It appears the caterpillar trail is closed due to the recent storms, but it should be open again soon. I sneaked onto the trail to get some food for the catas, so they seem happier now. I saw some catas out there while I was collecting food, so I guess they survived the torrents of rain. While I was up in Pomona for my interview at Western U, Kit's sister Taylore gave us a lot of insects - mainly Coleoptera (beetles) and Orthoptera (grasshoppers, katydids, and crickets). One of them may be a family I do not yet have, and I will include cool pictures eventually!
In the meantime, here is another insect from my collection:
In the meantime, here is another insect from my collection:
Hymenoptera; Apocrita; Ichneumonoidea; Ichneumonidae; Ichneumoninae
Wasps of the family Ichneumonidae, which are known for being parasitic and may have exceptionally long ovipositors for depositing their eggs deep in bark crevices. I like this one particularly for its pretty metallic blue color. It was caught at Elkhorn Slough. Thank you (anonymous) for checking my identifications - I'm still relatively new at this!
Actually this specimen is an ichneumonid.
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Deletetrue ichneumoninae. venation and true habitus. Nice!
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