Ant Lion Pits

Ant lion pits in front of an abandoned house in Colorado.  

July 11th 2010

Ant lion pits were in front of the door near the wall on the right.

Snail Egg Clusters - not predacious diving beetle eggs.

Snail eggs.  We originally thought, and hoped, that these might be predacious diving beetle eggs.
(We are keeping both in a fishbowl.)

Predacious Diving Beetle Pets

I have two of these predacious diving beetles living in a large fishbowl. They are over an inch long, and they eat minnows. They trap air between their hard outer wings (called elytra) and their softer abdomen; they breathe that air while they swimming and resting underwater. These beetles have eaten three minnows in the last few days. I caught both of these near a streetlight in Shreveport, LA at around 11pm.

Check out these links to some video of predacious diving beetles:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Edu9Sb3HZlQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2cccVl-Atc

Midnight Moth

A very large moth discovered on my midnight ride along the river. If I could have gotten a picture of the fox that ran alongside me for about fifty yards... I would have posted that instead.

A Beautiful Beetle

I found this beetle on the road while biking in Shreveport. I believe that it is a dung beetle, or very closely related to one. I had never seen one so brightly colored before. Its colors would work well in a piece of jewelry (although I don't expect to see dung beetle jewelry become popular).

Street Light Mass Frenzy

Green June Beetle (Fig Beetle)

This is what we used to call a "Green June Bug" in Arizona. It's a Fig Beetle. Found on a bike ride in Shreveport today.

Water Beetles on the Red River

This video of water beetles was taken on my bike ride along the river on July 23rd.

Don't wanna mess with the live version of this...

Red River Bike Ride

I went for a bikeride along the trail near the Red River today.

This dragonfly was in the brush alongside a dirt (more like mud) road.

An egret in the distance.

The Red River

Sphinx Moth Flying

Garden Caterpillar

This caterpillar was tooling around on a plant in our garden this morning.

Damselfly Adult Next to its Naiad Shell

Here are a couple of pictures of a newly hatched damselfly adult which had just emerged from its naiad skin. This picture was taken at Tasajarra, CA in July of 2007. In the first picture the shed naiad skin is visible next to the adult, which was still very vulnerable at this stage.

During the next few hours, its exoskeleton would have hardened, its wings would have expanded to their full size, and its body would have slowly taken on the bright colors of its fully developed adult form. After a brief pause to test its wings, it would have flown off into a new life, completely different from the underwater world it had known for up to three years before.

Eastern Black Swallowtail

The Eastern Black Swallowtail can be found in open spaces and is seldom seen in the woods. It likes parsley and carrot plants, as well as phlox and milkweed. This particular butterfly was flitting around at Phinizy Swamp one day back in 2005 when I was walking out there. There is a similar looking butterfly called the Ozark Swallowtail, (photos of which can be seen here at this neat site called "Zipcode Zoo") that inhabits the forest; its caterpillars feed on meadow parsnip. There is another similar species, called the Kahli Swallowtail that can be found in Manitoba and Saskatchewan that likes to fly around bare hilltops where the females lay their eggs on cow parsnip.

Check out this nice slideshow of the Eastern Black Swallowtail Caterpillar., and a nice set of pictures including one of an adult just out of its chrysallis.

Update: Apparently the Kahli Swallowtail is no longer considered to be its own distinct species. From the information that I'm finding on the internet, it seems that what was formerly called the Kahli Swallowtail is actually the dark offspring of an interbreeding that frequently occurs between the Black Swallowtail and the Old World Swallowtail. Cool!

Weevil Barking Up the Wrong Tree

Here is a weevil that landed on my hand in San Angelo, Texas as a friend and I were sitting outside having a conversation at a picnic table, just after sunset.

For more information about weevils in general - check out this link: What's That Bug? Weevils

Banded Alder Borer on a Pine Tree

This banded alder borer was discovered on the beach near Seaside CA on July 18th 2006. It was buried in the sand and from all appearances, was dead. It was picked up, and as it was being held, it started to move! Over the next few hours it made a complete recovery and provided its rescuers much entertainment with its energy and attitude. About 3 hours after it was picked up on the beach, it was released into a nearby wooded area.

Field Crickets Occupy San Angelo

Today the field crickets appeared in San Angelo Texas. They were seemingly attempting to make an appearance on every corner and on every sidewalk in the area. The crickets in San Angelo are not as dark as the field crickets in Augusta, GA.

Here is a link with a lot of interesting information about crickets in general.

Insecta Inspecta World (Crickets)

California Sister Butterfly

California Sister Butterfly
Spotted at the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center
July 24th 2006

Ant Lion Pit

An Ant Lion's Pit

Tassajara Zen Mountain Center

24 July 2006

Velvet Ants!

Male (winged) Velvet Ant
Tassajara Zen Mountain Center
Early Morning - 24 July 2006

Female (wingless) Velvet Ant
Tassajara Zen Mountain Center
Early Morning - 24 July 2006

This was a wonderful morning! I spent almost an hour observing several male and female velvet ants in a clearing in the woods not far from the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center.

The females were bumbling around clumsily on the ground and the males were droning around lazily very low to the ground. Every so often the males would "sense" the females presence (the exact way that the males find the females is not very well researched, but it is believed to be a combination of pheromones and sight). The males would drop to the ground within 4 feet or so of the female and begin to walk around in tightening circles, each time getting closer (generally) to the female.

I never actually saw the velvet ants mate, but I did get a video of a male and female encounter where both looked at each other, and turned in the opposite direction, and scurried away. Bad first impression? Maybe.

The males seemed to be flying only in the shaded areas 0f the clearing. As the sun rose and the shaded areas got smaller, the males seemed to adjust their flying area accordingly. The ants were out until at least 8:30am in the morning.