It's Been a Bit

My best shot of 2025

Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle

Harmonia axyridis

Eating Oleander Aphids on Swamp Milkweed

I truly dislike vague-posting but I have no explanations today. 

At least I have posted.

I welcome myself back.

_/\_/\_

The Grimness of Nature, Part 1

Tiger fly eating small carpenter bee

This week I have seen the gruesome side of Nature. Usually I think of adult flies as nectar eaters simply because that is what I see them eating. But tiger fly adults, I learned, are predatory. While taking the above photo, I had no idea that the fly was eating another insect. In the computer, with a lot of manipulation, I think it was a green carpenter bee (Genus Ceratina). I do not like that. 

Eastern calligrapher fly with non-fatal Trombidiform mites.

My beautiful calligrapher Syrphid flies have been very rare this summer, and not just because of the weather. They flock to black-eyed susans, which bloom every other year. I have very few blossoms this year; less than 100, actually. On their blooming years, I will have thousands. Fewer flowers, so fewer flies. I managed to find the above Eastern calligrapher this week, but it was infested with mites. It has been very difficult for me to find much information on red mites on insects, but I have been told that they do not harm the insect. But having a bunch of mites hanging on your mouth parts does not seem pleasant.

Asian lady beetle probably infected with non-fatal
Laboulbeniales fungus.

The above invasive Asian lady beetle, Harmonia axyridis, is infected with a fungus. It contracted the fungus by exoskeleton to exoskeleton contact with another lady beetle that was infected. The fungus drills down through the exoskeleton and sips the haemolymph (insect blood). The fungus can spread over the exoskeleton until the insect is covered with it (see photo here). Surprisingly, the fungus does not kill the insect, simply because the lady beetle life span is so short that there is not time enough to kill it. A fun article to read about this life cycle is "The Birds and the Bees of Ladybug STDs." 

The Laboulbeniales fungus is also called "beetle hangers." There is an entire project at iNaturalist, called Beetle Hangers, collecting sightings of it. It is a project of Beetlehangers: A Haelewaters Project. There are, at this moment, over 2,000 species of this fungus.

Close-up of Hesperomyces harmoniae fungus

Jody found a more ominous, grimmer, even nauseating find in Nature this week. Her story will be Part 2 of The Grimness of Nature tomorrow.

_/\_/\_

Almost the Last Bug Hunt

Soldier beetle (Cantharis livida)

Last week we had what I thought would be our last bug hunt at school (it wasn't). The kids found some interesting things in just a few minutes. Each photo is labeled.

I am so proud of what good caretakers of bugs the kids have become. They are not scared. They handle them correctly. They report quickly what they find. Finally, they release properly to the same spot that they found the creature.

On Steve's arm with a happy face.

We have a lot of fun with the kids and the bugs. I never expected Steve, the classroom counselor, to allow a soldier beetle on his arm, but he did and was very careful. There were a lot of jokes and laughter about man-eating bugs! In the end, though, the beetle threw Steve back, probably because he didn't taste good enough. 

Flying away

A slug. I have to do my slug and snail unit next year.

A crane fly

Unknown spider on student's finger

I still won't handle a spider in my hand, but this child did! I know of only one other student (in the high school) who will also hold spiders. In Vermont, there are no dangerous spiders, so there are no worries.

Asian Lady Beetle

I will miss having my little bug hunters gathering wonderful bugs and learning and constantly asking questions. I'm looking forward to next year.

_/\_/\_

Vacation Wrap-up

I saw this Asian lady beetle crawling on a cup and figured I would take advantage of the situation and see how good a video I could make on my phone. Then I made these GIFs. I want to get up much tighter for bug videos. I have to practice my skills for summer. I enjoy watching those little legs with their flat feet pumping along.

I've been reading, but not enough. TV has gotten in my way. What a bad habit! But the kids and I had a couple of watch parties with movies and a baking show. And we cooked and baked, too. 

Shells and sauce with sweet Italian sausage

I made a lot of bread, but only simple sandwich loaves.

Amy and I made apricot bars:
I did the puree and Amy did the shortbread crust.

And of course, it snowed. It snowed for 8 out of 10 days. But if you count light snow showers, it snowed 10 out of 10 days. I have not left the house once. Amy did, though, and often.

Amy's house after shoveling the roof.

Dori keeps an eye on the village sidewalk plow.

Dori watches over all activity on her road.

00:41

I did my taxes and re-organized and re-created my iTunes library on Apple Music. Lucy has been happy I'm home. But the cats? Just trouble with the plants, their food, their toys, their nonsense. That's just how cats are.

Happy Poppy says "Oh, hai!"

Basically, it was a boring week. I think I needed that—time to catch my breath. 

_/\_/\_

Insects on Jerusalem Artichokes

Jagged Ambush Bug (Phymata)

Every bug hunter I know keeps their eyes out for Jagged ambush bugs in late summer when the goldenrod blooms. They are so bizarre! They even have different appearances, like chameleons, depending on what the plant they settle into for their ambush. I've seen them bright yellow like black-eyed susans. Jody and I were very surprised to find this on a Jerusalem artichoke leaf.

Asian Lady Beetle (Harmonia axyridis)

As I prepared an earlier post about Jerusalem artichokes, I saw the different species of insects I had found on them. I thought it would be fun to collect them in one post.

Tiny unidentified wasp

Jerusalem artichokes are late bloomers. In Barton they bloom just before and after the first frosts. We've had many heavy frosts so far this October and late September. That's why I wanted to have these plants! But that is not what happened (see the article linked above).

Common Eastern Bumble Bee
(Bombus impatiens)

 Aphids (Tribe Macrosiphini)

There weren't as many insects as I had hoped to find on the artichokes. That could be a function of their height, however, which prevented me from looking at them often. And usually, I never even checked them for bugs. Because I couldn't.  🤷

_/\_/\_

Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle

Harmonia axyridis

It's ladybug infestation time again. But it isn't as bad here as in northern Vermont. This one was spotless. According to bugguide.net:

First introduced to North America (for biological control of aphids) in California in 1916, and again in California in 1964 and 1965. Also introduced in Washington state from 1978–1982, and in Nova Scotia, Connecticut, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Washington D.C., Delaware, Maine, Mississippi, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina from 1978–1981 [Gordon, 1985]. Despite the numerous intentional releases, the species did not become established until 1988 in Louisiana [Chapin and Broux, 1991]. Thereafter, it spread rapidly thoughout most of United States, reaching Canada in 1994.

Although not native to this country, this species is widely sold for aphid control throughout the US, and has become very well-established (to the point of becoming a nuisance). The stage that eats the most aphids is the larva.

Adult beetles seek sheltered places to hibernate for the winter, and often invade homes in large numbers for that purpose. The best way to prevent this is to find and seal the cracks by which they gain entry.

When threatened, ladybird beetles in general, and this one in particular, exude a foul-smelling and -tasting liquid from their leg joints.

Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle Set

Technorati Tags: Harmonia axyridis Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle Del.icio.us Tags: Harmonia axyridis Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle Flickr Tags: Harmonia axyridis Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle

_/\_/\_

Signs of Spring: Pests and Moans

Cluster flies and Asian Lady Beetles (click here for my posts) are reappearing now that the sun is stronger and the windows warmer. And the car has a broken rack and pinion. How much will that cost? The entire cost of the camera that I have been saving for during the past eighteen months. I am reacting much stronger than I ever thought possible. My camera is my only enjoyment in life (sad, huh?) and I am devastated. Damn Saturn cars. The car has been a disaster and a hazard ever since I bought it. I can't even afford to get a Subaru because I have been buying $400 of heating oil a month. 

February 25, 2008:

Hello,

We're running a travel piece on Vermont featuring St. Mary Star of the Sea Church for New York Magazine’s website. I found your blog through Google image and your photos might work for the piece. Would we be allowed to use your photos? As a rule, we include photo credits.

Here are the photos we would like to use: (here)

I'm under a bit of a time crunch, as my deadline is Tuesday (2/26). If you have any questions feel free to write back to me here or call me at 212-508-0718.

Thank you so much,
Maura Lynch

I'm so easy. I called Maura immediately to confirm she was a person and gave permission for the magazine to use the photos. Then I e-mailed all of my kids and told my digital photography class. I gloated. Maura warned me that they may not use the photo. Well, they didn't. They didn't even publish when she said: the article came out a few weeks later. And it wasn't about St. Mary's. It was about Jay Peak. It was pretentious and condescending (aren't those symptoms of anger and hostility?). New Yorkers who vacation here already have a pretentious, aggressive and condescending reputation to live down. 

The last paragraph of the article: "The Chronicle, Orleans County’s weekly paper, offers local art-gallery, museum, and yoga-class listings and unparalleled glimpses of life in the Kingdom (recent headline: “Arland Macie knows how to run a wheelbarrow")."

I have all the old Chronicles (our weekly newspaper) but I don't remember that article. Anyhow, I get the creeps when people get chuckles at the expense of other people and their lives. 

I'm glad they didn't use my photo after all. 

End of moans. 

Technorati Tags: Harmonia axyridis, Asian Lady Beetles, Cluster flies, Pollenia rudis Fabricius), New York Magazine

_/\_/\_