Gall on Creosote Bush – Stem-Gall Midge
This strange looking growth on a Creosote Bush is a gall formed by a Stem-Gall Midge, Asphondylia auripila.
A Good Life
Miscellaneous Wanderings and Maunderings
A Good Life
Miscellaneous Wanderings and Maunderings
Insect
Watching Green Soldier Flies in the Garden
Watching Green Soldier Flies in our Southwestern Colorado Garden. Also, thoughts on identifying insects solely from photographs.
Watching Hunt’s Bumble Bee (Bombus huntii) on Caragana in the Springtime
Watching Hunt's Bumble Bees on Caragana blossoms in the Southwestern Colorado Springtime.
Watching Carrot Wasps in the Garden
Watching Carrot Wasps (Gasteruption sp) in Southwestern Colorado. Do I know how to live or what?
Iron Cross Blister Beetle – Tegrodera aloga
Here are photos of a gorgeous Iron Cross Blister Beetle (Tegrodera aloga) that I saw one afternoon in Tucson. This was in early May of 2005, on the Cactus Forest Loop of Saguaro National Park East, at perhaps 3000′ elevation.…
Oil Beetle – Meloe sp. (Blister Beetle)
In the middle of September, 2023, I was hiking along a meadow trail bordering a mixed conifer woodland at about 10,400′ in the San Juan Mountains of Southwestern Colorado. I saw a strange-looking insect that was slowly climbing up the…
Galls on Utah Juniper in Southwestern Colorado – Gall Midge (Walshomyia sp A)
I’ve seen these strange flower-like growths on Utah Junipers here in Southwestern Colorado for years, but have not known what they were. I assumed they were galls, but was having a heck of a time figuring out what type of…
A Water Strider scavenging on dead Tiger Salamander larva?
Observations of a Water Strider scavenging on a dead Tiger Salamander larva
Barn Swallows destroy a Bald-faced Hornet nest
Most Summers, we’ll get several pairs of Barn Swallows nesting in the garage. They’ll raise young in the Spring, and then perhaps try for a second clutch later in the Summer. There are usually a couple of weeks in the…
Water Strider and Spadefoot Toad Tadpoles
The monsoon rains have come, and I’ve been spending quite a bit of time watching tadpoles in temporary desert ponds and pools. Most of the pools I’ve found this year have not been in my usual cattle tanks and silty mud…