This series shows Watshamiella alata watching Sycoscapter cornutus oviposit into a Ficus burkei syconium (fruiting body) for over seven minutes; after the Sycoscapter female departs, the Watshamiella female proceeds to oviposit into the same hole. Compton et al. (2009) described this behaviour for different species of Watshamiella in Uganda and Kenya on Ficus sycomorus and Ficus artocarpoides.
Compton, S.G., Van Noort, S., McLeish, M., Deeble, M. and Stone, V., 2009. Sneaky African fig wasps that oviposit through holes drilled by other species. African Natural History, 5, pp.9-15. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/230580629
Eating western honeybee.
This adult, measuring 0.8cm in length, emerged yesterday morning from a pupa that I collected the evening before.
I first found it as a larva ( See https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/111143644) on the underside of a rock on top of an ant nest (Formica sp.). There were two and I checked on them regularly. When it looked like one had already emerged from its puparium I brought the other home.
My first thought was M. tristis, though the pupa does not match the hand drawn images in Greene, Charles T. “Larvae and Pupae of the Genera Microdon and Mixogaster (Diptera, Syrphidae).” Transactions of the American Entomological Society (1890-), vol. 81, no. 1, 1955, pp. 1–20, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25077694. In particular, the anterior spiracles of the pupa are very short. Calcars are small and the tibiae are not orange.
Another possibility is M. ocellaris but again the pupa is not an exact match for the drawings in Thompson 1981.
See for prior to pupation https://inaturalist.nz/observations/120339351
See for pre-pupa https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/120339352
See for pupa https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/120339353
For three additional specimens that emerged from similar pupae that I collected see:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/121323000
Say Hello to 'Bubba.' This magnificent, adult, male Mohave ground squirrel (MGS; Xerospermophilus mohavensis) was captured and released near Coso Junction, California, on June 6, 2019. It was a bit late in the year to capture an adult MGS, especially one so obviously well fed, above ground. That is because this species not only hibernates through the winter months, but it estivates through the hottest months of the summer; they hibernate or estivate for ~7 months of the year. Sadly, because of the pandemic, I could not return to my field site in 2020 and it does not look very promising either for 2021.
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) with victim, Eastern Glass Lizard (Ophisaurus ventral) in the family Anguidae, 5/30/2022, The Landings Sparrow Field, Skidaway Island, Savannah, Ga.
Rock Creek Park, Washington, DC, USA
Also posted this observation to BugGuide: https://bugguide.net/node/view/2111532
See https://bugguide.net/node/view/601838 and in particular:
"native to Europe (widespread), adventive in NA (NS-ON & NH-NY; BC)(1)(BG data)"
full text of the citation on that page: http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/environment/NHR/PDF/Introduced_Maritime_Staphs.pdf
Introduced Staphylinidae (Coleoptera) in the Maritime Provinces of Canada
By Majka C.G., Klimaszewski J.
The Canadian Entomologist 140: 48-72, 2008
Found roaming in grass in pine wetlands. About 3mm long.
Juvenile raven. Will be released when old enough.
The saga of a grasshopper and this wasp in images. The male red-legged Grasshopper was posted separately in this post: https://inaturalist.ca/observations/99705619
On ground, around mixed trees, including hemlocks and hardwoods.
The cause of death - the arthropod is its own observation ( https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/95138444 )
Spotted on an Apple Mint plant on my balcony, Halifax NS
4 harriers. 3 attacking an eagle
This one was a puzzle for me for hours over two days after I posted it, as I previously didn't know Hylaeus. I started off on the wrong foot within Ceratina & then upon noting the ivory markings on the face didn't look consistent with any Ceratina for NS, found Hylaeus was a match.
Saw on road at kejimkujik between merrimekedge and jakes landing Sept 24 2016
Swam towards me, then through the culvert under the trail, then climbed up into the rocks on the embankment on other side. Full quality video of the approach: https://youtu.be/ELHzDow4yuk
The still photos are of its emergence from the culvert on the other side and subsequent disappearance into the rocks.
Parasitizing miner still in mine (Phyllocnistis populiella?) observed separately: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/54323504
Genus Tachysphex wasp (last image) carried a green grasshopper into the hole. These two flies hung about, circled, watched and even possibly deposited eggs at the entrance. The wasp came back out 3 or 4 minutes later and buried the entrance. They all left.
Wasp ID'd here https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/84434437
This dragonfly had a good old snooze on some blooming kale plants, probably resting while winds were quite gusty.
Incredible experience. Long-tailed weasel had her babies 3 or 4 days ago. Today she moved them from 1 hole to another about 100 feet away that was more secluded. She made 6 trips to carry 8 babies. Twice she carried 2 at a time. She was so gentle. Unbelievable that I got to witness this.
Was on a dead driftwood log on the banks of the Saint John River. Was attached at the bottom and stood straight up. Was about 3/8" - 1/2" tall.
Pseudoscorpion & its babies !
These tiny creatures are really amazing to watch. Other day I posted how these false scorpions carry their eggs, like a bunch of grapes on its back.
Here i got continuation of that , Where Mother pseudoscorpion is carrying its juvenile on dorsum of abdomen & few more are there on its ventral side.
I was not able to capture better than this as pseudoscorpions are restless creatures & they never sit when exposed to sunlight. They always move in search of the dark. These Arachnids have the unique strength of moving both forward & backward.
This makes us very difficult to capture . I am sharing three record photos,to showcase its maternal care.
ಹುಸಿಚೇಳಿನ ಬಗೆಗೆ ನಾನು ಈ ಹಿಂದೆ ನಿಮಗೆ ತಿಳಿಸಿದ್ದೇನೆ. ನಮ್ಮ ಜೇನು ಪೆಟ್ಟಿಗೆಯೊಳಗೆ , ಜೇನ್ನೊಣದ ಜೊತೆಗೆ ಇವು ಜೀವನ ನಡೆಸುತ್ತದೆ. ಪ್ರಕೃತಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಇವು ಮರದ ತೊಗಟೆಯ ಅಡಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ವಾಸಿಸುತ್ತವೆಯಾದ್ದರಿಂದ ಇವು ಹೊರಜಗತ್ತಿಗೆ ಕಾಣುವುದೇ ಇಲ್ಲ.
ಈ ಅಷ್ಟಪದಿಯ ಅಧ್ಯಯನಕ್ಕೆ ಒಂದು ರೀತಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ನಮ್ಮ ಜೇನು ಪೆಟ್ಟಿಗೆಯೇ ಸೂಕ್ತ .
ತಿಂಗಳಿಗೊಮ್ಮೆ ನಾನು ನಮ್ಮ ತೋಟದಲ್ಲಿನ ಜೇನುಪೆಟ್ಟಿಗೆಯ ಕೆಲಸಕ್ಕೆ ಕೈ ಹಾಕಿದಾಗ ನನಗೆ ಈ ಹುಸಿಚೇಳುಗಳ ದರ್ಶನವಾಗುತ್ತದೆ.ಹಾಗಾಗಿ ಕ್ಯಾಮೆರಾ ಸದಾ ಜೊತೆಗಿರುತ್ತದೆ. ಇವು ಸದಾ ಕತ್ತಲಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಬದುಕುವ ಜೀವಿಗಳು. ಹಾಗಾಗಿ ನಾವು ಜೇನು ಪೆಟ್ಟಿಯನ್ನು ತೆಗೆದೊಡನೆ, ಪೆಟ್ಟಿಗೆಯಲ್ಲಿರುವ ಸೆರೆಗಳಿಗೆ ಹೋಗಿ ಅಡಗಿಬಿಡುತ್ತವೆ.
ಮೊನ್ನೆಯೂ ಹಾಗೆ ಆಯ್ತು.
ಜೇನು ಪೆಟ್ಟಿಗೆಯ ಒಳಗೆ ಹುಸಿಚೇಳೊಂದು ಈಗ ತಾನೇ ಮೊಟ್ಟೆಯಿಂದ ಹೊರ ಬಂದ ಮರಿಯನ್ನು ಬೆನ್ನ ಮೇಲೆ ಕುರಿಸಿಕೊಂಡಿತ್ತು. ಹೊಟ್ಟೆಯ ಕೆಳಗೆ, ದ್ರಾಕ್ಷಿ ಗೊಂಚಲಿನಂತೆ ಮೊಟ್ಟೆಗಳಿದ್ದವು ಮತ್ತು ಆ ಮೊಟ್ಟೆಗಳಿಂದ ಮರಿಗಳು ಹೊರಬರಲು ಆರಂಭಿಸಿದ್ದವು.
ಈ ಅಪರೂಪದ ಕ್ಷಣಗಳನ್ನು ದಾಖಲಿಸಲು ಅನೇಕ ಸವಾಲುಗಳು.
ಹುಸಿಚೇಳು ಕತ್ತಲೆಯನ್ನು ಹುಡಿಕಿಕೊಂಡು, ವೇಗವಾಗಿ ಚಲಿಸುತ್ತಿತ್ತು. ಇವುಗಳು ಹಿಂದೆ, ಮುಂದೆ ಅಡ್ಡಡ್ಡ ಚಲಿಸುವ ಸಾಮ್ರಾಥ್ಯ ಹೊಂದಿದೆ. ಹಾಗಾಗಿ ಇದನ್ನು ಫೋಕಸ್ಪೆ ಮಾಡುವುದು ಬಲು ಕಷ್ಟ. ಜೇನು ಪೆಟ್ಟಿಯೊಳಗಣ ಜೇನ್ನೊಣಗಳು ನನ್ನ ಸುತ್ತ ಹಾರುತ್ತಿದ್ದವು. ಯಾವಾಗ ಚುಚ್ಚುವುದೋ ಎಂಬ ಭಯ ಒಂದು ಕಡೆಯಾದರೆ, ಕಾಲಿಗೆ ಕುತ್ತುವ ಸೊಳ್ಳೆಗಳು ಮತ್ತು ಕಚ್ಚುವ ಕೆಂಜುಗಗಳು ಇನ್ನೊಂದುಕಡೆ .
ಇವೆಲ್ಲದರ ಮಧ್ಯೆ ನನಗೆ ಮೂರೇ ಮೂರೂ ಚಿತ್ರಗಳು ಸಿಕ್ಕವು. ಅಷ್ಟು ಹೊತ್ತಿಗೆ ಈ ಹುಸಿ ಚೇಳು ತನ್ನ ಮಕ್ಕಳೊಡನೆ ಪೆಟ್ಟಿಗೆಯ ಸೆರೆಯೊಳಗೆ ಅವಿತುಬಿಟ್ಟಿತ್ತು.
ಚಿತ್ರೀಕರಿಸಿದ ಆ ಮೂರೂ ಚಿತ್ರಗಳು ಇದೋ ಇಲ್ಲಿದೆ ನಿಮಗಾಗಿ.
May 2021
Indraprastha
Mysuru.
In fruit bushes along old railway.
I finally saw some individuals that show the structures near the end of the tail that can be ID'd properly by image alone. Compare with:
http://bugguide.net/node/view/258035/bgimage
This is the same species I found here at the end of February last year, but ID'd by length rather than structure. It is nice to be able to better confirm their ID.
Trail Camera
This bee was watching the nest burrow of another bee (different species). When the other bee left the nest, this bee went into the nest and came out a couple of minutes later. Then it went back to the same spot and continued to observe the nest.
Footprints in the snow, seems to be a tail dragging
Natural pair flying together along the bay's edge
extremely abundant at MV light. uploaded to iNat for @jasondombroskie's yard list. also posted to BugGuide
On 30.12.2021, I went on a trip to Riverstone ,Sri Lanka..... I studied about all the point endemic animals and got some informations from some university students about the bio diversity of the site before went there.....Actually ,it was a family trip.....Among all the cousins,I was the one and only one who wanted to see the point endemics or anyone that I would be interested....I went there around 1 p.m and searched everwhere that I could.... Lastly found this lovely and cool lizard..... After saw it ,I was very happy and I kept looking at it around 15 minutes .....So,I got few photos(Used NIKON P950) and suddenly started to rain there.....Then,I said good bye to this cool friend and started the hike again !!!!
This is the first Ceratophora tennentii that I saw and I love to observe these ones again in nearby future!!!!!
Pasindu Dilshan .
💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚🦎🦎🦎🦎🦎🦎🦎🦎🦎🦎🦎
Species of leaves scarf made from. Not my creation just found this gentleman along the trail.
Found inside of a small burrow of a Psen erythropoda wasp (I think), in a house plant pot.