Pricked by the thorn

Some insects can blend into the background, but only if they pick the right spot.  For the numerous true bugs (Hemiptera) that spend nearly all their time sitting on plants and drinking sap, the best camouflage could be to look like a part of the plant.

A leafhopper nymph (possibly Xerophloea sp.) sitting at a node along a plant stem.

At first glance, I mistook the leafhopper above for a new bud.  Perhaps a potential predator would have been similarly deceived.  However, there was no chance of making the same mistake with this bug:

One of these thorns is not like the others.

The two-horned treehopper (Ceresa diceros) might pass for a thorn on some plants -- but not on this rose bush.  On the other hand, the horns (and the rest of the armor-like "helmet") might be enough to discourage many would-be predators.

The false thorn on this rose bush is a two-horned treehopper (Ceresa diceros).

Explore some more: The surreal treehoppers and The strange origin of the treehopper "helmet"

A farewell to spiders

Although I was excited to find so many crab spiders in the backyard upon my return from Europe, I knew that I would not have the opportunity to observe them for very long.  As soon as I had unpacked my luggage, it was time to start packing again -- only this time, everything was going into a moving trailer headed for Texas.  Therefore, I filled many of my breaks from packing with surveys of the garden, which turned up tiny crab spiders...

A very small crab spider on an aster

...camouflaged crab spiders...

A juvenile crab spider on a shrubby cinquefoil (Dasiphora fruticosa) flower.

 ...and hidden crab spiders...

A crab spider concealed in a daisy inflorescence.

 ...as well as the more obvious ones.

A female Misumena vatia spider sitting on a cornflower (Centaurea sp.).

Just as it seemed that packing would never end, the trailer was gone, my car was loaded for my drive down to Texas, and it was time to leave the spiders behind.

The early bee gets the nectar

Though the European wool carder bees were visiting leaves, most of the bees in the garden were focused on flowers.  On sunny (and very hot) afternoons, the garden was full of bumble bees, honey bees, and a variety of smaller, solitary bees.  However, not all flowers -- even on the same plant -- were equally attractive to these bees.

Sedum flowers in full bloom.

Some, particularly the smaller bees, would pass over wide open flowers, electing to squeeze their way into those flowers that were just beginning to open.

A small bee visiting an opening sedum flower.

The bee emerging from the sedum flower.

Although more difficult to access, these flowers were more likely to have a fresh supply of nectar and pollen available to the bees.  Certainly, the two bees pictured here had been quite successful in collecting pollen -- just see the yellow legs of the bee above and the orange underside of the bee below.

A leafcutter or mason bee (Megachilidae) visiting a lupine flower.

Wool gathering

In mid July, the flowers in my garden were buzzing with bees -- and so were some of the leaves.  Leaf cutter bees were busy collecting nesting materials from the leaves of lamb's ears (Stachys byzantina).  However, instead of removing segments of the leaves, they were shearing the hairs off the leaves.  In the picture below, several sheared patches can be seen on the lamb's ear leaves, along with a ball of the hairs.

A ball of fuzz on a lamb's ear (Stachys byzantina) leaf.

This ball had been abandoned by a bee when I came close to investigate.  Once I kept still, I did not have to wait long for one of the leaf cutters -- specifically, a European wool carder bee (Anthidium manicatum) -- to land and continue harvesting the hairs.

A female European wool carder bee (Anthidium manicatum) gathering the fuzz from a lamb's ear leaf.

As you may have guessed, the European wool carder bees get their name from this behavior.  To see one of the bees "carding", watch the video below.

* To see this video in high definition (1080p), you may need to: 

(1) click "YouTube" to watch on the YouTube website

(2) change the settings at the bottom of the video screen

  

After the bees fly off with their lamb's ear hair balls, they return to their nests, which are made of the leaves they cut, and install the hairs as a lining.

A warm welcome

Last week, I returned to Washington after four months of travels.  Of all the many things there were to do after getting home, one task near the top of my list was to search the garden for crab spiders.  Before leaving Washington in March, I had found just one crab spider in the yard.  How many were there now?  It took just a couple of minutes for me to locate the first crab spider, and then in quick succession I found several more, including this one: 

A juvenile crab spider on a daisy.

After bringing the tally up to six crab spiders, it was time for me to retreat out of the ~95°F heat and to turn to more mundane tasks.  However, the next morning, I took advantage of my jetlag and was out in the garden very early, while it was still cool.  During this second and more thorough search, I found ten more crab spiders.

A female Misumena vatia crab spider ready for some prey.

A couple of these I found not on flowers, but on foliage.  These spiders were either in transit between flowers or had opted for less conventional hunting sites.

A juvenile crab spider sitting at the tip of a rose stem.

The perfect goodbye present

Yesterday, I surveyed my garden in Washington for the last time before I depart for several months on a series of trips.  Although the snow was gone, it was still cold and there were hardly any more signs of spring than there had been a month ago.  As I looked over the wintry vegetation, I felt sorry that I was going to miss all of the spring -- and especially the progress of the new generation of crab spiders.  Then, just as I was nearing the end of my circuit around the garden, I saw a cluster of snowdrops (Galanthus sp.) poking up between the cotoneaster branches.

The first flowers to bloom in the garden: snowdrops (Galanthus sp.).

So, I had stayed long enough to see the first flowers of the year after all!  However, these flowers were merely the pretty packaging of my real present.  When I knelt down to photograph the fourth and last of the flowers, I saw that it was occupied by something with long, spindly legs.

Something is inside the flower!

I recognized the legs at once as belonging to a crab spider, yet I could not quite believe my luck.  Since my camera did not fit underneath the flower, I cautiously rotated the flower up.  Meanwhile, the spider emerged from its hiding spot and sat photogenically on the outside of the flower.

A very small crab spider on a snowdrop flower.

Though I am still sorry not to be able to chronicle the development of this crab spider and the rest of the garden population, I now feel like I am leaving the garden on a high note -- and, as I travel, there will be other gardens with new encounters to be had!

Is spring coming early?

Even though it is not yet Groundhog Day, there have been signs that spring is coming early.  For the past few days, the weather has been sunnier and warmer (i.e., above freezing).  As a result, almost all the snow has melted -- revealing not only the ground, but also the bright green leaf tips of a multitude of bulbs.

New daffodil shoots pushing up through the ground.

The birds are also taking advantage of the turn in the weather.  This morning, I was alerted to the return of some migrants by the unexpected sound of loud honking; I looked out the window just in time to see a flock of Canada geese (Branta canadensis) flying from the south.  Meanwhile, birds that have been enduring the winter here now have expanded food options.  Many of the Cedar waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum) have switched their diet from juniper berries to the freshly uncovered cotoneaster berries, and a small flock of dark-eyed juncos (Junco hyemalis) has been busy hopping  around and pecking at various small items that had been hidden underneath the snow.

A male dark-eyed junco (Junco hyemalis, "Oregon" subspecies) foraging on the ground.

A midwinter's feast

During the fall, I would frequently check on the crabapples to see if anything was eating them.  However, back then, they did not appear to be appetizing to anything except coddling moth caterpillars.  Finally, now that it is the middle of winter and there is very little else to eat, the crabapples are attracting more interest.

Crabapples, some partially eaten, covered in frost after a freezing fog.

Over the past couple of weeks, I have seen large flocks of birds, including house finches (Carpodacus mexicanus), occupying the crabapple tree and eating the fruits.

A female house finch (Carpodacus mexicanus) picking a crabapple.

The birds are messy eaters and have littered the ground below the tree with bits of fruit.  These bits, in turn, have been attracting flightless consumers: rabbits, rodents, or both.  Nevertheless, the crabapples are not the top choice for all the animals visiting the yard.  When a flock of cedar waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum) appeared this weekend, they ignored the crabapples and feasted on the many juniper berries that had also been left uneaten since last summer.

* To see this video in high definition (1080p), you may need to (1) click "YouTube" to watch on the YouTube website and (2) change the settings at the bottom of the video screen.

Resisting hibernation

A few days ago, I returned to the cold and snow of Eastern Washington.  Despite days without the temperature rising above freezing, there are signs of life scurrying about.  Rabbits and mice have left trails in the snow and flocks of birds perch in the trees eating last year's fruits.

Rabbit footprints in the snow.

Although the chill weather hasn't sent all the wildlife into hibernation, it is keeping me indoors, where I have been looking over photos from Florida with growing nostalgia.  Therefore, expect to see posts from Florida continuing for the near future!

A zebra longwing (Heliconius charithonia), the state butterfly of Florida, feeding at a flower.

Flying south for the winter

My neighborhood is generally quiet; however, over the past weeks, there have been sporadic bursts of honking.  Unlike the noise of busy traffic, this honking occurs both day and night, is always moving from north to south, and is coming from the sky.  More specifically, it is coming from flocks of Canada geese (Branta canadensis).

Canada geese (Branta canadensis) flying south in V formations.

These geese are making their yearly migration from their northern breeding grounds to their wintering range.  Although the trip may be long and difficult, the reward is milder weather and more plentiful food.

I think that the geese have the right idea, and so the time has come for me to make my own migration south.  As a result, the upcoming posts will feature the much more active winter wildlife of southern California and South Florida (although it may be a few extra days before my next post).

And then there were none

I periodically check on the aphids on the pine tree and have been keeping track of one colony in particular.  In early November, this colony was growing rapidly.  However, after reaching a peak of nine aphids, the colony went into decline.  It lost one then another of its three adults, leaving just one adult surrounded by a few juveniles.

The dwindling colony of aphids.

A few days later, all the aphids of the colony were gone.  They may have succumbed to the cold and wind, or perhaps to something even more sinister. 

A seven-spotted ladybug (Coccinella septempunctata) on the pine tree.

Although I haven't seen any ladybugs (such as the one pictured above) on the pine tree for the last few weeks, I have caught glimpses of a few camera-shy spiders on the branches.  I also found one aphid that was missing a leg, perhaps as a result of being attacked by something.

An aphid missing its hind right leg.

Searching high but not low

Two weeks ago, I found two green caterpillars in front of the house.  I put one in a jar to observe, but left the other.  This second caterpillar had been climbing up the house and had made it about three feet off the ground.  I thought that it must have kept climbing, but I did not see it anywhere higher up on the house when I went back to look for it again.  The caterpillar had vanished, and I turned my attention to other things.

This Saturday, it was sunny, relatively mild, and the ladybugs were out again.  I was crouching down to see how many ladybugs I could spot, when I noticed an incongruous shape near the bottom of the siding.  Taking a closer look, I saw that it was a chrysalis just like the one I had in a jar, but still green.

A small cabbage white butterfly (Pieris rapae) chrysalis on the house siding.

Since I had only been looking for the caterpillar higher up on the house, I don't know whether this chrysalis was made by the caterpillar I saw two weeks ago or by a more recent arrival.  Perhaps more time -and a color change- will tell.

Out of the gall and into the jar

When I opened the thistle gall, I exposed four Canada thistle stem gall fly (Urophora cardui) larvae. These flies can reduce the seed production, and thus the spread, of the invasive Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense).  Therefore, I decided to give the larvae a new home to replace their broken gall.  I put them into a jar, but had trouble deciding where to keep the jar.  I worried that the jar might not provide as much insulation as the gall, and thus that the larvae might freeze if kept outside.  However, inside the house it was warm; would the larvae take this as a cue that spring had arrived and pupate several months early? 

A larva (left) and three pupae (right) of the Canada thistle stem gall fly (Urophora cardui).

Five days later, three out of four of the larvae have pupated.  Perhaps their pupation was just triggered by the destruction of the gall, but I think it is likely that the warm temperature inside the house played an important role.  The next stop for the jar is the garage, where I hope the cooler temperature will halt their development until a more appropriate time.

Down with the thistles

Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense), an invasive species from Eurasia, is common in this area.  However, so too are its enemies.  Even though the thistles have died down for the winter, I have found several Canada thistle bud weevils (Larinus planus) in the yard.  These weevils seem to be seeking out spots where they can stay sheltered until the spring.

A Canada thistle bud weevil (Larinus planus) sheltering on the lavender bush.

Another of the thistles' enemies has found a very cozy way to spend the winter -- within galls on the thistles' own stems. 

A gall on a Canada thistle stem.

As I was clearing dead plants out of the garden, I came across a couple of dried thistle stems interrupted by these large galls.  I was curious to see what, if anything, was still inside.  Cutting open one of the galls, I found several very odd larvae.

Inside the gall there were several larvae of the Canada thistle stem gall fly (Urophora cardui).

The larvae did not have anything resembling legs or even heads.  They also failed to show any sign of life.  Thus, I initially thought that I must have cut them in half.  However, on closer inspection, I determined that they were all whole.  Although strange to me, this form is normal for Canada thistle stem gall fly (Urophora cardui) larvae at this time of year.  In the fall, the larvae finish growing and suspend their development.  Only in the spring will they pupate and then emerge from the gall as adult flies, ready to parasitize a new generation of thistles.

Before and after

Over the last few days, there has been a slow development in my waiting game with the chrysalis.  At first, the coloration of the chrysalis matched that of the caterpillar it had been: green with yellow spots.  Gradually, the green has been replaced by a gray remarkably similar to that of the stick I put in the jar with the caterpillar.  Although this may be just a coincidence, some species can camouflage themselves by matching the color of the chrysalis to its surroundings.

Explore some more: Butterfly Pupae in Living Color

Waiting game

This summer, I was excited to find that a painted lady butterfly (Vanessa cardui) had made its chrysalis on the house.  I visited it several times a day, hoping to catch the moment when the butterfly would emerge.

The painted lady butterfly (Vanessa cardui) chrysalis that I observed in Maine in July.

Then, one morning, I went to check on the chrysalis only to find that it was completely gone -- not even the empty shell was left.  I was unhappy that I had missed my chance to see the butterfly emerging, and worse yet, that the chrysalis might have been eaten by a predator before the butterfly had completed its development.

Last weekend, I came across another chance to observe a butterfly (or perhaps a moth) emerging.  At the front of the house, there were two green caterpillars.  These caterpillars were on the move (one climbing up the house and the other crawling along the hose), which suggested to me that they had finished eating and were searching out places to pupate.  Given my experience over the summer, I decided that this time I would go about things differently.

One of the caterpillars that I found in the garden last weekend.

I collected one of the caterpillars into a jar, gave it a stick to climb on, poked holes in the lid... and waited.  Two days later, it pupated, forming an interesting-looking chrysalis.

Two days later, the caterpillar had turned turned into a pupa.

Now I am waiting again, but with much better odds of success.

Coming in from the cold

When it is cold and rainy, it becomes more difficult to find insects and spiders outside -- but easier to find them inside.  Each day, I discover one or two new "guests" that have arrived in the house.  Although they are all uninvited, I have been letting most of them stay.  Many, such as the spider and ladybug pictured below, are predators that should help to keep the number of other "guests" low.

A spider that was roaming the floor.

A seven-spotted ladybug (Coccinella septempunctata) that has been patrolling my houseplants.

Others are simply too troublesome to handle, such as the several western conifer seed bugs that have gotten inside.  They won't cause any problems as long as they are left alone, but they may release an unpleasant smell if they are disturbed.

A western conifer seed bug (Leptoglossus occidentalis) climbing the blinds.

Saved for a rainy day

It has been cold and rainy for several days, making it difficult to see much of interest in the backyard.  Even when I dared to take my camera outside during a slight break in the weather, my potential subjects were still in hiding.  After some searching, I did find several insects sheltered in various spots around the yard.  The fact that they were not engaged in any interesting activities was somewhat compensated for by their being much more obliging than usual and staying very still as I moved the camera close.

A fly shelters from the rain beneath some flower buds.

Although I did not find much outside, I did discover some unedited videos on my computer.  The video below is from a time when the air was full of insects, rather than water.  I took it to illustrate the surprising number of woolly aphids flying around in early October.  If you look closely at the cotoneaster branches, you can also see the shimmering of spider webs (where many of the aphids ended up). 

* To see this video in high definition (1080p), you may need to (1) click "YouTube" to watch on the YouTube website and (2) change the settings at the bottom of the video screen.

The better to see you with

With winter quickly approaching, prey must be getting scare.  Yet, I still find many predators roaming the garden.  In addition to numerous spiders and ladybugs, I recently found one predator that is uniquely endowed to seek out whatever prey remains: a big-eyed bug.

A big-eyed bug (Geocoris sp.) on a hollyhock leaf.

These small bugs use their disproportionately large eyes to locate their prey, which include even smaller insects, insect eggs, and mites.

Clones in a row

Pine needles are tough and don't seem like they should be very appetizing.  Nevertheless, after my close encounter with a western conifer seed bug, I decided to start paying more attention to the pine tree in the backyard.  In one of my searches, I found a needle that had been colonized by aphids.

Five aphids on a pine needle.

These aphids can pierce through the pine needle to feed on the sap.  Despite the apparent difficulty of feeding on a needle, they seem to be doing quite well.  When I first found this group of aphids, there were five of them.  When I went back to check three days later, they had already produced three more clonal daughters!

Eight aphids on the pine needle.