Bees, Bugs, and Suburban Fauna
Another gross post, just in time for Halloween: One disgusting by-product of composting is the beetle grubs. I wrote about the other gross insect in the compost, black soldier fly previously. As a novice, when I first started composting, I really hated these bugs. Now, for me, they have become such a common part of composting and gardening, I will pick them up with my bare hands. What has become of me? Yuck! Ewwwgh! However, to the delight of the…
I found this in the yard recently, perfect timing for Halloween. This species is one of my 3 favorite native spiders I often see in the yard. The unfortunate thing about them is, when I find them with a captured prey, it is always a butterfly. They seem to catch a lot of Fiery Skippers on the daisies and lantana flowers. Nevertheless, I leave these be where I find them and enjoy seeing their natural camouflage on the flowers. With…
It comes as no surprise to me, our quiet culdusac is invaded once again with a swarm of bees. For years the home owner two doors down from me has tried to eradicate bees from his city park way tree. He has tried everything from poison to stuffing the tree with steel wool, to filling it with spray expanding insulation. Usually he or another neighbor calls the city and they send out an exterminator to kill the hive. It is…
I am real a nerd that at 41, I still like to play with bugs. I love butterflies probably the most out of all insects; they are like floating or flying flowers in the garden. A couple of Saturdays ago, like a child, I was outside scooping up caterpillars in the yard, off the tree trunk, on the side of the house, just about everywhere in the backyard. I secretly brought them inside with a few branches of Chinese Elm…
George, the dog, is on the look out for one of his arch enemies…the honey bee. Don’t get me wrong; I love bees! But George doesn’t and spends endless hours in his pursuit to snap them out of mid air and kill them. He stakes out a buzzing bush, staring quietly as he tracks one. Then snap! He actually grabs one out of mid air, followed by lots of paw rubbing on his muzzle. When that method is unsuccessful…
Every year from late July to early August, I often hear an approaching green fig beetle before I see it. It sounds like a Valley Carpenter bee, an insect I really like, so I usually pause and look around, but more often than not this time of year, the noise is a fruit beetle on the hunt for fruit or a nesting spot. As a child, I enjoyed catching these beetles, which very likely was the beginning of my fascination…
Generally, I really like insects, and very few bugs make me squeamish, but this one really freaks me out: the Brown Widow (latrodectus geometricus.) I was showing someone an egg sack to look out for today, and figured I could post about the spider since they are now a regular occurrence in the garden. I didn’t enjoy taking the photos at all. Brown Widow spiders have moved into Southern California from Florida, where it was introduced from the tropics. In…
July 17, 2010: I was astonished to almost step on a lizard on my front lawn last week. It scurried into the irises, so I ran into the house to get the camera. I managed to get an okay photo, but not a full body shot. It was thin and almost 12 inches in length. The color was yellowish with almost some pink, a really pretty lizard! When I showed the photo to one of the neighbor kids that knows…
I have often enjoyed watching a show called “Backyard Habitat” on Animal Planet which partnered with the National Wildlife Federation to demonstrate how homeowners can create habitats in their own yards for local wildlife. For many years, we have been implementing a number of the strategies they suggest for attracting wildlife in to a backyard, including bird baths, nesting sites, shelter, seeds and berries, larval food for butterflies, flowers to attract butterflies and hummingbirds, and more. It has been very educational…
Mid Winter January 1st, 2010 Not much is flowering currently, but it appears Spring is just around the corner for coastal Southern California. Some of the perennials are starting to emerge through the soil. It inspired me to go out and clean up a bit today. According to the nearby U.C. Davis’ weather station, we have already had 217 chill hours. That is great news for the fruit trees in the yard, since most of ours need about 250 or…