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Sabino Canyon in May
My friend Ned Harris, in the official uniform of the Santa Catalina Volunteer Patrol (memo to self: take a photo!), and I walked the lower canyon on this overcast cool morning that only around noon...
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A better look at a very secretive Rattler: the Sidewinder Crotalus cerastes
On our morning walk, Randy and Laika stopped to show me this rattler. It was coiled right between them, and they, man and wolf-dog, stood maybe three feet apart. A Sidewinder. Only the second I've...
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Following Coronado's Trail
In 1541 the Spanish explorer Coronado traveled north through what are now the eastern most counties of Arizona: Graham, Greenlee and Apache. Coronado did not find gold in the city of Cibola as he...
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Queen of the Night, Peniocereus greggii, 2015
Last night the night-blooming Cereus bloomed in our area. While Tohono Chul Park and the Cactus Society's park on River Road got all the press, we went looking for wild specimens here in the creosote...
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A snake in the morning ...
Diamondback Rattler peacefully resting in a desert wash.5:56 am.This morning's rattler encounter was hair-raising and heart-stopping. For us humans that is, not the other participants, the rattler not...
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Midsummer Night Magic
For midsummer night Randy and I joined the traditional party at Mark Dimmit's beautiful gardens in North West Tucson. An Oasis overflowing with native as well as exotic xerophytes outside and a jungle...
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Sunrise walks in June
June finally lives up to its reputation and it's very hot, with noon temperatures reaching triple digits. Our new dog Mecki needs a lot of exercise, so we begin our walk just before sunrise and try to...
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Toad Concert
Red-spotted Toad, Anaxyruspunctatus Last night we were watching a movie when in the background, there were suddenly very loud trilling noises. If that was a cricket, it was on steroids. Now if the...
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Toads and Dogs
Here in Arizona we are anxiously waiting for the beginning of the monsoon. We already have high humidity, dust storms, dramatic clouds and black skies at times. But no real measurable rain yet, at...
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Madera Canyon up close
The view from Proctor RoadThe Santa Rita Mountains already received a nice amount of monsoon precipitation. Mark Heitlinger, the manager of the research station in Florida Canyon sent me this...
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How to attract Lizards to you yard?
On Facebook, a question came up: what kind of vegetation to plant to make lizards at home in your yard: First answer: plant and design as natural as possible using native, heat and drought tolerant...
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Comedy of Errors - the identification of narrow, shiny, dark beetles
Three weeks ago I was at the annual Beetle Bash at a friend's house at Cochise Stronghold, Arizona. Many entomologists from Arizona and beyond were attending. Late that evening we set up light traps in...
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Swarming Leaf-cutter Ants
Last night we finally had a very heavy rain storm here in Picture Rocks on the NW side of Tucson. The rain came in in horizontal sheets, lighting flashed while simultaneously thunder clattered, tree...
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Bug Safari 2015 - Northern Arizona
I've been so busy lately that this blog was neglected. Lots of reasons. At least half a dozen public talks about our insect fauna needed to be prepared and presented. This is also the main season to...
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Butterflies at Proctor Road
Jeff in action, here shooting an owlfly, not the hister on the right, that's something that happens later at the U of Madison, WI On Saturday morning (8/22/2015) I met with Jeff Gruber at Proctor Road,...
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Parasitism and Symbiosis
In summer in the mountains of AZ, we often see huge congregations of Lady Beetles. They may migrate up to higher elevations to escape the oppressive heat in the valleys.In the mountain meadows around...
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Chemical messages of Soft-winged Flower Beetles are still not understood
Collops quadrimaculatus Our Mesquite trees are blooming for the second time this year. Among the insects drawn to nectar and pollen are colorful little Melyrids (Soft-winged Flower Beetles) probably of...
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The patience of snakes
It's snake weather again. Each year, our rattlers show several bursts of activity. One is beginning now at the end of the monsoon season after a few good soaking rains. Diamond Backs even have a...
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Arizona Beetles
I am preparing powerpoint slides for a talk to the Docents of Sabino Canyon about the beetles of their beautiful park. The canyon begins on the desert floor and eventually reaches up the highest...
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At the Coachline Gravel Pit in Marana
Earlier this year, the Santa Cruz River jumped its bed during a flood and started rushing into an old gravel pit in Marana (Pima County, Arizona). Bird watchers were delighted, Frisbee golfers who had...
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