Tigers in the Sand

Almost imperceptible at first, the tiny wisps of sand exploded from the sand. A few seconds passed and other wisp of sand sprayed from the hole... After a few minutes the worker poked her head out to survey the project. Our first glimpse of the wasp excavating a nest cavity

Saturday August 22, 2009; Friends Eric Eaton and Lynn Harper joined me for an exploration of a powerline cut through a sand barren in the DCR Ware River Watershed in the town of Oakham. Not quite the sands of Death Valley or Sahara but it is our own little window into life in the world of sand.

In New England we think of our native landscape as forested and full of trees... Left to its own devices the trees become old and tall. Disturbance of hurricane, fire, or flood can reset the sucessional clock but the process is predictable. Humans mimic these processes when they harvest trees for lumber to build their homes or firewood to heat it. We clear fields for farming and abandon them for nature to reclaim. We mine the landscape for sand and gravel leaving behind a moon scape. I have long been fascinated by this less obvious habitat type the plant free world of sand and the organisms adapted to this harsh environment.

Tiger Beetles long legged predators in the order Coleoptera are a fascinating lot. Able to quickly run down their prey of ants and other small insects and take flight quickly to evade capture. Netting these beetles is difficult, unlike most insects trapped under the net who fly upward they burrow under the rim of the net and quickly escape. Photographing these predators is a challenging event but stealth and patience can be rewarded.
The Festive Tiger Beetle Cicindela scutellaris (left) and Big Sand Tiger Beetle Cicindela formosa (Above) were present in good numbers at this sight.

The Tiger Beetle at left does not meet the species descriptions in my various sources my best guess is Cicindela rapanda but it will remain unnamed at this point. I'm just pleased to be able to observe these interesting insects in their world of sand

dave@dhsmall.net
http://dhsmall.blogspot.com/

New at "The Wall" - Ultronia Underwing

As soon as I saw this larger moth I knew it was something special. At least to me. The light has been attracting a host of smaller moths for the last couple weeks that I struggle to figure out and struggle harder to remember one night to the next. It s like attending that class reunion and recognizing the person but not quite remembering the name... Anyway the heat of the last week has been a welcome change from the cool damp summer of 2009. Activity has been increasing and I've found great enjoyment watching the Gray Tree Frog metamorphs climbing the "moth wall" to watch the show...

August 18th 2009 reached 91 degrees and the heat continued into the evening hours. I was enjoying the evening show between innings of the Red Sox - Blue jays Game (we won 10 - 9)
11:30 PM I was taking one last look at the wall for the evening when this handsome moth rolled in. I knew it was new to me and for the yard list... I first found it facing downward on the lower wall. It took a while to get him to open his hindwings for a photo but he finally managed to cooperate after about a dozen blurred shots... I'm ID'ing this one as Ultronia Underwing Catacola ultronia

Tough getting up at 5:00 AM for work when all this action is happening outside your window... I'm becoming a big fan of afternoon naps...

dave@dhsmall.net
http://dhsmall.blogspot.com/

Zebra Clubtail - What are you doing in my Pond?

Female Stylurus Scudderi Zebra Clubtail 8-8-2009 Athol Ma

The 30 X 40 foot backyard pond we constructed this spring is such a blast to explore it is almost beyond words.. Yesterday was no exception. Returning from a wonderful day of learning about bees and Pollinators with friends Joan Milam and Eric Eaton at the Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust Headquarters, I was showing off my little wet part of the world when a teneral dragonfly leaped into flight and immediately crash landed into the pool... The hapless insect was valiantly stroking its way across the pool as I ran for my handy insect net and I was able to let the dragonfly crawl up on the nets ring and bring it to safety...

In the excitement I hadn't processed the distinctive markings on the thorax or brown abdomen with yellow rings.. I was focused on the rescue... In the back of my mind I was hoping for some rare elusive emerald or other oddity...

When I finally had the little beast in hand it became obvious I was looking at a Gomphid, eyes apart and distinctive thoracic pattern. The ringed abdomen quickly brought me to the identification of Zebra Clubtail Stylurus scudderi. This species is currently listed and protected by the Ma Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program. I called Friend and Athol Resident Lynn Harper who is the Heritage Odonate person and she came right over and viewed our drying out specimen... The record will be included in the Heritage database and be just another piece in the puzzle of as we unravel the life histories of these insects.

In Blair Nikula's fine field guide to Dragonflies and Damselflies of Massachusetts he describes scudderi habitat as: "Sand bottomed streams and small rivers with riffles". This is hardly a description of our little pool.

We are uphill (more than 2500 feet) from of a stream which has a potential habitat for this species but I've not found it there as yet... I may look this afternoon. The elevation of our home at 885 feet does bring Hill-topping behavior as a potential answer to my question...

No matter how it got here we are happy to add this species to our growing yard list.

I wonder what we'll discover today?



dave@dhsmall.net
http://dhsmall.blogspot.com/

Moths know what date it is?

The more I observe nature the more questions I have. Last Summer I started watching the moths attracted to our Mercury Vapor light (which I only turn on when I plan to monitor Moths)
Well as life would have it I turn on my "Moth Light" almost every night I'm home. It has been an enlightening education into the night world.

Now it isn't unusual for Shelley and I on most evenings to grab a flashlight checking out the "Light" and then head out to patrol the flower beds around the yard just before we turn the Moth light off for the night and head to bed... Its amazing all the activity we have been missing in our diurnal world... If we could rid ourselves of our day jobs we could happily stay up even later...

The Moths pictured above are members of one of my favorite groups. Haploa's are medium sized striking moths with lots if individual variability within species... But what are the chances that the species emerges and finds our house on exactly the same date 2 years in a row?

Reading Ted Sargent's "Legion's of the Night" I found his dates for the Ilia Underwing Catacola ilia to correspond well with my discovery of this species at Quabbin... It was a very tight window of a week or so that Professor Sargent had recorded the species.

But this summer is very different than last. We've all complained about the rainy cool weather. The lack of butterflies and river dragonflies in June and July... But here right on schedule is Haploa clymene...

Maybe the world will OK after all

dave@dhsmall.net
http://dhsmall.blogspot.com/

Gray Tree Frogs metamorphs in the yard

After having constructed what I had thought would be a vernal pool in the yard this spring. We have been delighted with the constant entertainment it has brought us and the increase in our bio-diversity is beyond all our expectations...

American Toads Bufo americanus Green Frogs Rana clamitans and Gray Tree Frogs Hyla versicolor have been seranading us over the last several months. Tadpoles soon filled the pool joined by various Hemiptera like Backswimmers, Water Boatman and Water Striders. Odonates including Common Whitetails Libellula lydia, Twelve-spotted Skimmers Libellula pulchella were soon joined by eastern Forktails Ishnura verticalis, Fragile Forktails Ishnura posita. and even Sedge Sprites Nahelana irene graced the nearby flower beds.

But life in the wild is about predators and prey a constant parade of winner and losers in the game of life... The other morning the dynamic shifted slightly in favor of the prey items of the frogs as a Great-blue Heron arrived just after dawn. Undaunted by my approach for a photograph the heron gobbled up many tadpoles and young frogs as I watched.
The pond still has a lot of tadpoles left and the miniature lime green Gray Tree Frogs are scattered throughout the yard. I can rest assured that the best adapted (and lucky) of our young animals have survived the Herons presence... At least for today..

dave@dhsmall.net
http://dhsmall.blogspot.com/

Dragonfly Society of America - Northeast Meeting

One of the great things about our naturalist hobby is the wonderful people we meet as we pursues the wild creatures that peak our interest. This past week (July 31 to August 2nd) The Dragonfly Society of America - Northeast Meeting was held in Southeastern New Hampshire hosted my New Hampshire Audubon's Senior Scientist Pam Hunt. Friday morning field trips we curtailed by Thunderstorms the seemingly usual rain events of this wet and cold summer... Saturday broke with bright sunshine and about 60 dragonfly enthusiasts gathered at the Massabesic Audubon Center in Auburn New Hampshire. Hal White presented an engaging talk on the lesser known female entomologists who pioneered the study of Odonata in the Northeast. And our fearless leaders outlined potential sites to be visited during the day.

Now a little about the dragonflies. Pam was interested in filling the species lists for all New Hampshire towns so the group had a very useful purpose for the weekend. Pam was not disappointed in the outcome as the group scattered to the selected haunts. In all of these gatherings individuals are always hoping to discover new species for their personal life list and this event was very successful in that regard for myself. I was able to add 2 species to my New England list which is a pretty good accomplishment...

One new Species for me was the Scarlet Bluet (Enallagma pictum) found at Norton Pond in Raymond NH. Several pairs were seen ovipositing in the lily pad covered pond edge. Another of my favorite damselflies the Lilypad Forktail (Ischnura kellicotti) were observed perched on the abundant lilypads.

A fine picnic BBQ was organized Saturday Evening at the Kingston State Park and most organizations would have called it an evening but the crepuscular habits of many of the Darners and Emeralds found the net toting enthusiasts gathered at a local dog park in Kingston. The abundant mosquito's provided plenty of food for the dragonflies while we kept the mosquitoes well fed as well. Almost immediately after exiting the truck I needed my second life bug of the day a female Coppery Emerald (Somatochlora georgiana) This individual was donated to Ed Lam and may grace the pages of his Petersen Field Guide to Dragonflies which should hit the shelves in 2011...

So my thanks go out to Pam Hunt, Brian Pfiefer, Nick Donnelly, Nancy Rideout and all the members of the DSA who made this event another to remember.