Flashback Friday on Saturday: Lucy and John

As a pup, Lucy immediately bonded with my husband, John. After all, he was the fun person because he worked outside in the woods and fields all day. She would help him with sticks, guard him from things that could come out of the woods, and just have a grand time. Here, they are going into the woods . . . I forget why after nine years. John passed six months before the pandemic and lockdown. Lucy and I are still adjusting to our loss. We will be okay because we have each other and Nell. My children are invaluable, as is my job, in healing. The memories are both sad and sweet. Flashback Friday will be a way for me to finally talk about these memories.

Lucy is 1 year old.
August 1, 2013

Click here for more Flashback Friday

_/\_/\_

Feline Friday: More Baby Nell Videos

These videos were made when Nell was allowed to play outside of the kitten playpen. Enjoy!

💖 Next time: Nell and her sister at play. 💖

Click for more Feline Friday

_/\_/\_

Nature Friday: Got Japanese Beetles?

I do not garden. I love them but I don't do the work. So when I see Japanese beetles, I don't get upset. I actually love photographing them. They are lovely and peaceful. They run away from bumble bees in flowers, co-exist with other flower flies in flowers, and they help each other when one falls off a plant. Click on this photo to see it large and perhaps you'll see why I photograph them: the glorious metallic colors, the furry tiger stripes, the forked antennae, and the textured elytra. 

Japanese Beetle (Popillia japonica)

My buggy research friend JF, however, is a gardener. She hates them. When she described to me what they do, I could understand why the contempt. The gardeners among you can understand, also. JF told me how you cannot get rid of them. But then she also mentioned winsome flies and asked me if I had seen any fly eggs on my JBs (Japanese beetles). JF sent me an article from Maine about winsome flies helping to control JBs without chemicals.

JF and I had one problem though: was the fly here? Our winters are severe in the northeast corner of Vermont. Many times, it's -30°F (-35°C) with wind chills much lower. Many insects cannot successfully overwinter here. My task was to photograph as many JBs as possible to find any winsome fly eggs. And I found them! So now we know winsome flies are here. You don't even have to find the actual fly, which is very small. You only need to see the white dots. Not the white dots that naturally run around the body of the beetle. Look at the front end, around the head, where they are usually laid by the fly.

Winsome fly eggs (Istocheta aldrichi)

The winsome fly was brought to North America purposefully in 1922 to parasitize JBs. It hasn't worked out that well because the fly's lifecycle has to coincide with the beetle lifecycle. It coincides here where I live, which is why I have the white eggs on the JBs. But in New Jersey? No. The fly has finally reached Vermont, Québec, and Ontario. It does not seem to be harmful to other parts of our environment. 

 

Range map of winsome fly

If you live in the areas shown on the map, and manually pluck the beetles from your garden, this advice from Maine may help you: 

• If you can, put in some plants that JBs avoid. Replace them with plants that are nectar-rich for the winsome fly adults and other JB predators.
• If you can, eliminate those plants that JBs most love.
• Encourage winsome flies by letting infected JBs free and only drowning the un-infected ones. The eggs can hatch only on beetles that are alive and then they can grow up to parasitize more beetles (see articles for lifecycle details).

Here are the references you may want to read:

1. Maine.gov: "The Fly that Attacks Japanese Beetles"
2. Laidback Gardener: "Plants Japanese Beetles Tend to Avoid"
3. Laidback Gardener: "The Fly that Attacks Japanese Beetles"

Maine says that by doing these things, ". . . you’ll find the number of beetles can drop significantly in just a few years. Many gardeners in areas where the winsome fly is well established say they can now garden much like they used to before JBs appeared, since the few remaining ones do little damage."

I hope you have a gardenful weekend!

Click to view more Nature Friday

_/\_/\_

Skywatch Friday: Cumulus humilis

Cumulus humilis (Cu hum)

Last Friday, I said I was going to learn about cloudspotting (that's what they call the process of identifying clouds). By Monday, I decided to quit. It's hard! There are no people, like at iNaturalist or Bugguide, to confirm your photo IDs and give advice.

However, Lucy and I were sitting out late Wednesday afternoon and lovely clouds were slowly moving overhead. I decided to try time-lapse on my iPhone; and I loved the result!

I sent the video to Adobe Creative Cloud, which is free. (I think it is free. I have not seen any subscription charges at my bank. Sometimes these subscriptions seem to slither into my life without me knowing.) 

I signed into Adobe and then created a new project by clicking the big purply-blue + button at the top left. Then I chose "Convert to GIF" under the video choices. I uploaded my video, chose "medium" size (the default size), and landscape (because the video was landscape), downloaded it, and here we have it! By the way, I have made one other GIF of Lucy and Nell and it was simply awful because I chose large. It is my shame on Twitter. 

After that success, I had the patience to try to identify the clouds. They are Cumulus humilis. I think. They match the description and the photos that I have linked here.

I'm now motivated to try again for next week. Learning happens in frustrating fits and starts. It's a good lesson for me to remember when my own students return to school late this month.

During my research for this, I learned that you can join the community science project Cloudspotting on Mars and identify Martian clouds from photos from the rovers. 

Click this Skywatch badge to see more Skywatch

_/\_/\_

Thankful Thursday: Making Biscuits

I am thankful to Nelly for allowing me to show off her biscuit making skills. 😍

Click to view and submit
more Thankful Thursday.

_/\_/\_

Wordless Wednesday: O! Celli!

This photo must be viewed large for the best startle effect. Wasps are the best animals for viewing ocelli—the simple eyes between the two compound eyes that many arthropods have. I love it when they are clearly visible. I actually gasp. 

These wasps parasitize moth larvae. Usually people know ichneumonid wasps by their extremely long ovipositor, which looks like a huge stinger (but it is not). It is used to drill holes in substances to lay their eggs. This species, Ophion, does not have a long ovipositor. 

Ophion was a Greek god who ruled the earth. 

The 3 ocelli on a short-tailed ichneumonid wasp (Ophion)

Click to view more Wordless Wednesday posts
and to submit your own.

_/\_/\_

Happy Tuesday: Insect Interactions

If you watch insects very closely long enough, you eventually observe interactions that make you chuckle because they may seem so human. 

From August 20, 2009 is a series of photos of a grasshopper pooping. Insect poo is called frass.  I was taking a series of photos of this individual and, as usually happens, was paying more attention to my shooting than to the animal. It usually is not until I get the images in a computer that I see what has happened in front of me. Notice how the hopper is watching me watching him.

The next two photos are from September 29, 2013. This time, I saw what happened through the lens. I remember trying so hard not to laugh so that I could keep focus. The Northern Paper Wasp (Polistes fuscatus), a male, native, and the tiny leaf beetle were both foraging the same blooms but had not noticed each other. But the wasp blindly bumped into the beetle and actually jumped backwards startled. To this day, I remember both the wasp's startle and my emotions at capturing it.

My last sequence is from yesterday, August 8, 2022. I knew the Pug moth caterpillar (Eupithecia) that I was photographing would be startled by the incoming Eastern Calligrapher (Toxomerus geminatus) fly. Neither animal ran away, but the caterpillar kept its distance. These would normally be out-takes and not printed, but the sequence is worth publishing.

By the way, a pug moth is a geometer moth, which explains the inchworm-like movement. The Greeks thought that inchworms looked like they measured the world, hence "geometer."

I did not expect to see, in another one of my practice videos, the frass action. I thought insects just randomly left frass wherever it dropped, but this caterpillar, the same individual as above, but after the fly left, actually disposed of it. Forgive my poor focus immediately before this happens. Even out of focus you can see the caterpillar going poop. The video then re-focuses and you see it disposing of it. Amazing! Please view it full screen. 

Click for more Happy Tuesday posts
and submit your own.

_/\_/\_

Awww Monday: Nell's Beginning

My daughter, Amelia, fosters motherless kittens. One day she was called about two two-week old kittens found alone in the woods. She drove out, hiked to them, brought them home, and spent the next few weeks feeding them around the clock every four hours. They were both female and thrived. I placed an "order" for one. Amelia regularly sent me videos of my baby's development (visitors were not allowed). This is her first video of the two, being watched over by her huge Fender kitty, who watches over any new kittens. 

This was the next update: the two sisters had grown a lot. Nell has double-paws, which are obvious (to me) in this video. 

I'll be sharing more of the videos in the future.  They are happy memories and truly awww-inspiring!

Click for a heart-warming
history of the rainbow bridge.

See more Awww and enter the blog
hop with your awww moment.

_/\_/\_

Photo Sunday: Mechanical

Our cider press, made by John in 2015. He used ironwood from our land for the sides and "feet" and birch for the slats. He left the ironwood in its natural state because it's tough wood and I love it like this. I can't remember where he got the mechanical parts. It’s a work of art, and it made all of our cider when he tended the orchard. I am keeping this forever despite several offers to "take it off my hands."

Click for more Photo Sunday

_/\_/\_

Newest Pet Friends Video

If you have an iPhone, you probably get these video memories that it creates for you. This is my newest one. It has both cats, Oliver and Nell. Oliver died in March suddenly and unexpectedly. It still hurts. Seeing this video reminds me of how sweet and loving he was. He always sat in on my virtual math classes; the kids loved seeing him. He is the plumber, green-eyed tabby with the sweet face. Nell usually looks grumpy with the copper eyes.

_/\_/\_

Black & White Grumpy Nell

Don't ever wake me up for Caturday pic again.

_/\_/\_

Saturday's Critters # 451: Nature Videos?

My daughters take terrific videos of their dogs. Me? I just started and obviously have a lot to learn. But here are two of my Lucy yesterday when she and I were out for our bug hunt. One video is too short and the other is too dull.  The girls and I seem to have this thing going on making videos of our dogs rolling in things. I have no idea why Lucy wanted to roll in that spot yesterday. 

Here is Lucy just idly walking on a trail near our top field: 

I have a thing for flower flies (also called syrphid flies or hover flies). They are very small and delicate, and are important pollinators. Photos, however, don't document behavior. Here is one of my first videos showing a Transverse Flower Fly (Eristalis transversa) sipping nectar. Please watch full screen for the best view.

Finally, I shot a blister beetle, Nemognatha nemorensis, while it ate. It has two defenses going for it: camouflage on the black-eyed susan (they are very difficult to spot because they are the same color) and its ability to shoot an irritating liquid at a predator (which is why it is called a blister beetle). I also see here that it is also a pollinator. Please watch full screen for the best view.

I hope you all have a safe and peaceful weekend! 

Check out Viewing Nature with Eileen to view more animals.

_/\_/\_

Nature Friday: O Hai Again!

I love photographing long-horned beetles, but they are very shy and skittish, often resulting in this "O, Hai!" pose. You may have observed that many insects that use milkweed as a host, such as Monarchs and these beetles, are dressed in warning colors: red, yellow, black. This beetle eats milkweed and dogbane, both of which contain toxins that then make the beetle (and Monarchs) toxic for others to eat. The vivid colors are a warning to their predators and are called aposematic (toxic, warning) colors. In the photo below you can see the chewing mouth parts.

Red Milkweed Beetle (Tetraopes tetrophthalmus)

In the next photo you can see how the antennae are placed so low that they bisect the eye. 

The RMB’s scientific name, Tetraopes tetrophthalmus, is redundant; both the genus and the species name mean “four eyes” and refer to the way the socket of an antenna divides each compound eye in two, resulting in a lower eye and an upper eye.

from Red Milkweed Beetle (Family Cerambycidae)

One last amazing thing about these Red Milkweed beetles: they squeal in complaint if you pick them up, and they purr when you leave them alone!  

Visit Nature Friday for more

_/\_/\_ 

 

Skywatch Friday: Cirrus Clouds

I have decided that I will be studying clouds for Skywatch. I have wanted to point up and say, "Oh! See that ---- cloud?"  I can basically do that for the three that we all learn in school but there are thousands of clouds that can tell you what is going on around you. That's what I want to learn. I have found a site, What's This Cloud?, that I will use. (They have a free ebook of clouds here.) Of all the clouds that I photographed this week, this one tickled my fancy the most: high cirrus clouds that went over on August 3rd, two days ago. Cirrus clouds are high and made of ice. I hadn't remembered the ice part. 

Cirrus, Cirrus fibratus, and other species, I am sure.

Clouds have species just like insects!

There is quite a bit of weather lore concerning cirrus clouds. The National Park Service has a weather lore page, where I found these four sayings: 

“If a circle forms ‘round the moon,‘Twill rain soon.” 

The circle that forms around the sun or moon is called a halo. Halos are formed by the light from the sun or moon refracting (bending) as they pass through the ice crystals that form high-level cirrus and cirrostratus clouds. These clouds do not produce rain or snow, but they often precede an advancing low pressure system which may bring bad weather. 

“Trace in the sky the painter’s brush, The winds around you soon will rush." 

The “painter’s brush” are cirrus clouds. These are high-level ice clouds that often precede the approach of a storm system.  

“Mares’ tails and mackerel scales Make lofty ships carry low sails.” 

Mares’ tails are cirrus clouds, called this because they sometimes resemble the flowing tail of a horse in the wind. Mackerel scales are altocumulus clouds. They appear broken and scaly. Neither of these cloud types will bring rain or snow themselves. They do, however, precede an approaching storm front by a day or two. 

“Trace in the sky the painter’s brush, The winds around you soon will rush." 

The “painter’s brush” are cirrus clouds. These are high-level ice clouds that often precede the approach of a storm system. 

Sure enough, today, one and a half days after I saw those clouds, it is raining.  

Click to see more Skywatch Friday posts

_/\_/\_

Thankful Thursday: Bug Hunts

As thankful as I am for Lucy and Nell, I am also thankful for the ability to do daily bug hunts each season. They have helped me heal from so many losses the past three years. Lucy goes with me every day and happily explores the smells in our woods and fields. In good bug weather, I am processing photos, collecting identifications, posting to iNaturalist, checking in with my friend JF and with my children that also report to iNat about what they have found. Sometimes we are fortunate to find larvae, known and unknown, that we can raise. All these things pull my head out of my grief and into the daily world. Here is a Common Whitetail Dragonfly that landed, and remained, in front of us on August 1. Lucy was easily trained to never disturb an insect being photographed.

Common Whitetail (Plathemis lydia) male

_/\_/\_

Wordless Wednesday: Primrose Moth Again

Primrose Moth - Hodges#11164 (Schinia florida)

_/\_/\_

My Corner of the World: Good morning

Mist rising off the wetlands

It was 53°F (12°C) at 7 AM this morning and mist rose off of the wetlands. This is my kind of morning, even though there were no insects about yet. I have to say though, that the morning mists usually come much later in August and all through September. I do not want autumn to come early. Visit other corners of the world here:

_/\_/\_

My Primrose Moths Are Finally Here

Lucy and I went out earlier than usual this morning . . . and found it! I have been closely watching the primroses twice a day for the past two weeks and one moth finally appeared. It is late morning now as I write this. It is raining and the moth is gone. But I am sure it will return, as will others. Here are photos to show how you may find your primrose plants and moths. Primroses are wild and will spread naturally. Mine grow at the edges of my fields in full sun. I never noticed the moths at all until John pointed one out one summer. Now I can spot them from twenty feet away—except when their camouflage makes me think I saw a moth and it was only a bud. As soon as I can, I will hold a moth in my hand and photograph its green googly eyes that make me laugh.

Primrose Moth - Hodges#11164 (Schinia florida)

The pink and yellow is actually good camouflage for this butterfly. You have to watch the life cycle of the plant to understand how it works. It's still difficult for me to describe. Remember: if you click on a photo, a lightbox will open in a new window and you can scroll through all the photos full size.

The moths in the Schinia genus are called flower moths because their hosts are flowers and the larvae eat the flowers of the host. So the primrose moth caterpillars eat the buds of the primrose. Eggs are laid on the buds. 

The adult moths rest during the day head down in the primrose flowers. At night, they can be attracted by light.

These are the three references I use for moth identification and information:

Moth Photographers: Primrose Moth

bugguide.net: Primrose Moth

iNaturalist: Primrose Moth

Here are three distribution maps for North America for the moths (they are native only here) from the three sites above. They vary because people document sightings to different sites (although some sites do merge information). I use all three maps because with climate change, ranges are changing.

No primroses, no moths. 

Be kind. 

Be curious.

_/\_/\_

A Bee and a Spider

I began taking video outside this morning. Many. But this one had a bit of drama in it that I never saw outside. I hope you can see it well here. It is a furrow bee and a flower crab spider. You really should view full screen. There is no audio.

_/\_/\_