Haliplus eremicus

Here's an image of Haliplus eremicus. It is a crawling water beetle that is endemic to the Southwest and occurs only (so far as we know) in Clark County, Nevada. It is of particular interest to me because it is the first insect that I described. I named it H. eremicus because the name reflects a dry desert habitat, where it occurs. This species should be listed as a species of concern on state and national lists. As is well known, water habitats in the southwestern US are under constant pressure to supply urban demands - in this case to Los Angeles and outlying areas. It's hard to tell from this image but in live individuals, the color is more of a cinnamon, or even a salmon, color. It is really quite attractive for a small insect.

South Fork of the Merced River

We had an extra day during the week of Thanksgiving and decided to take a hike along the South Fork of the Merced River. The river itself is designated a Wild & Scenic River and there is a trail some three to four miles from Highway 140 to the old mining site of Hite Cove. The trailhead starts some 20-plus miles northeast of Mariposa (and a few miles west of the Yosemite National Park entrance) in Mariposa County, California.

November is a good time of the year to make the hike if you want to have the trail to yourself. The wildflowers that draw most visitors won’t be out for another few months. The scenery is nice nonetheless. Long terraces of moss-covered stones line the river and are reflected from the limpid slow-moving river.

Because the sun is low in the sky this time of year, Gimasol Ridge (to the north) kept the canyon shaded and cool in many paces while the bright sun also warmed us up in other places. The few autumn colors were clothed in a diffuse November light that made for a beautiful day.

There weren’t many insects out so late in the year but we did find a few things. Most notable were the several lady bird beetles (Hippodamia convergens) that had congregated en masse on the pines and other plants near the metal ruins just down-stream from Hite Cove.

Apparently Hite Cove was a mining settlement. It was named after John Hite who discovered gold here. There was once a small settlement - including a post office – during the late Nineteenth Century. There are still a few large processing tanks with fittings still attached, along the trail. In a few places you can still see old stone walls and even an old house.

Tarantula Crossing

Two years ago when I first moved to California, I took a detour through the San Rafael Mountains east of Santa Ynez. Much to my surprise, I came upon this warning sign with a spider on it. Where I come from there are no such things as Tarantula Crossing warning signs and I was intrigued. I have known of other animal notable enough to be sign worthy. Cows and sheep come readily to mind. And occasionally you see a sign of a pedestrian walking a dog. On Maui I once saw a Nene Crossing sign and had to check a dictionary to be sure of what I was seeing (the nene is the Hawaiian duck). In Germany, in the Palatinate, I recently saw a sign with the large black longhorn beetle (Cerambyx cerdo) featured. I guess there must be a lot of these signs around the world. Maybe somebody should make a field guide of them.

I haven’t yet made it back to the San Rafael Mountains to see the massive tarantula migration but I did discover another one just a couple of weeks ago. I was just north of Auberry (California) a couple of days after a good rain storm and almost ran over one of the impressive arachnids (Aphonopelma sp.) as I came around a bend in the road. I asked around a bit and discovered that I had jut missed the big annual event – or rather I was seeing the very end of it. After the first good rain of the year (and in California that means the first good rain after the hot and dry summer) the spiders move out of the lower drainage areas to higher ground. Locals often gather them up by the buckets-full, as they cross the road, and sell them to pet stores. I think the area needs a few more Tarantula Crossing signs.

Puncture Vine Weevil

Here are a couple of pictures of the puncture vine weevils (Microlarinus lareynii) I found on a healthy puncture vine (Tribulus terrestris) in the Central Valley near Fresno, California this last week. They were most easily seen by turning the plant over and looking closely on the ground just beneath the sprawling plant. I've been watching them fairly closely for several days. Two weeks ago when I first noticed them, the goatheads (or the thorn-covered seeds) looked healthy and were beginning to harden to the point of becoming very annoying. A few days ago I looked again and noticed that many of them were being hollowed-out by the growing puncture vine weevils. The
picture of the mature larva is a bit staged. I had
to remove it from the hole (seen below it) in order
to take the picture.

The weevils were introduced to the United States
over 40 years ago to control this weed. But, since
the weed is still a problem, the weevils have been
pretty much ignored. This is too bad. The weevils
are effective in at least reducing the puncture vine
problem; and, importantly, they haven't jumped
onto other useful plants. Many of our intoroduced biological control organisms have done just that.

Spider Mites

We are in the middle of mite season right now in the Central Valley. These small animals - smaller than a pinhead - are causing all kinds of damage to vegetables and fruit / nut trees alike. Like spiders - to which they are related - they make webs. In fact the webbing is one of the ways that you can spot them. Here's a couple of pictures of what the mites and the webs look like. But be warned, if you wait until the mites are this far along, you may not be able to control them. Even the best products will fail if there are too many mites around. The webbing, when it becomes too extensive intercepts whatever spray is directed their way and the mites wait beneath until the danger of being poisoned is past.

The first picture is of mite damage to almonds. I found in the same orchard a couple of trees that had lost all of their leaves because of the mites. The second picture is of grapes. The poor vineyard looked like it had been torched. If you live in an area with mites, it really pays to watch closely for the first signs of the mites. Around Fresno, we're watching through most of July. This year things got really bad about the third week of the month, but in varies depending on place and no two years are exactly alike.

Danosoma

Species of the click beetle genus Danosoma can be easily misplaced in the genus Lacon. Both genera contain species with colorful scales and look similar in their general appearance. The reason why they are placed in a different group is because Danosoma lack a defining seta at the base of the tarsal claws. This can be confusing to locate (since there are other setae on the tarsae) and becuase the claws are small (at least they are if there is not adequate magnification) so be careful wih your id's.

Here are pictures of the two American species D. obtectus and D. brevicornis. They both have a diagnostic groove down the middle of the pronotum but D. brevicornis also has a couple of round impressions(on each side of the groove). Danosoma obtectus is a bit narrower and lacks the impressions.

Geographically, D. brevicornis occurs in the northern parts of the US and into Canada (essentially coast to coast), whereas, D. obtectus occurs in the Northeast US and adjacent areas in Canada.

Cysteodemus

One of the most unusual blister beetle genera in the United States is Cysteodemus. It occurs in the desserts of the Southwest. There are only two species, C. armatus and C. wislizeni and both look like inflated and highly sculptured versions of what your more typical blister beetle looks like. Werner, Ens and Parker (in the Meloidae of Arizona (Technical Bulletin 175 (1966) of the University of Arizona Agricultural Experiment Station)) write that they sometimes look "more like a Christmas ornament than an insect when ... seen on its food plant". Their inflated appearance certainly makes them look bigger than they really are (even though they're only half an inch long). Underneath the inflated wing-covers there is mostly air and the flight wings are missing.

The two species are fairly easy to tell apart. Cysteodemus armatus is black and has a more sculptured back. Cysteodemus wislizeni is metallic purple or bluish and has a finer and a more pitted sculpturing on the back. The best place to find these fascinating beetles is in the deserts of Arizona, California and New Mexico at night with a flashlight, where they crawl along the sand. One beetle enthusiast claims that they have a glow about them if spotted with a UV flashlight.