Tag: nature journaling

Mutillidae

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Mutillidae is a family of more than 7,000 species of wasps whose wingless females resemble large, hairy ants. Velvet ants can be found worldwide. Over 400 species occur in the North American Southwest, where this male specimen was collected.

Males fly in search of females; after mating, the female enters a host insect nest, typically a ground-nesting bee or wasp burrow, and deposits one egg near each larva or pupa. The mutillid larvae then develop as idiobiont ectoparasitoids, eventually killing their immobile larval/pupal hosts within a week or two.

The exoskeleton of the velvet ant is remarkably strong. It requires 11 times more force to crush than that of the honeybee.

Brachychiton populneus

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The Kurrajong bottle tree — native to the foothills and plains of eastern Australia — is adapted to semi-arid climates, warm temperatures and seasonal drought. It’s been introduced to South Africa, the United States and Mediterranean countries, where it is well suited for use as a street and park tree.

The kurrajong was used by many Australian Aboriginal clans and tribes. The seeds were removed, cleaned of the fine hairs within the seed pod, and roasted. Water could be obtained from the tree roots by boring a hole in the trunk and squeezing the wood. There are also records of the seed pods being turned into a children’s rattle or toy. The soft spongy wood was used for making shields, and the bark as a fibre. The leaves are also used as emergency fodder for drought-affected animal stock. There are records of European settlers using the seeds as a coffee substitute.

Manduca sexta

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Here’s something interesting: hornworms’ hemolymph (blood) is blue, coloured by a protein called insecticyanin. The foliage they eat contains carotenoids, which are primarily yellow in hue. The resulting combination (blue + yellow) gives them their green colouring. If fed a wheatgerm-based diet in a lab, these caterpillars are turquoise due to the lack of carotenoids in their diet.

Both tobacco hornworms and the very similar tomato hornworms are big fans of Solanaceae (nightshades like tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, tobacco), but they also eat crucifers, legumes, eucalyptus, ficus, and other plants.

Lithobates catesbeianus

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I’ve heard bullfrogs a couple of times recently (at Malibu Creek and the pond at Rocky Oaks), so got curious about them. This amphibian is invasive here, as well as in South America, Western Europe, China, Japan, and southeast Asia.

Bullfrogs are voracious, opportunistic, ambush predators. Their stomachs have been found to contain rodents, small lizards and snakes (including the young of the California endemic giant garter snake, a threatened species), other frogs and toads, amphibians, crayfish, other crustaceans, small birds, scorpions, tarantulas and bats, as well as the many types of invertebrates, such as snails, worms and insects.

Earlier this year, the Utah Department of Natural Resources began tweeting tips on how to catch and cook bullfrogs in an effort to encourage residents to help control the growing population by catching the invasive frogs for food. Bullfrogs are also used for dissection in science classes, but this demand is never going to outstrip the supply!

Would you ever eat bullfrog?

Sketched from a Creative Commons photo by Carl D. Howe

stipule

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I learned a new word, and botanical term. Stipule. If something has stipules, it is stipulate (adjective).

The verb stipulate, meaning to make an agreement or covenant to do or forbear anything; to contract; to settle terms; to bargain, comes from the Latin stipulus meaning firm, which also has roots in stipes, a trunk.

So ultimately both uses of stipulate come from the same trunk, but have very different meanings. I love etymology.

baby acorns

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Since the oaks finished flowering, I’ve been checking on the baby acorns at every opportunity. The valley oaks have the lead at this point; they will eventually be much larger than the coast live oak acorns so that’s not surprising. It’s fun to peek among the leaves and see what I can spot — not every oak produces flowers/acorns every year so it’s a bit of a treasure hunt.

Uta stansburiana

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K was exercising in the living room, when he suddenly yelped. It seemed he had somehow squashed a side-blotched lizard. Sad for the lizard, but good for me! If I get the opportunity to closely examine a critter, I’ll take it.

This little guy is named for the dark blue smear behind the front legs. More impressive is the iridescent turquoise speckling on the back.

Augochlora pura

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Augochlora pura is a solitary sweat bee found primarily in the Eastern United States. Its Latin name means “pure golden green“, a lovely description of its metallic green hue. It nests in rotting logs, and can produce up to three generations per year. Both males and females have been observed licking sweat from human skin, most likely seeking salt.

If you are being “foraged” by sweat bees, be careful to brush them from your elbow and knee joints before bending your limbs, or you may be inadvertently stung.