Bold New Jumpers

In all my time documenting the insects and arachnids in my garden, I had never captured a bold jumping spider (Phidippus audax) nest and hatching. First is the pristine silk nest spun on the leaf of kalanchoe orgyalis; it has doors on both ends.
















I noticed the shape of the spider inside the nest, and as I watched from a distance, she gradually emerged from the back door, climbed up a nearby stem and jumped off into the garden. 




                                                                                 

                    

 A day later, the nest is in disarray and one tiny bold jumper can barely be seen leaving the nest in the last photo. I found some others scattered in the vegetation nearby. Good luck hunting, little ones.

Love Seeing Insect Articles in Major Newspapers!

Interesting article in NY Times about mantis bird predation and hunting behaviors.

Birds Beware: The Praying Mantis Wants Your Brain - The New York Times


Mentions the cool way mantises always seem to be looking at you, but doesn't explain that's because of the pseudopupil effect. The 'pupil' or black spot in the mantis (and some other insects') compound eyes is formed by the ommatidia (single components of the compound eye) absorbing light as viewed straight on. So the 'pupil', as we anthropomorphize it, follows the observer.

Fairy Duster World

There are two calliandras in my yard:

C. californica, aka baja fairy duster is a lower California native that grows as a loose wiry shrub about 6 feet tall and equally wide.  I planted this in the garden sometime in the past decade.

C. tweedii, aka Brazilian flame bush is native to Brazil and mine is a stout tree about 15 feet tall and wider.  This tree was already this size when I came to live here over 20 years ago, so I imagine it is quite a bit older than 20 years.

I was out poking around looking for critters and found only the bees, up early and foraging in the fairy duster flowers.  These plants produce a lot of nectar and attract not only the bees, but also hummingbirds and butterflies to assist with pollination.  After the flowers pollinate, legumes are produced, the pea-like pods that will eventually dry up and split, ejecting the seeds into the world in the hopes of propagating.  Both plants receive little or no supplemental water in our southern California garden, and bloom off and on all year.








Aside from the size difference between the two calliandras, there are some other distinctions:
The flowers on tweedii are larger and fuller, and the pods they produce are thicker, hairier and occur in clusters.

The pods on californica are beautifully translucent when still green.

The leaves on tweedii are more finely cut.

 And, I like the common name fairy duster better.

The bees and hummingbirds seem to enjoy both of them equally, although on this particular morning, the bees were only in the fairy dusters.

Simple geometry, complex biology

Back in the day, homes were often aligned east/west, north/south I guess.  Being built in 1936, my house is oriented to the east and the equinox sun rising aligns with the driveway.  It's cool, but really just simple geometry in action.  There is a week or so either side of the equinox the sun spends in our driveway, then will move on toward winter.

Meanwhile, spiders have ripened with the autumn and can be found hanging in mid-air, hopefully not by your face.  This orb weaver positioned herself below the acacia cultriformis tree at daybreak.  Insect and arachnid life is adapted to adjust life cycles to the changing seasons, many species becoming sexually mature in late summer and autumn and switching gears from feeding and growing to breeding and dying off, or aggregation and over wintering.

Humans, affected by the changing quality of light, pull out boots and sweaters even though the daytime air temperature still hangs in the high 80s.  We'll begin gathering things and stashing them away for the deep of winter. We light candles, hang wreaths, prepare our homes for the coming dark.  We drink pumpkin ale, celebrating the slightest hint of crispness in the now officially autumn air.

Buggy-granate

The dwarf pomegranate did alright this year, seeming to recover from the mites and twisted leaves.  Also reinforced its reputation as drought tolerant, as it received very little supplemental watering through this drought-infested year.

There's something fascinating about a cluster of bugs, morbidly fascinating I suppose.  This is a group of leaf footed bugs (Leptoglossus zonatus) enjoying their adulthood on one of the small pomegranate fruits.  Note the zigzag pattern across the wings and the two yellowish spots on the pronotum (just behind the head) as identifying marks.

Leaf footed bugs are said to overwinter as adults, hiding out in groups in protected places like my woodpile or tree bark, or even within fallen pomegranate fruits and then re-emerge when the spring warms up to feed, mate and lay eggs.  In our warm climate, though, I've seen newly hatched ones in autumn.  So probably there's some of both (overwintering and multi-generationing) going on.

These bugs are considered pests of several crops, including and especially pomegranates.  They have the ability to feed on leaves, shoots, fruit and even seeds with their piercing mouth parts.  I've seen them in my garden on myrtle, opuntia but especially pomegranate but never at a population level approaching pesky.  Just interesting.

Rank Amateur says "Nuts"

Nuts.  I failed, I am such an amateur.
Sure, I noticed this beetle suspended in its small way from a pot rim on my porch.

I came down to its level for a closer look and saw it was caught up in spider silk.
And then saw the spider.

Watched the spider approach its comparatively enormous prey from the ventral aspect and
inject venom. Probably between abdominal segments.
The beetle struggled, flexing and spinning for a few seconds then stilled.
I snapped a few photos.

But,
I neglected to count the segments on the beetle's antennae
(looks like 11 in the photos, 11 beadlike segments).
It didn't occur to me to take note of the beetle's tarsal formula:
was it 5-5-5 ( five segments on each of the tarsi fore middle and hind )
or was it 5-5-4?
Or whether there were cleaning combs on the foreleg spurs.

Darkling (tenebrionid) or ground (carabid) ?
Maybe there's some subtle difference in flavor between these two large beetle families, and
I could ask the spider to weigh in here for a positive ID.
Or next time, just be a little more systematic in my observations.

Leucophyllum in Crazy Bloom

Next to the front porch our Texas Ranger, leucophyllum frutescens, is blooming large.

This drought hardy plant needs little water, can survive our average summer without supplemental irrigation, 

but the surprisingly substantial rain we had a month ago seems to have ramped up the flower bud production way beyond normal.  Leucophyllum usually blooms late summer but this year is ridiculous in its bounty.

In Texas, some refer to their state flower as the 'Barometer bush', due to its response to increased humidity and/or summer rain with eye-popping flower production.  Some say the buds often burst open before the rain, serving as a weather prediction.  

Our ranger is covered in blooms right now, I thought because of the soaking it got last month.  But maybe rain's on the way.  Eventually?  Meanwhile, it makes a pleasant bower where it meets up with the Acacia iteaphylla over our front porch entrance.  As they age, the flowers drop off and sprinkle the walk below, and anything else that happens to be there like our concrete fawn.

Bees love it, and many early mornings their loud buzzing greets us as we step under the bower and begin our day.  

Athanasia acerosa and friends

So my mystery plant is no longer a mystery.
Years ago I found a scraggly one gallon shrub with interesting leaves etc at Daylily Hill Nursery in Escondido (hidden . . . get it?).   The nursery worker really did not know what it was, nor did I, nor could I find anything like it on the internet and even my plant geek nephew couldn't place it.  But I planted it anyway, and imagined it to be akin to the beautiful and bountiful rabbitbrush seen in New Mexico on a summer trip.

The thing has grown well in my parkway, land of little irrigation and not too much rain these past few years.  It's now about 4 feet all around and covered in yellow flowers, and it even has offspring of the cloned persuasion accompanying it further on down the strip.  One time Mr. Cardui and I saw one, a big one about 8 feet tall, also covered in flowers as we drove down a nearby business district avenue.  The thing is, this is a plant that makes itself noticed while in bloom and then, after the flowers fade it goes unnoticed.

Well, I took another trip to Escondido, same nursery under a new name and what do you know?  They had a full block of the mystery plant for sale.   So say a proper hello at last to "Athanasia acerosa" also known as Coulter bush.  Hales from South Africa.  Not a lot of info about it out there, but here's what I've learned:

A bit hard to get started from cuttings, but worth a try.  Not sure what the ultimate size is.  It grows long stems from the base which flower on the ends.  I've had good luck cutting these back halfway or even all the way to the base.  Next year new stems sprout.  Young plants are really leggy, but can be cut back in the same way to get them more bushy and full.  Doesn't need much water. The flowers are sweetly fragrant and they attract a lot of small buggies.

I saw various plant bugs (seriously, miridae),

spittle bugs (Clastoptera lineatocollis), aphids (unidentified very small black ones) and evidence of their wasp parasites (over half were mummified), a ladybird beetle (Asian),

a molting sharpshooter-style leafhopper (likely Homolodisca vitripennis) and where there's prey there's the apex predator of its little golden flowery world:  a mantis nymph (Stagmomantis).

So, one tiny null zone of information has been filled in, a whole tiny world of unanswered or even yet to be imagined questions.

Monarch population comeback

Back in winter 2012 I posted about a monarch butterfly deformed upon emerging from its pupa.  I went on about how maybe the winter timing of its emergence had something to do with its deformity or difficulty eclosing.

This was clearly incorrect as the butterflies, and all of the caterpillars mentioned in that post as well, was infected with the OE parasite (Ophryocystis elektroscirrha).  The caterpillars ingest the spores of the parasite as they feed, which have been deposited there by their infected mother as she laid the eggs.

In an earlier post I was observing massive population of caterpillars decimating the milkweed, which had also been less than vigorous for some time at that point.  There was also a weak emerged adult in that post, likely a less severely infested victim of OE.

Turns out that winter 2012 was the peak of our OE infestation.  The emerging adults were so heavily infested they were unable to mate and reproduce, resulting in population crash.  I also removed all of the milkweed in January 2013 in the interest of preventing the spread of the parasite. 2013 there were zero monarchs about the estate.  At the house across the street, a lush stand of milkweed started up mid year and this adult emerged apparently healthy.

Through 2014 the milkweed stand across the street has prospered along with the monarchs and milkweed bugs.

In spring I found a pupating monarch on a new seedling milkweed in my own parkway strip, which later successfully emerged.  So perhaps the OE has ebbed.  Does population density play a part in the intensity of the infestation?  I think removal of milkweed supporting infected populations may be a good idea but also being aware of the signs of infestation although in light infestions there may be no indication short of microscopic examination.

Cotinis mutabilis

These big shiny green beetles are well known as fruit eaters.  When we had the fig tree in the nursery, they lived up to their common name 'Fig eater beetles' by attacking and eating the ripe figs enmasse.  Actually, that's one reason we got rid of that fig tree.  The other being, don't particularly like figs or stepping in the fallen ones while doing chores.

But I've also seen these beetles spending a lot of time on flowers, like this one on the bulbine frutescens.  Since Cotinis mutabilis is attracted to sweets (fruit, fruit juice) they could be eating nectar and maybe, incidentally, flower parts.  Cotinis are in the larger group of fruit and flower chafers (Cetoniinae) which includes many flower eating beetles.

It's almost the end of Green Peach beetle season and soon we will miss their big clumsy noisy flights over our heads and bumping into things.  The eggs are laid in the mulch or manure, the larvae will grow over the winter and emerge next summer.  I guess if you grow fruit you would consider these a pest, but we see them as a sign of summer and a cause for wonder:

If a creature this shiny and clumsy and loud can thrive, Earth must be a friendly place.

Ha.  Actually all they require is a likely pile of mulch or compost, and a lack of flooding rains over the winter and the next generation is almost assuredly going to emerge.  They fly far (ever been in the middle of a large parking lot and been buzzed by one?) so if you're trying to eliminate them from your fruit trees, you'll need to get your neighbors to participate in mulch removal as well.