Bug Safari at Dead Horse State Park

For my latest Bug Safari I met fellow beetle enthusiasts from Belgium at Dead Horse State Park near Cottonwood in Northern Arizona.  Bernard and Erika and their two daughters had been cruising  the Southwest, visiting our greatest geological attractions like Brice Canyon and Grand Canyon, but also on the look-out for interesting beetle species to photograph. Here is a link to Bernard's exceptionally beautiful work on his own website.
 Dead Horse State Park is a lush, if in places too prettily groomed, part of the Coconino National Forest It encompasses a stretch of the Verde River close to the town of Cottonwood. Artificial lagoons are created for anglers, and the cattails are kept in check and the grass on the banks is clipped short so those anglers have easy access to the doubtlessly constantly restocked population of fish.

Countless dragonflies were hunting and competing for the few available perches. Even better, several species of Tiger Beetles were enjoying the sandy footpaths. Bernard is a carabid specialist and we had come to this park in hopes of finding several of the low desert species that had eluded him on the higher parts of the Colorado Plateau.

Cylindera viridistica and Pogonomyrmex sp.

 After a short monsoon down-poor, our first species was dark, small and active, blending very nicely with all the Harvester Ants that also frequented an open, sandy path: Cylindra viridistica. I had seen it at lights in my equally sandy backyard, but the similarity to those fierce ants had not occured to me because we don't have those on our property. Like most tiger beetles, these were charismatic and photogenic, if tiny. We loved the subtle pattern of their dark elytra.

 While his daughters were adeptly catching specimens, Bernard was soon lying down among the ants with his camera to shoot the beetles in their natural habitat.

Around sunset Bernard found Cylindera lemniscata running around in great numbers in open areas with little vegetation where those tiny desert tigers were perfectly camouflaged by their colors that matched the pebbly soil.

In contrast with those 'developed' areas of the park, along the Verde River, there is rather undisturbed Cottonwood and Willow riparian gallery forest, a rich and rather unique ecosystem. A number of insect feeding bird species and the rustling of many lizards in the leaf litter hinted at a rich fauna of arthropods.

Unfortunately, the monsoon rains had been very sparse so far and the grounds looked still completely dry. Very few flowers were blooming, only Datura, Silverleaf Night shade and a tall, yellow blooming leguminous plant were attracting interesting wasps and beetles.

We saw several big click beetles in flight and the air was positively buzzing with Green Fig Beetles that were drawn to the sap oozing from several Desert Willow branches.

Splashing through clear running tributaries of the river, Jade en Merel found an Arizona Mud Turtle, which promptly withdrew it's head and closed its shell with the movable front part of its undershell. Then it surprised us with its intensely unpleasant smell. Still, we were all fond of the little guy!

At sunset I set up our black light in the campground to have access to electricity (generators were not allowed).

As that area was rather far from the river and the natural vegetation was dominated by creosote, mesquite and desert willows, we attracted mostly desert species that I knew quite well.

But several more typically riparian insects appeared too, like two big Dobson Flies,  Cryptocephalus leucomelas that frequents willows and cottonwood, the cottonwood feeder Cotalpa consobrina, The largest Polyphylla decemlineata (?) that I have ever seen, and Orizabus clunalis.

The discovery of the first Asian Ladybug at least as far as BugGuide contributions is concerned was not quite so positive - until now we had been hoping that Arizona, with its very special climate, might not be overrun by this introduced species. It is still possible that those beetles will stay out of our desert areas at least.

Bernard and I spend the next day photographing beetles that he brought from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and several that I had collected at Madera Canyon. His technique differs from that of most insect photographers and the results are very convincing. I will hopefully have time to show at least my own attempts in another blog. As usual, this time of the year is super busy and I am leaving tomorrow morning very early to set up my art booth at Southwest Wings in Sierra Vista where I will also give a powerpost presentation about AZ insects and in the evening of the 1st of August invite the public to join me at my black light at the Nature Preserve in Ramsey Canyon.

Mystery Beetle Image

Sometimes I receive photos for insect identification that are less than perfect. This one came from a biological survey in the Ajo Mountains of Sonora Mexico. The main topic of the photo was the Echinocereus  pseudopectinatus flower and the beetle was only discovered when the photo was edited. So it was very distorted and  nobody could go back to take a proper dorsal shot.

Since the photo was taken across the border of Mexico, in fact just south of the Chiricahua Mountains of Cochise County, AZ, I was not allowed to post it on BugGuide - I had been seriously chastened for doing so before. We take our political borders seriously here!  
So I posted it on facebook where I can luckily draw on the brain power of coleopterists like Henry Hespenheide, Mike Quinn and friend Robert Velten and Art Evans who just published another great book on beetles.

After posting the photo, I went outside to photograph the big yellow flowers of a little barrel cactus with very long spines - not our local species but one of my xerophytic imports that like the desert here well enough to bloom. It may be Ferocactus rectispinus from Baha California.

When I noticed some small beetles in those flowers I crawled closer through spiny ironwood branches and thorny agave clusters. There were mating pairs of small elongate beetles with dark stripes along the elytra: a tiny species of buprestids (Metallic Woodboring Beetles) in the genus Acmaeodera. I recognized them from the desert museum, where I had found them on yellow composite flowers like Desert Marigolds. They are Acmaeodera quadrivittatoides  Obviously, plant a yellow July-bloomer, and they'll come, even if it is a slightly outlandish species of cacti. I suddenly remembered the mystery photo which also had been taken on a cactus flower. In German we say 'der Groschen ist gefallen' when we have the sudden aha-effect that I experienced.

Acmaeodera quadrivittatoides

When I opened my fb page again, the experts there  had reached the solution a while before me and without Mother Nature's prompting, but at least we all arrived at the same solution. Great minds...

  

Madera Canyon during a monsoon storm

Chalcolepidius lenzi

 I went back to Madera Canyon to fill a wish list for some beetle friends. This time the possibility for showers was down to 30%, but I had hardly reached the desert broom bushes by the 'toll booth' when a storm rolled in.  I tried the 'wide-angle-macro-with-background that Piotr Nascrecki is making so popular - did not quite get the lead-in diagonal, but I like it anyway.

Climaciella brunnea (Wasp Mantidfly)

 I then found another mantisfly. While the last one was brown and resembled very much our dark form of Polistes major castaneicolor, this one, a female, sported the colors of Polistes dorsalis or maybe P. aurifer. One of those wasps was sitting only inches away. When it began to poor I grabbed the mantispid but not the wasp to hide in the car. The insect flew to the window and watched the falling drops while cleaning its antennae. After a short video was filmed the rain stopped and the mantispid flew out.
By now it was time to find a good spot for the lights. I decided to try the very top parking lot above the gazebo. A mistake, because this time the rain move with me and the lingered around the top.

Eacles oslari

 So I left my light up there and drove down to look at someonelse's  set-up at Kubo Cabins. Ther it was at least dry and a little warmer, so there were not only all three Chrysina species but also a beautiful fresh Silk Moth, Eacles oslaris.

On the wet road in front of that cabin a snake was just about swimming in the water that was still standing on the asphalt. I tried to photograph it, but the reflection from the flash was too distracting. I shooed the snake into the leaf litter by the side of the road.

Sonoran Mountain Kingsnake, Lampropeltis pyromelana

 After I blocked his way a couple of times to slow him down, he stretched upwards to check out the camera lens and seemed very interested in the focal beam which of course did not help the little point and shoot to focus.

Sonoran Mountain Kingsnake, Lampropeltis pyromelana

 The snake then hid in full side between three rocks and allowed me to take some more photos and also to touch his cool, smooth coils. A beautiful Sonoran Mountain Kingsnake 

Sonoran Mountain Kingsnake, Lampropeltis pyromelana

My patients was rewarded. When it finally stopped raining, a nice number of scarabs, cerambycids and even silk moths found their way to my sheet. I did find all the species that I was looking for and a few more.

My sheet at 9:30 pm

 

Madera Canyon in July 2014

Last Friday I took some members of the Sabino Canyon Naturalists on a mini 'Bug Safari' to one of my favorite canyons. Madera Canyon stretches from the grasslands in Pima County  up to the high elevations of the Santa Ritas in Santa Cruz County.
In the late afternoon we collected and photographed in the grassland, mainly around the famous 'sap-oozing' Desert Broom bushes. The first rains had come down a few days earlier and the monsoon parties on the cracked branches were in full swing.

Giant Agave Bug, Acantocephala thomasi

Longhorn Tragidion densiventre and Scarab Euphotria leucographa

There were at least three species of paper wasps sharing with several species of scarabs, longorn beetles and Giant Agave Bugs.

Cricket Hunter Chlorion sp. and Fig Beetle Cotinis mutabilis

As always, the charismatic Chlorion Wasps, the Cricket Hunters got the most attention. But those shiny green Fig Beetles are also very pretty.

Climaciella brunnea (Wasp Mantidfly) and Apiomerus spissipes (Bee Assassin)

Pasimachus californicus

Bee assassins and a rare brown Wasp Mantispid were the most obvious predators in the mix, but we also found a nice ground beetle, a Pasimachus californicus.

Whiskered Screech Owl babies, photo by Lois Manowitz

At sunset we moved from the grasslands into the canyon. On the way we stopped under a big old sycamore. A pair of baby owls were peaking out of their nest hole, but only the top of their heads was visible. Whiskered Screech Owls! I have no camera for dusk conditions, but my friend Lois had visited the same nest and she had some great shots to share!

Now it only has to get dark!

In the meantime, we pick nick. Guess who forgot to tell everyone to wear dark colors for this adventure!

The Mercury Vapor light illuminates the gazebo in ghostly green, and a sunset storm is hanging over Green Valley

Under the gazebo between the top parking lots we hung a bed sheet, a Mercury Vapor and a UV light, all powered by my brand new generator. At this elevation Emory and Silver Leaf Oaks dominate, interspersed with a few Alligator Junipers.

Macrodactylus uniformis (Western Rose Chafer) and Lycus simulans below

While waiting for the insects to arrive at the sheet, we had a pick nick and then hunted with flashlights. On Desert Broom bushes we found great clusters of mating netwing beetles, Lycus arizonicus and Lycus simulans. In some instances the aggregations consisted of both, netwing beetles and Rose Chafers.

Ascaloptynx appendiculata, Vella fallax,
Dicromantispa sayi

At the light things were still a little slow for this usually rich location, but we soon had an owlfly, 2 different mantispids, and the largest AZ antlion, so the family Neuroptera was very well represented.

Arachnis aulaea and Apocrisias thaumasta (Tiger Moths), Artace colaria, Lappet Moth

 Moths were disappointingly few but we had at least 2 nice tigermoths and a big white  lappet moth. Most big moths fly late at night, but a sudden strong wind ended our light trapping at 9:30 pm, so we may have missed the sphingids and saturniids.

Strategus cessus, Prionus californicus

Chrysina beyeri and C. lecontei

 Big black hornless Ox Beetles (Strategus cessus) tumbled around the light, and 2 or 3 species of Prionids arrived. The Jewel Scarabs were represented by Chrysina beyeri and lecontei, gloriosa surprisingly missing. I found 2 beetles of that species later at a light at Kubo Cabins.

Phyllophaga vetula and Dichotomius colonicus

Many different June bugs genus Phyllophaga were feeding and mating on the oaks around us and soon showed up at the sheet. Several tiny and one big dung beetle soon joined them.

Scorpion under flash light and uv light photos Suzi and Steve Manthorpe

 At 9:30 heavy gusts of wind forced us to quit. Some of us went to carry back the sheet and light that I had placed deeper in the forest next to the dry creek bed. As they came back with news about a scorpion hiding under the sheet, we all marched down to see it fluoresce in the light of my little portable uv light. The effect was amazing: it turned from brown at visible light wavelength to bright luminescent green. The camera, however, saw turquoise.   

Polyphylla hammondi and Cotalpa consobrina

On the way home I stopped along the pecan plantations of Continental Ranch to look for Strategus aloeus, but I found only the golden Cotalpa consobrina and several Polyphylla hammondi males.
Those always remind me of our German Maikaefer that we loved so much as children.

The Night of the Desert Queen Peniocereus greggii

Last night the flowers on our backyard Queen of the Night (Peniocereus greggii) finally opened. The flowers were small but perfect. They seemed to glow in the light of the full moon and their sweet fragrance floated on the humid, warm air of this monsoon night.

 A single small moth was visiting. Even at my black light, this still is a moth-poor time. Last year I noticed that many queen flowers wilted away without producing fruit. The reason could have been a lack of pollinators. But last night I found a longhorn beetle obviously doused in pollen. I'm sure he came to the sweet smell and found the nectar and will also distribute the pollen.

I went back in the very early morning hours to find more blooming plants. The first thing I noticed was that our backyard flowers had already closed up, usually a sign that they are pollinated.

I walked across about half a square mile of state trust land. Many of the plants that were blooming last year were resting this season. The wild native Queen cacti whose branches are thin and not very succulent rely mainly on  big underground tubers for survival during droughts. After a year with many flowers and fruit, the above-ground stems often shrivel and dry up. New sprouts emerge from the ground but rarely bloom for the first two years.

But I found about a dozen new plants that I had not known before. Many were small and had only a single flower, but some were as tall as I, with big, antler-shaped stems and up to a dozen flowers.
Of course the pollinators may be drawn to the flowers by the sweet fragrance, but I, being a visual creature, scan the area for the pale white spots that barely clear the branches of the creosote bushes. The color seems perfect to reflect the uv part of the lunar spectrum. So the big mobile sphinx moths can probably also do a long distance visual scan, even at night.

This morning however, I found even the wilting flowers inundated by honey bees that were obviously still getting their fill. Every plant was surrounded by dozens of honey bees. This is very different from last year, when I found little Agapostemon sweatbees but no Apis melifera at all.
I think I know the explanation: the winter of 2012/13 brought several nights of deep freeze. Well provisioned honey bee hives in Europe are able to keep the temperatures high enough during cold spells to allow the majority of bees to survive. Africanized honey bees usually sustain much greater losses. Small feral hives (many Africanized bees tend to split hive and swarm more frequently than Italian honey bees) are even less cold resistant. So while Africanized bees can usually survive Arizona winters as feral colonies, the winter of 2012/13 had pretty much wiped out the local population. But now, after the very warm winter of 2013/14, they are back in force.
The Queen of the Night is by timing and color the very opposite of a bee flower, but those feral honey bees have great scouts and are fast learners - I think they found all the wilting flowers today and carried off all the drags.    

 

I did not ask any dogs to join me on my NBC quest, but after a while I noticed that Cody had quietly joined me. We walked all over together, until he finally got tired of my meandering from plant to plant. He might have felt too weak to go on and returned home as quietly as he had come out. This was our last walk together and the photo above is the last one I took of our most beloved dog. A week later, Cody died.