Pseudomyrmex apache – Twig Ant
I was walking along a trail in Arizona’s Santa Rita Mountains in August of 2004. It was a beautifully sunny day, and I was out anting. This trail led to a stream that I was interested in exploring, so I…
A Good Life
Miscellaneous Wanderings and Maunderings
A Good Life
Miscellaneous Wanderings and Maunderings
Insects
Arizona Dung Beetles
Near Tucson, July 2005, I was out in the desert looking for interesting ants. The monsoons had just started and it had rained the night before. I came across a pair of beetles rolling an irregularly oval-shaped ball of dung…
After the Rains – a Visit with Pheidole spadonia
For much of the year, the desert can seem like a pretty empty place. If you go out in the early Summer, before the monsoons arrive, it’s dry, dusty, and hot. After the monsoons arrive, though, the feeling is very…
Case Bearing Leaf Beetle – Perhaps Not a Model for Personal Growth
In October of 2005, I was crawling on my hands and knees at the Totten Reservoir boat dock in Montezuma County, Colorado. I was prospecting for ants. I happened to notice a small, maybe 1 cm long, gray and brown…
Pheidole militicida – The “Soldier Killer” Ants
One of the Arizona ants that I had always wanted to see was Pheidole militicida. Like many Arizona ants, they are a seed harvesting species. Their major caste has spectacularly over-sized heads, heads so disproportionately large that you would think…
Fire Ants and The Horrid Phorid Fly
On an overcast afternoon in mid-August, 2005, I was walking through the Sonoran Desert just outside of Tucson. I came across a group of golden-colored ants fighting. The ants were small, no more than a few millimeters long. They were…
Pheidole rhea and Fly
In late March, 2005, I was sitting and watching a Pheidole rhea nest just outside of Tucson, Arizona. The worker ants were removing a large, dead supermajor.
Aspen Gall – Leaf Vase formed by Pemphigus Aphids
One evening in June of 2001, Laurie and I were camping on the East Overlook of the North Kaibab National Forest. We’d just set up camp after a long drive. While we were walking around, waiting for the sun to…
Ripiphorus Beetle
In April of 2005, I was hiking through the Sonoran Desert just outside of Tucson. I stopped to look at some Desert Marigolds that were just starting to open. There was a black and yellow insect flying around the flowers.…
Scrub Oak Gall
On a sunny August day in 2001, I was hiking along a small creek in Arizona’s Mazatzal Mountains. I noticed some brightly colored spheres attached to some of the scrub oak near the creek. They had a glaring, artificial quality…