Rhagionidae

This is the first of the Pacific Grove/Big Sur/Santa Cruz/Muir Woods batch - a Snipe Fly, family Rhagionidae. These flies are medium-sized and have large legs with three-padded tarsi, as opposed to most flies which have two-padded tarsi and a middle claw. Most snipe flies are brownish, gray, or black with spots of white, yellow, or green. They may have bare bodies or short hairs. They are common in woods, especially moist places (such as Muir Woods), and the larvae feed on small insects. A few snipe flies are biting pests.

Diptera; Orthorrhapha; Tabanomorpha; Rhagionidae; Rhagio
Snipe Fly

Back from Monterey

Well, there will be no official collection entries until I return to San Diego where my pinning and identifying equipment is, but here are some teaser live photos of insects and other animals spotted during the trip to Santa Cruz and Monterey. Those pictured below include a moth, a stone fly, two ants (I am 99% certain that that second ant is a winged reproductive individual, not a wasp), a beetle (fairly certain), and two bees, in addition to a banana slug and a salamander/newt - I'll wait for Phil to respond with an identification since he is the amphibian expert. Also, contrary to the popular myth, the underside of a banana slug does NOT numb the tongue. I very thoroughly tested this. The two bees are not common bumble bees or honey bees, so I look forward to keying them.

It ended up being quite a productive trip, since we found a caddisfly and a stonefly, both new ORDERS, not just new families. The stonefly, of family Plecoptera, is one of the older insect orders. They start their lives as aquatic nymphs, as do dragonflies. I will elaborate more on this order once I key the specimen to family - it will probably be one of my first entries after this hiatus!

Sphecidae

Surprisingly, the weather in San Diego has been pretty chilly and foggy lately, precluding any insect hunts. Since it has been some time since I posted, due to a lack of new material, I am pulling a few more favorites out of the boxes. Today, the spotlight is on members of family Sphecidae, one of the first few of the order Hymenoptera that I caught. The current families Sphecidae, Crabronidae, and Ampulicidae were once all grouped in the family Sphecidae, but have been separated. The family Sphecidae now contains "thread-waisted wasps," so named for their long slender petiole (first abdominal segment in Hymenoptera). Most are 25mm or more long.

Hymenoptera; Apoidea; Sphecidae (all-black wasp)

Hymenoptera; Apoidea; Sphecidae; Sceliphron caementarium (black and yellow wasp)
Common Name: Black and Yellow Mud Dauber

The Black and Yellow Mud Dauber is a very common member. Mud daubers construct nests of mud and provision them with spiders. The nests usually contain many cells, each about as long as the wasp, placed side by side. They are commonly found on ceilings or walls of old buildings. The two most common mud daubers are S. caementarium and C. californium, the latter being metallic blue.

Blattidae

The family Blattidae contains cockroaches with spines on the posterior ventral side of their middle and hind femurs and reach lengths over 18 mm. Also, the females have a longitudinally divided genital plate, and the males have slender, symmetrical styli. Within this family, there is one species called the Oriental Cockroach, which is the only one in the family where the adult has wings which do not completely cover the abdomen. It is a common pest in the United States, and this specimen was found by the beach.

Blattodea; Blattidae; Blatta orientalis
Common Name: Oriental Cockroach

They reach lengths of approximately 25 mm and the females are nearly wingless. They are also known as waterbugs, since they prefer dark moist places. They also prefer humid places, so San Diego is perfect for them. They are easily differentiated from German and American cockroaches by their shorter wings. They are larger than German cockroaches, and slightly smaller than American cockroaches. American cockroaches also have the ability to fly.

Hornworms

The cocoon below contains the larvae of a hornworm, most likely the Five Spotted Hawkmoth, and is a major pest of Tomato crops particularly. No way to know what it is exactly until it hatches. The larvae can be about two inches long, and almost a centimeter wide. Usually it is green with small white or yellow stripes along the side, but there are varying colors. For some pictures of the larvae, check here. Once the larvae have had their fill of the plant, they burrow into the ground and form a cocoon. Recently, my dad found one buried in the loose dirt near his tomato plants.

Lepidoptera; Bombycoidea; Sphingidae; Sphinginae; Sphingini; Manduca
Common Name: Tomato Hornworm/Five-Spotted Sphinx Moth (?)

I will update once it hatches - until then, it shall remain mostly a mystery. I can be certain it is of the genus Manduca at least, considering the cocoon type and its location. The cocoon is about two inches long, and the loop on one end contains the developing proboscis of the moth. When disturbed, it wriggles its pointed end.

Myrmeleontidae

The order Neuroptera is less well-known than the beetles, butterflies and moths, plant bugs, and flies. It contains soft-bodied insects with four membranous wings that have many crossveins and extra branches of the longitudinal veins. The name comes from the Greek word "neuron," meaning sinew, and "ptera" meaning wings. Hence, they are also known as the nerve-wing or net-wing order. The most common Neuropteran is the lacewing (suborder Planipennia, family Chrysopidae), which eats aphids and is usually a pretty green with delicate translucent wings. A previous entry described snakeflies (order Neuroptera, suborder Raphidioptera). I now bring you the antlion.

Neuroptera; Planipennia; Myrmeleontoidea; Myrmeleontidae; Dendroleon obsoletus
Common Name: Spotted Winged Antlion

The antlion begins its life as a rather scary looking larvae that digs a cone-like pit in the ground and waits for ants to fall into its waiting jaws. The larvae are also called "Doodlebugs" and have sicklelike jaws. Eventually, it pupates into a four-winged adult. The above-pictured antlion was found in Virginia, and is most common on the east coast of the United States. Antlions are the largest family of the order Neuroptera, and other species are common throughout the country. They differ from damselflies in that they are softer-bodied, have relatively long, clubbed antennae (which fell off on the above-pictured specimen), and very different wing venation. They are rather feeble fliers, and are attracted to lights. There are 13 genera containing 92 species.

Theridiidae

I went out for a random night foray and saw a lovely black widow sitting in a corner. I tried to find food for her, but unfortunately beetles tend to fall through their very haphazard webs. The males are smaller and do not have the red hourglass shape on the abdomen. They court the female by bringing a dead insect as a nuptial gift, but of course run the risk of being eaten themselves. I have always liked black widows, since they are beautiful spiders, somewhat dangerous, and very cool hunters. I had the pleasure of capturing one and I threw a crane fly (tipulidae) into the jar with it. The crane fly was flying very fast and erratically, and the black widow was sitting at the bottom, a sticky thread between her front pair of legs, and in a split-second she lunged at the crane fly and caught it with the string. It was really remarkable - they have such amazing reflexes. Here are the lovely pictures.

Arachnida; Araneae; Araneomorphae; Entelegynes; Theridiidae; Latrodectus hesperus
Common Name: Western Black Widow

The family Theridiidae contains cobweb spiders, which spin webs that are three-dimensional or mesh sheets, instead of a traditional orb web. Usually these spiders have eight eyes, rarely six. The genus Latrodectus, which contains black widows, is widespread in the US. The venom is a neurotoxin, and symptoms of envenomation include swelling of the lymph nodes, profuse sweating, rigidity of the abdominal muscles, facial contortions, and hypertension. Antivenin is readily available, and no deaths have been linked to black widows since the 1940s. For more information on the biology of black widow venom, see my medical blog.