Hentz' Red-Bellied Tiger Beetle, Revisited

Three years ago, I made my first visit in many years that took me back to my home town in mid summer. On a walk in the woods, I stumbled upon a tiger beetle subspecies (Cicindela rufiventris hentzii) that is endemic to the Boston area. The beetle was on Agassiz Rock, a large granite outcrop that is owned and managed by the Trustees of the Reservation. Several months later, I was contacted by the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, informing me that this is a state-listed (Threatened) species, and that this population was not in their database.

Agassiz Rock

For the first time since then, I'm back in Massachusetts at the right time of year to see hentzii. I went back today with several goals. I wanted to see that the population is persisting. I have a much better camera than I did in 2008, and wanted to try for some better photos. I am aware of a second rock outcropping about a half mile away from Agassiz Rock, and wanted to see if the beetle could be found there as well.



I was successful at all three of these goals. The population at Agassiz is small- I've never seen more than one individual per visit, but I did see one this time. I was able to get a series of photos with the new camera. I'm much happier with these pictures than with the ones from my old camera.

Cardinal Flower and Pickerelweed

The walk to the second rock outcropping is lovely. The land is owned by the Manchester-Essex Conservation Trust. A beautiful wetland stretches between Agassiz Rock and the other outcop. The Pickerelweed and Cardinal Flowers were potting on a spectacular display.

The Second Granite Outcrop

I've never been to the second granite outcrop before, though I have seen it from the highway many times. The tiger beetles are very well camouflaged, and fly less than many other species I am familiar with. Perhaps they persist better on the tiny islands of bare-rock habitat if they are reluctant to fly. I managed to see two individuals on this site.


On Wednesday, Leon and I are heading off to Martha's Vineyard. Who knows, maybe we'll see the last Massachusetts population of Cicindela dorsalis.

Otros Insectos Mexicanos

Dunas de Cansaburro, San Ysidro, Veracruz

I've been poring over the roughly 750 photos that I took on my Mexican trip. I saw and was able to identify 76 species of butterflies on the trip. I have reasonable photos of 58 species.

The organic farm Cañada el Equimite near Coatepec

I took far fewer photos of dragonflies. That's partly because we saw far fewer species, but also because Celeste did most of the dragonfly photography. She was using the Xerces Society's camera (much better than mine) to take macro photos of hand-held specimens for later identification. We did take a few shots of dragonflies in environmental settings- but that was not our main goal.

B52? Nope, it's an enormous mosquito
Photo: Celeste M.

I did see (and photograph) other types of insects. I also felt a lot of critters. The mosquitoes and biting midges were ferocious. Celeste quipped that they viewed the Off that we were dousing ourselves with more as salsa than as insect repellent. She took a great photo of a huge mosquito that I stunned.

I did get to photograph three groups that I have particular affinity for. We saw a couple of cool band-winged grasshoppers. One with orange wings showed up in a bunch of dry spots with sparse vegetation. One particularly windy day in the dunes, they looked totally sandblasted. I think they might have been Lactista punctatus.

Sandblasted grasshopper at the Cansaburro Dunes

Lactista punctulatus?

At the organic farm up in the highlands we saw numerous examples of Macherocera mexicana, with beautiful bright blue hindwings. This species has recently been found in the US with the discovery of a population at the base of the Rincon Mountains just east of Tucson.

Macherocera mexicana
Photo: Celeste M.

Aren't my blue hindwings beautiful?
Photo: Celeste M.

We saw a couple of cool longhorn beetles. Most notable was this enormous, brightly colored Lissonotus flavocinctus from the Cansaburro Dunes. Thanks to Ted and Mike for help with the ID. There was also a very pretty (not yet identified) species that turned up at the botanical gardens in Coatepec.

Lissonotus flavocinctus

Cerambycid beetle at the botanical gardens outside of Coatepec

We spent quite a bit of time in the coastal dunes near San Ysidro, including the Pronatura reserve called Dunas Cansaburro. It's a beautiful reserve, and many readers have already figured out that this means tiger beetles. Unfortunately I did not get good photos at the dunes. When we were in tiger beetle habitat we were faced with a howling wind and stinging sand. I was able to get a (not very good) photo of Cicindela curvata. We also saw a species that may be C. sedecimpunctata. That turned up in a number of spots that we visited, and I was able to get some better pictures.

A terrible photo of Cicindela curvata

Possibly Cicindela sedecimpunctata

Somewhat unexpectedly were the numerous tigers that I encountered in the ruts of a two-track at the organic farm. They look a lot like C. punctulata. If that ID is correct, they are likely subspecies catherinae.

Possibly Cicindela punctulata catherinae
ID awaiting confirmation

Overall, the butterflies were the stars of this trip, but I was happy with some of the other biological diversity that I managed to see. There were even a few cool critters with backbones!

A Regal Afternoon

Land of Regal Fritillaries

There is nothing like spending a beautiful early autumn day collecting Regal Fritillaries for egg laying. Vincent, Robin, and I went out on Thursday, and had the opportunity to spend a picture-perfect day along the Kankakee River near the Illinois/Indiana border. We were a bit late this year. We managed to collect six females. Every fritillary that we saw was a female, which is an indication that we are getting pretty far along in the season here. I did not photograph any of the Regals that we saw. There weren't many and we really needed to focus our efforts on getting the moms collected for egg laying.

Little Yellow (Eurema lisa)

We got to see lots of species of butterflies. I was able to continue my summer project of getting digital images of local butterfly species. I was especially happy to be able to get a shot of the Little Yellow. This species has had a population explosion in northern Illinois this year. I've been trying unsuccessfully all summer to get a decent image of it.

Great Tiger Beetle Habitat

You can't see an image like this one without thinking about tiger beetles (well, at least I can't). I saw four species on Thursday: Punctured, Bronze, Festive, and Big Sand tiger beetles.

Big Sand Tiger Beetle (Cicindela formosa)

Festive Tiger Beetle (Cicindela scutellaris lecontei)

I was seeing Festive Tiger Beetles last week in Michigan. Ted aptly noticed that the one in my photo looked very green. This was true of many of the individuals that I saw up there. The one above is the more typical red color of this subspecies. Others in the Indiana population are much more blackish, including the one below.

Festive Tiger Beetle (Cicindela scutellaris lecontei)

Meanwhile back in the lab, we have set the six Regal Fritillary moms up for egg laying. Each female is placed in a white paper bag with strips of paper towel, a sprig of violet leaf (the caterpillar food) and a moist piece of paper towel. The females generally lay eggs all over the edges of the paper towel strips.

Paper Towel Strips, Violet Leaf, and Moist Paper Towel

Each Bag Contains a Female Regal Fritillary for Egg Laying

We have yet to get any eggs out of these girls (not unusual, it generally takes a few days for them to start). Still, we have no mortality yet and all six females are feeding well. We are hoping to put some of what we learned this past year into practice with the result of greater survival of the larvae over the winter.

A Regal Fritillary Mom Feeding in the Lab

Farewell to Summer

Labor Day weekend. The end of summer, the end of white shoes and belts, and the beginning to the progression into winter. Leon and I took Friday off, and were joined by our friend Michael in celebrating the end of summer in Michigan. We went camping in the Saugatuck region. Unfortunately, the weather was not overly cooperative. Although the only truly terrible weather was a robust thunderstorm the evening that we arrived (fortunately, after the tents were pitched), much of the weekend was rather marginal. Friday was drippy and therefore a day to hang around camp and go into town for a bit of shopping.

Oval Beach

Dunes Behind the Beach

On Saturday we hiked on the shore and in the dunes at Oval Beach. It was cloudy and very windy- at least 25 mph off of Lake Michigan. It made for some impressive surf. There were lots of gulls and a few sandpipers hukered down right on the lake shore because of the wind, and I was able to get a couple of decent photos of the sandpipers.

Sandpipers!

Sunday was by far the best day of the weekend. It was sunny and pleasantly warm without being hot. We went for a great hike at the Allegan Game Area just west of where we were staying. I've been there before as part of the Imperiled Butterfly Workshop, and wanted to show the place to Leon.

Allegan State Game Area

This part of the world is very sandy with lots of black oak. As I have previously mentioned, there are lots of Allegheny mound-building ant here. I had Michael stand next to one of the mounds to show just how large they are.

Michael L. with Ant Mound

We say some pretty good butterflies and, not surprising for such a sandy area, lots of tiger beetles. We also saw a and wasp (Bembyx americana) digging in the soft sand. I got some video.

American Copper(Lycaena phlaeas)

Spicebush Swallowtail (Papilio troilus)

The Festive Tiger Beetle (Cicindela scutellaris lecontei) was the only species that we saw- but they were abundant. I have both collected and photographed this species before, but have not been happy with the photographic results. The abundance of the species and relatively cool temperatures allowed me to do better this time.

Several Shots of the Festive Tiger Beetle
(Cicindela scutellaris lecontei)

At breakfast yesterday, we noticed migrating monarch butterflies filling the skies like autumn leaves. This weekend featured many signs of the change of seasons. I guess I'm ready to say goodbye to the summer of 2010. It's been a fine one.

Another Adventure at Willcox Playa

Greetings from Tucson. I arrived Friday night. Saturday I headed on down to Willcox Playa, but not before a very pleasant breakfast with Adam and Andy at the B Line. The weather was interesting- a mix of clouds and sun. I dodged thunderstorms all the way out to Willcox. Although I spent much of the afternoon wondering if my time would be cut short by rain, it wasn't and the weather ended up helping the photography.

Aridlands Tiger Beetle (Ellipsoptera marutha)

I've never seen the playa so full of water. Numbers of tiger beetles were not overly impressive. As is often the case there, most of the individuals that I saw were the Aridlands Tiger Beetle (Ellipsoptera marutha). I've already got some reasonably good images, but I spent the first 45 minutes or so wandering around and snapping a few photos. As I have gained more experience with these beetles, I've come to realize that this is a pretty skittish species. The really gooshy mud that they like to land on also makes my typical technique- crawling on my belly to approach them- highly undesirable.

Aridlands Tiger Beetle (Ellipsoptera marutha)
Red Morph

I did get a look at one of the red color morphs of marutha. I've blogged about color variation in that species before, but I've never gotten a photo of the red form. I was pleased to be able to get close enough to shoot a couple of acceptable frames. Just as I was about to move on from that individual, a mating pair of green morph marutha darted out from under a clump of vegetation. Like a flash the red morph, obviously a male, pounced on the mating pair. For about the next five minutes, the trio of tigers lurched about as the red male tried to dislodge the green one. So intent were they on the struggle that I was able to approach very close to them for photography. In the end, the green male prevailed.

The struggle to breed:
Two male Ellipsoptera marutha wrestle over a female

Shortly thereafter, clouds began covering the sun with a bit greater frequency. A beautiful Arizona monsoon thunderstorm was crossing the desert a couple of miles west of me. I quickly discovered that the softer light was extremely conducive to photography. The diminished glare rendered it easier to avoid harsh reflections from the metallic elytra of the beetles. The tiger beetles were easier to approach than they would be in full sun. I quickly got a pretty good shot of a Western Red-bellied Tiger Beetle (Cicindelidia sedecimpunctata).

Western Red-bellied Tiger Beetle (Cicindelidia sedecimpunctata)

As the clouds thickened a bit, a pretty green tiger beetle landed rather close to me. I was able to crouch down without scaring it. The mud in that area was not quite as wet and squishy as elsewhere on the playa, so I was able to try my technique of laying flat and inching my way closer to the beetle with my camera extended at arms length in front of me. The stars must have been aligned, because I was able to bring my camera within a foot of the beetle and get a nice series of photos. So intent was I on the approach and the composition of the pictures that I didn't even realize until got up to review them on my camera that my subject was not E. marutha.

Glittering Tiger Beetle (Habroscelimorpha fulgoris)

The Glittering Tiger Beetle (Habroscelimorpha fulgoris) lives in wet, salty mud in the arid Southwest. Subspecies erronea is found at Willcox Playa and nowhere else in the world. I had gotten the front of my tee shirt crusted with salty mud, but it was worth it.

I capped off my day cooling off in Cobban's pool with a glass of wine. This may have been my best visit ever to Willcox Playa.

IBCM IV - Oregon Zoo

Racks of Oregon Silverspot Caterpillars at the Oregon Zoo

It's hard to believe that it has been a full year since the series of Imperiled Butterfly Conservation and Management workshops began in Toledo. I've just returned a couple of weeks ago from the fourth installment at the Oregon Zoo in Portland.

Feeding Larvae

We're already pretty familiar with the butterfly conservation lab at the Oregon Zoo. Vincent and I visited a couple of years ago for some really great training from these folks. Since then our butterfly rearing has been far more successful. These scenes are very familiar to us. The first day of the conference involved lectures and a tour of the zoo. Sadly, I was not able to reconnect with my best penguin friend in the world.

Taylor's Checkerspot Habitat

Days two and three of the conference involved field trips. (Yay!! always the best part!) We visited one of the few remaining sites for Taylor's Checkerspot. After hearing about how awful the spring weather has been in the Pacific Northwest, we were thrilled to have a beautiful sunny day for our visit. I was a bit surprised at the site. In Illinois, very rare butterfly species are almost invariably found on sites with high-quality native vegetation communities. This site was dominated by an invasive grass and ox-eye daisy, a Eurasian plant.

Salt-spray Meadow Right on the Coast Just South of Newport

In the afternoon, conference organizers put us to work. We visited a salt-spray meadow, home to the federally endangered Oregon Silverspot. Conference participants helped release silverspot larvae and planted both host plants (violets) and a variety of nectar-producing plants to support the butterfly.

Nathan and I Release Oregon Silverspot Caterpillars

We spent the second night of the conference in Newport, a beach town on the Oregon coast. We had some free time late in the afternoon. I was excited to go down to the dunes to try to photograph the Pacific Coast Tiger Beetle. Unfortunately, the weather got cool and foggy. I was pleasantly surprised to find and photograph a single Oregon Tiger Beetle. Tony found a freshly-dead Pacific Coast Tiger Beetle, but , unfortunately, that was the only one that we saw.

Oregon Tiger Beetle (Cicindela oregona)

Dinner was at the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport. It was a nice surprise. I had not heard of it, and it's a delightful aquarium. I recommend it. I especially enjoyed the numerous tanks of jellies that they displayed. The evening's lecture as by Scott Hoffman Black, CEO of the Xerces Society.

Display of Jellies at the Oregon Coast Aquarium

Thursday involved a visit to NRCS, the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Eugene. This is a totally cool place. They grow all kinds of plants for conservation and restoration purposes, and they do it on an agricultural scale. They had all kinds of really cool farm equipment that had been modified to harvest seed from plants that are not agricultural crops. I was especially impressed with their arrangement for large-scale cultivation of violets for seed production. We could really use something like that here in Illinois.

Agricultural-scale Cultivation of Viola adunca

After lunch, we proceeded to a site where Fender's Blue, another endangered species, is being managed. Here again, I was surprised at the dominance of non-native plant species like tall oat grass, ox-eye daisy, and cow vetch.

Kincaid's Lupine, host plant of Fender's Blue

By this time, the participants were getting a bit giddy. Brian did an imitation of the Green Man. Tony, from the Henry Doerly Zoo in Omaha, did his usual death-defying number by handling a velvet ant. Velvet ants are wingless wasps with a potent sting that gives them the nickname "cow killers."

The Green Man

Tony Courts Death (Again!) by Holding a Velvet Ant

Since the crew obviously needed a bit of calming down, we had dinner at the brew pub at the Grand Lodge Hotel. The dinner speaker was Robert Pyle, author of many books including the Audubon Field Guide to Butterflies of North America. He autographed his book The Butterflies of Cascadia.

The next, and final, installment of IBCM isn't until June 2011. We're hosting at The Nature Museum, and the bar has been set pretty high. I'm looking forward to it.