Monthly Archives: September 2013

Arizona Bugs, part 2

If I had to pick a favorite spot out of all the places we explored on our two-and-a-half-month road trip last fall, it would be Madera Canyon in southern Arizona.  The scenery there isn’t particularly eye-catching; in fact, I didn’t … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Arizona Bugs

In my photo sorting I’m now up to early November of last year, when Julia and I spent a day at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument at the southern edge of Arizona.  Although we found some interesting leafminers there, what … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

More Manzanita Markings

Continuing to make my way through photos I took in northern California last October, I just came across these shots of the trunk of a gnarled old manzanita (Arctostaphylos).  The remaining bark looks as if someone poured melted red wax … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Mystery Moth from a Mystery Plant

I’m not sure if I ever mentioned it explicitly, but the reason I spent two and a half months last fall exploring the western US, and another month this spring exploring the southeast, is that I’m working on a new … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Hackberry Midge Galls Revisited

In yesterday’s mail I was pleasantly surprised to find a copy of Raymond J. Gagné’s new paper on hackberry gall midges*.  As promised, I am following up with more information on the galls pictured in this post from two years ago. … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Lawnhoppers

Yesterday I went out to my lawn looking for a photographic subject on which to finish running down my flash batteries so I could take them out and recharge them.  The most conspicuous insects there were tiny, hopping black ones … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Cribellate Spiders, and Some More Thoughts on that Mysterious Thing from Peru

Photos of this intricate silken structure, to which I shared my immediate reactions here, have been spread around sufficiently that it’s pretty clear nobody (at least nobody with access to the internet) knows what made it. I did have another thought or … Continue reading

Posted in Unsolved Mysteries | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 23 Comments

Monthly Mystery #10: Bees in a Mud Nest

An interesting series of photos was recently moved to BugGuide’s “Frass” section (a place where rejected submissions are held temporarily before being deleted forever), so I thought I would salvage them and post them here so they can continue to … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized, Unsolved Mysteries | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment