It’s fun to come across living organisms in unexpected places.
wild hives in the city
Category: Uncategorized
Paropsis atomaria
I looked up this beetle when I got home from our nature journal meetup. Turns out, this is one of the most widely distributed eucalyptus leaf beetles in Australia, but it was only discovered in the US (here in Los Angeles) a year ago.
Paropsis atomaria is considered a pest in eucalyptus plantations in Australia and is reported to cause defoliation, decreased growth and wood quality, and sometimes tree death. Both larvae and adults feed on the foliage. Development from egg to adult takes approximately one month and there are up to four generations per year
So this cute little beetle is quite the eucalyptus scourge. I bet there are many California native plant supporters who are not unhappy that it has reached our shores — eucalyptus species themselves being invasive around here.
mildred’s garden
I visited the UCLA Mildred E. Mathias Botanic Garden today with the Channel Island Nature Journalers. More than half of the 7.5 acre garden is currently closed for construction, but there is still plenty to see, enjoy and, yes, nature journal!
Mildred Esther Mathias (1906 – 1995) was an American botanist, environmentalist, preservationist, and UCLA professor. She studied, classified, and led groups to discover plants all across the world, helping popularize “ecotourism”. in 1979, the UCLA botanical garden (started in 1929) was re-named the Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden in her honour. Thank you, Prof Mathias, for all you did!
nature red in shoulder and claw
Exciting times here today! I don’t know what the prey was, but the predator was very impressive!
romaine
I’ve been adding a whole romaine lettuce plant to my green smoothie every morning, trying to eat them all before they seed. Four left to go!
american pastoral
Well, I actually enjoyed American Pastoral much more than I did back in 2008, when I gave it one star (I wrote then: “The premise of this book was interesting, but it was way, way too wordy … Roth just goes on and on and on with boring details about people that aren’t even seminal to the story. Unimpressed.”)
And, as always, my appreciation was enhanced by a two hour discussion with the smart, widely-read, cosmopolitan folks in my book group. I don’t always sketchnote our meetings, but I’m always glad when I do.
plants of the park
I’ve been working on this one-pager to use on our school walks — a limited field guide to the plants the kids might see year-round in the most accessible areas. It might have to expand to two pages; I have thought of more things to add!
waiting room
Erigon foliosus
There are quite a few plants in the Asteraceae family with the common name ‘fleabane’. It was once thought that these daisies would rid your house of fleas; this belief apparently now lives in the realm of ‘superstition.’
There aren’t many wildflowers around here at this time of year, so it’s even more enjoyable to see these delicate beauties. Erigeron foliosus is native to western North America from Oregon, through California, into Baja California. It can be found in many habitats, including chaparral, oak woodlands, and rocky talus.
Aphelocoma californica
This handsome, clever, bossy corvid has been absent from our garden for a few months, but is back this week. California (formerly “Western”) Scrub-Jays are not migratory, so I’m not sure where ours have been hanging out of late. I’m guessing they were raising a brood on a neighbouring property.
Studies show that scrub-jays are among the most intelligent of animals. The brain-to-body mass ratio of adult scrub-jays rivals that of chimpanzees and cetaceans, and is dwarfed only by that of humans. Welcome back, smartypants!
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