Category: insects

Posted on by — 3 Comments

Winter Wednesday-Our Winter Insect Study

We have had our eye out for insects the past few weeks.

Yesterday we actually saw two very small butterflies as we took our afternoon walk. We are going to try to take our butterfly net today and see if we can catch one to identify.

Added after today’s walk: We actually caught one of what we thought were butterflies and now I think they are moths.

Here is the best photo I could get inside the net. They are orange on the backsides of the wings. This is the first time that I have tried to actually catch a butterfly with a net and I am really glad that my son did not have a video camera. It was hilarious….I sort of felt like a tennis player, swatting at the air. Let’s just say that I got a lot of exercise. 🙂


We saw this on a bunch of leaves and we brought one home to investigate. We decided it is some sort of leaf miner that has been at work.

We found a whole section (pages 329-332) in the Handbook of Nature Study on leaf-miners!

“To most children, it seems quite incredible that there is anything between the upper and lower surfaces of a leaf, and this lesson should hinge on the fact that in every leaf, however thin, there are rows of cells containing the living substance of the leaf, with a wall above and a wall below to protect them…….The serpent-like markings and the blister-like blotches which we often see on leaves are made by the larvae of insects which complete their growth by feeding upon the inner living substance of the leaf.”
Handbook of Nature Study, pages 329 and 331

Here are a few more photos from our walk today.


So these little fungi caught our eye today on this piece of bark. They looked like little mini hamburger buns.


The manzanita is starting to bloom and the shape of the blossoms are so pretty and delicate.

I feel like we are finally starting to catch up on our Winter Wednesdays and our Outdoor Hour Challenges. We have been so busy and the weather so wet that it really distracted us from our time outdoors. It feels good to be back in the routine again.

Learn more about leaf miners in this challenge: 
 Leaf Miners and Leaf Rollers.

Posted on by — 7 Comments

Butterflies Galore!

Just like with the birds at the Living Desert Museum, it was a treat to see so many butterflies at their Butterflies Alive! exhibit.

They also had a butterfly garden outdoors that was a great source of ideas for different plants that I may be able to incorporate into my backyard butterfly garden.

“This graceful butterfly is a very good friend to the flowers, being a most efficient pollen-carrier. It haunts the gardens and sips nectar from all the blossom cups held out for its refreshment; and it is found throughout almost all parts of the United States.”
Handbook of Nature Study, page 301

It was hard to know where to look because there were butterflies flying and landing in just about every direction. Make sure to click the photos to see them close up!

There were blue ones.

There were white ones. (Love the heliotrope!)

There were striped ones.

There were ones with beautiful wings and long legs.

We tried to catch them on our fingers but they were very shy. It was more fun just to sit and watch them flutter by on their way to sip some more nectar.

When we tired of butterflies, there were more hummingbirds to observe.

Now I wish I would have written down the kinds of hummers that were there. This one was black with a greenish head and a long red beak.

This one was not shy and came within inches of me over and over again to sip from these red flowers.

I can’t tell you how much we enjoyed this part of our desert trip.

The museum purchases the butterfly chrysalis’ and then mount them on sticks in the window for all to watch. There were rows and rows of them and some were just starting to come out and stretch and meet the world.

My favorite chrysalis’ were the ones for the Queen butterfly. They were a soft green color with a gold line rimming one end. Amazing, truly amazing.

This is a newly hatched butterfly waiting for its wings to fully dry before they let it out into the aviary. So, so pretty.

Okay, this entry is getting rather long and it has completely too many photos. Believe me…I restrained myself.

Hope you enjoyed seeing this part of our trip. I will share more about the cactus and rock climbing in another entry.

Posted on by — 3 Comments

Urchins on Oaks?

We took our usual walk the other day but we found something unusual.

These little pink growths were attached all over the leaves on the ground and we brought one home to identify it. I had an idea that it was gall of some sort but I thought it would be interesting to see if we could come up with an exact identification.

I Googled “pink gall oak” and here are a few of the things I found.

CalPhotos: Urchin Gall
Bingo!

Nature’s Oddballs
Fascinating article with a great explanation of galls.

So there you have it.
Urchin Gall Wasp Antron quercusechinus

“There are many forms of these gall dwellings, and they may grow upon the root, branch, leaf, blossom, or fruit. The miraculous thing about each of them is that each kind of insect builds its magical house on a certain part of a certain species of tree or plant; and the house is always of a certain definite form on the outside and of a certain particular pattern within.”
Handbook of Nature Study, page 335

You can read more about galls in the Handbook on pages 335-338.

Gall Study - Handbook of Nature Study

Posted on by — 8 Comments

Difference Between a Cocoon and a Chrysalis-Or a Cottony Scale Insect!

Updated information-see the edit below if you are interested in knowing the identification of this creature. Thanks to an anonymous commenter!

I was busy watering my lemon tree yesterday and I realized that there were lots of little cocoons on the bottoms of the leaves. I call them cocoons but my boys said they thought that they are a kind of chrysalis. I have never taken the time to learn the difference so it sounded like a good time to take out the Handbook of Nature Study.

“The pupa of a butterfly is called a chrysalis.”

“Many larvae, especially among the moths, weave about themselves a covering of silk which serves to protect them from their enemies and the weather during the helpless pupa period. This silken covering is called a cocoon.”

“After the larva has attained its full growth it changes its skin and its form, and becomes a pupa.”

Handbook of Nature Study, page 296

So I am thinking now that the boys were right and this is a chrysallis of some sort of butterfly. I have no idea what kind but we are going to bring one in and watch its development.

Here is some more info I found online.
From WikiAnswers:

  • A cocoon is a covering made of silk that encloses a pupa, and a chrysalis is the pupa of a butterfly. The chrysalis is covered in a hard, chitnous shell.
  • Note the difference: A cocoon is a covering of a pupa, and a chrysalis is a particular kind of pupa, usually with no enclosing cocoon.
  • Inside a cocoon, you will often find a pupa of a moth or other insect with an inner chitinous shell, but it is not called a chrysalis unless it is the pupa of a butterfly. The pupae of some insects have visible external body structures, such as wings and legs, as they develop, while others (such as moths) have a smooth outer shell that encloses the developing structures.
  • I learned a lot this morning after taking just about five minutes to look up the information in the Handbook.

____________________________________________________________________
EDIT: Someone left me a comment and identified this creature. It is a cottony scale insect. If you follow the link you will indeed find out that this is a female in the immobile stage.

“Adult female scales are almost always immobile (aside from mealybugs) and permanently attached to the plant they have parasitized. They secrete a waxy coating for defense; this coating causes them to resemble reptilian scales or fish scales, hence the name.”

That clears that up and shows you just how much I know about insects in general. I am continually learning.

Posted on by — 9 Comments

Outdoor Hour Challenge: Challenge #27 Insect Round-Up

I know this week we were supposed to be looking for bees but I have a favor to ask.

I decided that I have far too many unidentified insects and I might as well just post the photos here and let anyone who has any idea what they are, please let me know the names or at least a direction.

I am *so happy* that we are finishing up our focus on insects because I get very frustrated with not knowing particular names. I know I should be happy to have had the experience with observing them and also the time to browse through my insect field guide and on the internet. My boys are content with just spotting and observing. I am not content.

Here are the photos:

This one is a shiny blue and there seems to be lots of them crawling in the garden. I find them mostly under the leaves of my green beans and strawberries.

This guy is fairly good size and has a beautiful red splotch on his back.

I know I see these all the time but I don’t have any idea what they are called. They are the biggest of the bunch.
EDIT: Bordered Plant Bug or Largus succinctus
(Thanks to Dana!)

This one is sort of like the blue one but still different.

This one has a round body and is really black and blue iridescent.

This one I thought at first was a spider but it only has six legs. The legs and the antennae are striped and he was carrying that black thing as he climbed around on the butterfly bush. He was very fast. (You may need to click the photo to enlarge it.)
EDIT: Some sort of Assassin Bug
(Thanks to Dana!)

Okay, that is my collection of photos that I have yet to identify. As you can tell, I see a lot of insects when I am out watering in the garden.

We didn’t see a single bee today when we went outside but the boys knew where to go look so I know they have been observing them in the garden. One son says that he always sees bees in the lavender and the other said he thinks they are always on the butterfly bush. I think just knowing where to look for the bees is valuable. I am not worried….the bees will be back later I am sure.

Posted on by — 6 Comments

Outdoor Hour Challenge #28 Dragonflies and Damselflies

Dragonfly in Our Backyard

This summer has been filled with lots of dragonflies and damselflies and it has made me more aware of the variety of life we have all around us that we sometimes forget to notice.

Here is a great website that will help you with your state’s dragonfly and damselfly identification. http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/distr/insects/dfly/index.htm
I learned how to tell a dragonfly from a damselfly this summer. Here are some facts that should help you in your identification.

Dragonflies

  1. Generally strong fliers
  2. Eyes touch on top of the head
  3. Fore-wings and hind-wings are of different shape
  4. At rest, the wings are held away from the body at an angle of approximately 180°

Damselflies

  1. A weak, fluttery flight
  2. Eyes are well separated
  3. Fore-wings and hind-wings are of similar shape
  4. At rest, the wings are held close to the body


Outdoor Hour Challenge #28
Focus on Insects-Dragonflies and Damselflies

1. This week read about dragonflies and damselflies in the Handbook of Nature Study, pages 401-408. You also may enjoy reading page 400-401 about the insects of the brook and pond. Remember our focus right now is on insects so if you don’t find a dragonfly or a damselfly to observe, you can always look for other insects to study.

“A pond without dragonflies darting about it, or without the exquisitely iridescent damsel flies clinging to the leaves of its border would be a lonely place indeed.”
Handbook of Nature Study, page 401

2. Your 15-20 minutes of outdoor time this week can be spent looking for insects. If you have access to a pond, this would be a great week to make a short trip to the pond’s edge to make some observations. If you are sticking close to home and in your own backyard, look for any insects that you can observe. Remember to look under rocks (carefully if you live in snake country), under logs, on tree trunks, on the backsides of leaves, inside a flower, in a flowering bush or tree, and even in your window sill.

3. Give the opportunity for a nature journal entry. Dragonflies and damselflies are lots of fun to draw. Here is a website that tells you step by step how to draw a dragonfly…try it together as a family.
http://artforkidshub.com/how-to-draw-a-dragonfly/ (or you could just Google “how to draw a dragonfly”)

4. If you are keeping a running list of insects you have observed during this focus period, add any new insect names to your list. This is our last week to focus on insects in the Outdoor Hour Challenges. It might be enjoyable to take a few minutes this week to review the insects you have learned about and observed during the last seven weeks with your children. If you have a list of insects that you have observed, make sure it is complete before we move on to something new next week.

Posted on by — 9 Comments

Hummingbird Moth or White-Lined Sphinx Moth

Another gift this morning….a hummingbird moth or a white-lined sphinx moth.

I heard this guy in the skylight of the kitchen last night but I couldn’t get him to come down so I could see what sort of moth he was. This morning as I was sipping my morning cup of coffee, he buzzed right over to collect some nectar from the vase of flowers on my kitchen table. Can you believe that? We all watched as he hovered around the flowers and then up over the table. This was our first experience with a hummingbird moth and it was fantastic.

He flew up to the ceiling and landed in the corner. Please excuse the really ugly background for this beautiful moth. We re in the middle remodeling our living room and he landed right in the dusty corner where we are sheetrocking….of course.

I pulled out my Handbook of Nature Study and I was surprised to find that there is a complete section on hummingbird and sphinx moths, pages 320-325.

“The have long, rather narrow, strong wings which enable them to fly with extraordinary rapidity. …Their colors show most harmonious combinations and most exquisite contrasts; the pattern, although often complex, shows perfect refinement…..Most of the sphinx moths have remarkably long tongues, which are sometimes twice the length of the body.”
Handbook of Nature Study, page 321

This was a very interesting insect to read about and I will be on the look out now for more of them. I read in the Handbook that they especially like petunias, morning glories, and nasturtiums which are all planted in my new garden from the spring!

Another gift….thank you.

Posted on by — 13 Comments

Outdoor Hour Challenge #26 Ladybugs and Aphids

This week we will be taking time to read about and look for two different insects that seem to go hand in hand. I know in our garden if I see a ladybug, I will many times, if I look carefully, see some aphids too. Aphids are pretty small but if you get out your hand lens you may find you can see these insects in your flower garden. Look under the leaves.

“Aphids seem to be born to serve as food for other creatures-they are simply little machines for making sap into honeydew, which they produce from the alimentary canal for the delectation of ants; they are, in fact, merely little animated drops of sap on legs.” Handbook of Nature Study, page 352

Wow, that pretty much spells it out. I know that I have read somewhere that ants actually “farm” the aphids and “milk” them for food.

Here are some aphids that I photographed way back last fall. These are rose leaves from my yard and they were really eating them up.


Here are the same aphids above along with an ant so you can compare the size.

Ladybugs are always a welcome sight in our garden and I have learned over the years how beneficial they are.

“The ladybird is a beetle. Its young are very different from the adult in appearance, and feed upon plant lice.”

Have fun this week and remember your overall focus is on insects so if you don’t see any ladybugs and aphids, post your blog entry about what insects you did discover. I look at these challenges as a way to make a community of families who are interested in nature. We all learn from each other. Believe it or not, I feel as if I learn just as much from all your posts as I do from doing the research to come up with the challenges.

Outdoor Hour Challenge #26
Focus on Insects-Ladybugs and Aphids

1. This week read about ladybugs and aphids in the Handbook of Nature Study, pages 364-366 and pages 351-354. Remember our focus right now is on insects so if you don’t find either of these insects to observe, you can always look for other insects to study. If you do your reading, you will be prepared when you next come across these insects.

You may be interested in reading my entry on Red Aphids. 

2. Your 15-20 minutes of outdoor time this week can be spent looking for insects. I know it is still very hot for most of us but if you get out early, even before breakfast, you might be able to enjoy the morning air and a few insects too.

3. Give the opportunity for a nature journal entry. If you need ideas for alternative nature journal activities, please see challenge 2 and challenge 3. You might want to draw the ladybug life cycle or show how ants benefit from aphids by providing them with food. Encourage your child to draw something that interested them from your nature time. When my children were young, I considered a drawing, a date, and a label as a successful nature journal.

Make sure to pull out the Handbook of Nature Study to see if any insects you find are listed and you can read more about it there. If you are keeping a running list of insects you have observed during this focus period, add the insect’s name to the list.

Posted on by — 10 Comments

So Beautiful It Makes Me Cry: Dragonfly Morning

“It is while we, ourselves, are dreaming in the sun by the margin of some pond, that these swift children of the air seem but a natural part of the dream. Yet if we waken to note them more closely, we find many things very real to interest us.”
Handbook of Nature Study, page 404

I don’t know if you have ever had this experience but it has happened to me a few times that I can remember: Something that you see in our natural world is so beautiful that it makes you cry. It could be a sunset, an autumn tree in full color, or in this most recent case, a dragonfly.

I know. You all think that I have lots my marbles over that one but I am going to post some photos that will only give you a hint of how beautiful this dragonfly is in real life.

Here’s the story. I have been putting together an Outdoor Hour Challenge about dragonflies over the last few weeks. I have had my camera at the ready many times because I have several kinds of dragonflies in my backyard and I hoped to get a photo for the blog entry. Will those dragonflies sit still for just one photo? Not usually.

This morning I was up and out on the back deck early, around 6 AM. I was just out of the shower and I usually go out and comb my hair as I survey the morning’s happenings outside. It is my routine. Well, as I was standing there looking out over the yard, I tried to focus on something that was on a beach towel on the deck railing. I knew it was an insect but without my glasses on it looked like a blur. I went into the house and grabbed my glasses and camera.

I couldn’t really get a good photo at first because it was still pretty dark out. Then he flew away and I was so sad to see him go. But, he landed on my lemon tree and he has been there ever since. This gave me lots of time to take a good photo of him. I think that this was a gift to me this morning and now I will share my gift with you.


Black saddlebag dragonfly

See the coloration on the wings that look like “saddlebags”?

You have to click the photo to make it larger so you can see the colors of the wing in this photo. It was like lace with all its fine detail. I actually was able to measure his wing span, 4 inches!

His head is so big and I know he was looking at me too. Click this one for a better view of him up close….you may never get this close to a dragonfly so here is your chance. 🙂

Look at the pattern and colors in the wing…iridescent in one light and spun from gold in another. It looks just like stained glass.

I know my original intention was to share a photo with you when I posted the challenge but this was so special that it gets its own post. The beauty in creation is such a testament to our Creator. Only He could think to spin this dragonfly’s wings out of gold, to make his coloration so distinct, and to give his face a dash of brilliant blue. I am amazed at the beauty and it truly did make me cry.

Posted on by — 6 Comments

Outdoor Hour Challenge #25 Housefly

“The housefly is one of the most cosmopolitan members of the animal kingdom. It flourishes in every land, plumping itself down in front of us at table, whether we be eating rice in Hong Kong, dhura in Egypt, macaroni in Italy, pie in America, or tamales in Mexico. There it sits, impertinent and imperturbable, taking its toll, letting down its long elephant-trunk tongue, rasping and sucking up such of our meal as fits its needs.”Handbook of Nature Study, page 358

Flies are a nuisance and bother to most people but they do have a purpose. After reading this week’s Handbook of Nature Study pages, you will have a better understanding and appreciation for these particular insects. I was fascinated by the information that Anna Comstock shares about something that is literally right under our noses during our everyday life. It is like most things….what we don’t focus on, we can’t see clearly. Take some time this week to be on the look out for houseflies.

Here is a link to a YouTube video of a fly eating part of a sugar cube. Totally awesome photography.
Housefly Video
(You may want to preview this video, it is a really close-up look at a housefly, sort of creepy.)

Don’t miss this opportunity for nature study this week. If houseflies do not appeal to you or your children, just have some outdoor time together. See what you can find to be interested in together.

Outdoor Hour Challenge #25
Focus on Insects-Housefly 

1. This week read about houseflies in the Handbook of Nature Study, pages 358-361. This reading is important this week since we rarely take the time to observe a housefly close-up. Highlight or underline interesting facts as you read so when you introduce the housefly this week to your children you will have a way to remember some interesting tidbits. I know some families like to read the sections together but it works just as well if you find a few points to share with your child after you do the reading yourself. The observation suggestions on pages 360-361 give us specific things to look for. Remember our focus right now is on insects so if you don’t find a fly to observe, you can always look for other insects to study.

2. Your 15-20 minutes of outdoor time this week can be spent looking for insects. We always end up with flies when we eat outdoors. I also have one window that always seems to have a fly buzzing around it. Keep your eyes open for a housefly to observe. Do not worry if you don’t see any this week. If you do your reading, you will be prepared when you next come across this insect.

3. Give the opportunity for a nature journal entry for the fly. If you need ideas for alternative nature journal activities, please see challenges 2 and 3. Keep it simple and let your child draw what interests them in their journal. Help with the writing if they need it.

4. If you observed some other kinds of insects during the week, give the option for making a nature journal for those too. Make sure to pull out the Handbook of Nature Study to see if the insect you found is listed and you can read more about it there. If you are keeping a running list of insects you have observed during this focus period, add the insect’s name to the list.