Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 8:39 pm Post subject: week in Arizona
I went on a trip with my parents June 13-21, a week in AZ then 2 days in Vegas. From the 22nd till now I've been taking and sorting through photos... even though a good portion of them were taken in hotel rooms along the way before I even got back.
IDs on anything not ID'd would be extremely helpful.
Casa Grande, AZ
Steatoda sp.
this was on the border between the desert and a parking lot for trucks behind starbucks.
this does not even come close to doing it justice.
toward Portal
salticid
cicada exuvia
closest thing to a T for the entire trip
Portal - 2 nights
portal is a very interesting place. i met barney from hatari inverts there... apparently this was the worst possible time of year to go, but he suggested some (successful) places to look for bugs.
i found this very amusing
Camponotus sp. (noveboracensis?)
Pogonomyrmex barbatus
Camponotus sp. (vicinus?)
Aphaenogaster cockerelli
this queen is 1.6 cm body length and was carrying what looked like larvae.
the diversity and size of the ants (everywhere in AZ) was impressive. (i only figured out what had been happening later, but i got to see a colony of one species raiding another!)
with so many ants... TONS of antlions
i'm pretty sure this is the nest of the species above
wasp 2
wasp 3
male velvet ant
Yarrow's spiny lizard - Sceloporus jarrovii
i found 12 of these little brown scorps, each solitary under its own rock.
gnaphosid or corinnid
selenopid crab spider (selenopidae)
wolf/lycosid
decent size, 1.75-2" in the photo. she's made a sac.
Arenivaga sp.?
dead, but 7 cm!
carpenterworm moth
lichen moth - Lycomorpha fulgens
this moth flew directly in front of the car (driving slowly) for maybe 100 yards.
tiger moth - Grammia sp. (closest i can find is nevadensis)
unknown amphiesmenopteran ()
this is a caddisfly and not just a black moth, right?
Gryllus sp.
Gryllus sp.?
i caught this cricket just finishing its molt... you don't see that too often.
milkweed bug - Lygaeus sp. (kalmii?)
this and the following coreids were at the Southwestern Research Station.
leaffooted bug - Chelinda sp. (coreidae)
i think this adult is another coreid species.
leafhopper nymph?
it exhibited the most tantalizingly anthropomorphizable behavior ever: it would pause, then lift and wave one front leg -exactly- like humans wave hello. it also did a cool camouflaging side-to-side motion. make sure to "watch in high quality" http://youtube.com/watch?v=dloIku3Vklg
i wasn't interested in aquatic insects whatsoever, but this bug is awesome! it's in distilled water right now; would bottled water (or something else) be better?
Last edited by Pulk on Mon Jun 30, 2008 11:07 am; edited 3 times in total
just like josh_r and the author of For Love of Insects described, there was a bunch of them running around under a rock - it was really cool to see it in the wild. they're only ~1 cm.
tiger beetle
pleasing fungus beetle - Gibbifer californicus
mantid
there were lots of these in a small area. i'm assuming they're hatchlings (just over 1 cm bl)
dragonfly exuvia
damselfly naiad
white velvet ant, actually a wasp - Dasymutilla gloriosa
harvestman/opilionid
these were extremely abundant in the place i was flashlighting. the extended legspan is 5.5 inches!
antlion adult 1
i think they do this as a threat posture.
antlion 2
i'm guessing the eye isn't supposed to look like that, but it's interesting.
antlion 3
after seeing all the pits the first day, i remarked that it would be cool to see adults that night... and i did, for the first time.
Euagrus sp. (dipluridae) (?)
i was pretty excited to find these (two). this is the web under a rock, and habitat. the larger one, pictured, is almost 2 cm bl.
Globe
Lake Roosevelt area
pipevine swallowtail - Battus philenor
the plant they were on (pictured) isn't a pipevine. i don't know what they were doing there, considering they weren't pupating.
this cicada molt has pigmentation, unlike the other one (which is the tan color of pede and scorp exuviae)
crab/thomisid and scolopendromorph shell
they were under the same rock.
solifugids
tiny, only 8 mm bl
this one was typical solifugid size.
it looked cool on the black gravelly sand substrate of sunset crater... it is a beautiful and unusual national monument.
tenebrionidae - Eleodes obscurus?
they were pretty big, close to 1.25"
no idea what these beetles are, but they are a lot like ironclads (both
movements and body structure), and even better at playing dead. one actually convinced me.
skink
her burrow was under a rock.
while i was photographing it she ran some distance into the undergrowth. i highly doubt she'll find her way back.
i took 3 of 8 easily visible eggs... any advice on incubating them?
Phrynosoma hernandesi
any recommendations for cheap harvester ants?
Scolopendra polymorpha
this pede was under a rock -just- outside of the national monument (phew). at first i thought it was injured, but upon closer inspection it became clear that it was about to molt RIGHT then. my parents were generous enough to wait in the car for 50 minutes or so, for me to film it.
The little brown scorps that you found are probably Serradigitus sp.
The bones that you found are probably Elk. How large was the skull? Also, if you didnt know, Elk also produce Ivory. The very last teeth in the upper and lower jaw are Ivory.
As far as incubating the Skink eggs, you might want to go to LLL Reptile and pick up a Hovabator. What you will want to do is fill a large deli with moist vermiculite and put the eggs in little depressions in the vermiculite. Set the thermostat on the hovabator to 85-87 degrees and fill the water tray in the bottom of the hovabator. After a while you should have little heads poking out. PM me if you have any more questions regarding incubation.
Its good to see some of the critters that I grew up playing with in N. Arizona. I grew up in Flagstaff which as you know isnt too far from Canyon De Chelly and Sunset Crater N. M.
some Serradigitus species look similar, but so does this pic of Vaejovis cashi, suggested by bobtard (http://bugguide.net/node/view/63404). what do you think?
Good luck with the eggs. Even being 18cm I would still have to say that is Elk. I have hunted many in AZ and have also come across many that have been killed on roads or whatnot and it just has an overall different shape and structure than a Deer would. As far as the scorp goes do you have a much larger clearer photo? I would like to crop and zoom in onto the Chela. I would be able to tell you 100% by looking at the Chela whether or not it was Serradigitus sp. or Vaejovis cashi.
There may be people who like centipedes. I have seen people handling tarantulas and scorpions, but never a centipede handler. I would regard such a person with deep suspicion...Now what sort of man or woman or monster would stroke a centipede on its underbelly "And here is my big good centipede." If such a man exists, I say kill him without more ado. He is a traitor to the human race.
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