account of multiple overnight die-offs amounting to well over half the specimens, I will henceforth be keeping them in water. I do not know why the wet-plant-only approach does not work on them, but it doesn’t.
So our terrific friend and host on these Des Allemends jaunts, Gordon, began driving under street lights on Monday night and in 3 outings has collecting for us roughly 50 predacious diving beetles and 75-100 water scavenger beetles! We were very much in need of the latter – they do not survive for as long as adults as do the “PDBs” – and it is very encouraging to learn that we can come by so many so early in the year.
Last night Jayme and I set up 2 light rigs at Audubon’s Species Survival Center near Algiers. This was for the National Science Teachers Association conference. WE had 30 teachers, and we not only checked out lights but also had 2 big bins of old wood for them to root through. The evening was a success in spite of relatively low activity at the lights. Highlights as I see them include both good numbers of so-so bugs (#s being good for the guests), a few things for the Insectarium, and some rarities that are exciting on a personal level. The aforementioned includes: a small sesiid moth in the genus Synanthedon (not too colorful, but pretty neat), one Dicaelus puprpuratus, 2 small pleasing fungus beetles, several rice beetles, a few carpenter moths, a few of the aquatics beetles mentioned in the previous paragraph (PDBs & WSBs), and a few patent-leather beetles.
Oh, and while I was collecting the rotten wood, I got a queen yellow jacket who had been overwintering under bark. Third time in my life this has happened, ALL from the same exact humongous wood pile at Survival Center. And I got a spider, a cobweb weaver, just like one I found at The Farm that got me jazzed – do not know what it is! Lives under bark. Will send a pic of the older one when I can
See what I can do when I have a ½ day off?! This almost counts as a post, right?
- Zack
Grape leaffolder, Desmia funeralis
Salty never fails to impress with his keen search image, as soon as we entered the 4th grader trail from the levee, he spotted a scarlet-bodied wasp moth, Cosmosoma myrodora, a first for me! I had been unsuccessful at turning up one of these in previous years. It proved to be a challenge photographing it, as it would always light on the underside of a leaf after a short flight.
Ellen & I met the Barneys & Travis out at the Farm yesterday afternoon for a bit of trail work, and to hang out. We didn't spend an excessive amount of time looking around, but turned out a few things. Of most interest in terms of bugs (for me, at least), were the few beetles that were active. The day-flying Cicindella sexguttata, (six-spotted tiger beetle) proved (as usual...) to be a most challenging photo-adversary. A hind-shot is pretty much all I could muster........this time!
