silver-spotted tiger moth ~ 05/28/11 ~ at home

silver-spotted tiger moth caterpillar (or nameless arctiid moth) feeding on coast Douglas-fir
Lophocampa argentata (or L. sobrina) feeding on Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii
Pinaceae

posted 06/18/11 - I mainly want to show the color variation of these caterpillars that I'm attempting to raise - from bright white to tan side hairs. These three were munching away at young shoots of Douglas-fir. I collected a third caterpillar from the Highlands the day I took this picture on 05/28/11. Add in the two I found around home, I've had 5 total. They seem to prefer hanging out together; in fact, they'll follow each other along a plate's edge like a caterpillar conga line whenever I switch out food. Except for the Highlands Easter caterpillar, I don't know which individuals came from where.

One successfully pupated and has been tucked in its cocoon since 05/01/11, one died 05/21/11 from what appeared to be parasites, and another one died 06/10/11 from what looked to me like typical Btk poisoning - the body was deflated and limp, like a plant that hasn't been watered, with only the middle sets of prolegs keeping the body attached to the nylon top.

I moved the two remaining caterpillars to a clean container. They now occasionally feed on Monterey pine (Pinus radiata) even though I'm still providing a mix of clippings. They rest most of the time upside down from a new nylon top. Their poop has gotten inexplicably smaller. I'm starting to get concerned because they don't seem to be progressing in their development. I suspect they may need a snack of another plant in order to successfully pupate - this is totally wild speculation after reading about Queen butterflies needing to snack on non-host plants in order for their adult pheromones to be chemically complete. I'm starting to remember all too clearly why I once gave up rearing caterpillars. Click to read a past post about how and why I'm raising these caterpillars.

ps 06/25/11 - As I was changing out the tree clippings, one of the caterpillars had started making a cocoon with hairs from its body and silk. I hope I didn't disturb it too much.

honey bee ~ 05/21/11 ~ J's place

Cordovan Italian honey bee
Apis mellifera ligustica

Pictured above is a top-bar hive a friend recently set-up in her garden. It's different than the typical box hives with frames as it allows the bees to make their own hanging wax comb. What I really liked was the observation window to see inside the hive - so totally cool! She ordered light-colored Cordovan queen and package bees specially bred for their gentleness and hygienic behavior from C F Koehnen & Sons here in CA. She's hoping mites won't be a problem with this hive as she's chosen not to treat her bees with chemicals. Her previous queens were Minnesota hygienic Italians and she's had great success with them.

My friend is quickly becoming the queen of bees herself. She started beekeeping for the first time last year at the beginning of May. I've been most impressed with the amount of research she's done on selecting traits in queens and types of equipment. I posted pictures of her 2 original hives on 07/01/10 and now she has several hives in 3 locations. Check out her pictures and a very loud video of the 2 swarms she had last year. Just a few days after the photos above were taken, another one of her hives swarmed on 05/25/11.

ps 06/21/11 - One of my favorite blogs I follow is Curbstone Valley Farm. Clare has recently redesigned her blog and I love it. To see her series of honey bee posts, click here.

odorous house ant ~ 05/20/11 ~ at home

best guess odorous house ant
best guess Tapinoma sessile
for more information click here and here

Andy was having problems getting internet connection, so we checked behind our desks to inspect the cable modem and router. Surprise! A small ants' nest had formed on a warm power brick.

We turned off our computers, unplugged the power strip, and moved everything possible away from the wall without disturbing the nest. I took an old hand towel and a large bowl full of hot H2O with Dawn dish soap. I squeezed out the liquid from the towel, and then, as quickly as I could, I smothered, smooshed, and wiped up the ants and eggs. This took numerous attempts to get all the ants, which immediately went into a frenzied alarm mode of carrying eggs and scurrying everywhere with their butts in the air. Our office reeked of formic acid, a name derived from ants (family: Formicidae) which give off a slightly sweet and distinctive odor. With fresh soap solution and towel, I scrubbed the rug, wall, and all the electrical cords and let them air dry.

I also found a second nest on another warm power brick to my printer. The nests must have formed within the previous week, because I had just cleaned the area near my printer. Interestingly enough, it had rained 05/14-05/18/11. The last information link below the ID above is from Stanford, and it claims rain brings in the Argentine ants (Linepithema humile). While T. sessile is a different species, they, too, like to come in from the rain. I believe the point of entry was where the cable entered the office from outside, so I caulked all around the cable and wall plate. We haven't seen an ant in the office since, but it's only rained one day in June since then. Plus, our internet connection booted right up, which may have been due to a brief power outage from the storm and not the ants' nests.

habitat ~ 05/18/11 ~ California State University, Monterey Bay

California State University, Monterey Bay
May 18, 2011

This was the day my husband Andy celebrated the completion of his multiple subject teaching program. Two years ago when he was laid off from his job of over 10 years, his dream of becoming a teacher turned into a real possibility. As I post this on 06/16/11, he already has his own 2nd grade summer school class at the elementary school where he volunteered for years and did his last semester of student teaching. I'm incredibly proud of him!

This was also the day I finally got in to see a specialist and missed the appreciation tea part of the celebration. In a big way, this day was a milestone in both our lives. The photo above was taken outside the campus library. I love the contrast of the setting sun on the coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia var. agrifolia) with the dark rain clouds behind.