Month: December 2023

Stenopelmatini

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We discovered a Jerusalem cricket exoskeleton. Given the opportunity to sketch it from any angle, I decided to draw its ventral (under) side. Thanks to Trisha from Insectopia, I can name a few insect parts!

Jerusalem crickets have hypognathus heads, which means their mouthparts point down. That pointy bit at the bottom of the head is the mouth. The palps are little ‘mouth fingers’ that help push food into their maw.

We’ve been seeing these big guys a LOT of late, in the house, in the yard, and out on the trails. They are not venomous, but they have strong mandibles and can inflict a painful bite. They also emit a foul odour if distressed. For these reasons, I don’t usually handle live ones, so it was a treat to have this molt to examine closely.

Rena humilis

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During the rains we had a surprise visitor, a blind snake! It’s our first time seeing this earthworm-looking reptile. Rena humilis is found in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. It lives underground, sometimes as deep as 20 metres (66 ft). Having no need for vision, its eyes are vestigial, just two light-detecting black spots. The skull is thick to permit burrowing.

Its diet is made up mostly of insects and their larvae and eggs. It is found in deserts and scrub where the soil is loose enough to work, so I’m not sure what it was doing in our living room! I moved it outside, and noticed that my hands smelled like mushrooms afterwards. Very earthy.