a little wild   (a small slice of wildlife)

Cyclosa sp

Spider webs up the grooves of the trunk

Sunset along the Big sur coast:

Some photos from the drive from Monterey to Big Sur

Goleta, California (north of Santa Barbara). The actual monarchs are usually found there overwintering from October onwards, but we did in fact see some during our July visit. The flowers and the ocean were spectacular.

The flowers were amazing.

Carlsbad, California. Wikipedia description (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerro_de_la_Calavera):

Cerro de la Calavera (also known as Mount Calavera) is an 513 ft (156 m)^[1] ancient plug dome volcano that last erupted 22 million years ago during the subduction of the Farallon Plate.^{[3][better source needed]} It is located within the city of Carlsbad, California in the United States.

The caldera:

My first time here. DEFINITELY not my last. This place was amazing for bugs. Thank you to the organizers! And as always, many people have contributed to the identifications.

I was very surprised by how different the microfauna was from what I get near my house just one hour away. I found several new life species, including ones that are otherwise very common. This means I should be traveling more — except, one of the things I love about bugwatching is that you can do it near your house, with minimal waste of time and carbon.

I guess I need to figure out a compromise.

Hymenoptera

Tons of these Bicyrtes quadrifasciatus. Fewer that were willing to pose for me.

This Great Golden Digger Wasp, Sphex ichneumoneus, had a grasshopper outside her nest. And I somehow managed to just miss a shot of it dragging it in.

Sawfly larva, I think. Notice six pairs of prolegs (I think) — most caterpillars have two to five pairs.

My best guess is Dasymutilla for this Mutillidae female, but not sure which. There were lots of males flying around and really did not give us much of a chance to photograph them.

Diptera

Since we’re going to be seeing a couple of Bombyliid flies, this seems a good time to recount some interesting info about them (mostly paraphrased from Wikipedia): the females are mostly parasitoids, looking for burrows of beetles or solitary wasps and bees to lay their eggs. Once the females find a burrow, they don’t even need to land — they flick the eggs out mid-air, aimed into the burrow (hence the name, bomber flies). They also have a special storage structure in their bodies called a sand chamber, which they fill with sand before laying (if that’s the right word with these flies!) their eggs. These sand grained are used to coat the eggs before release, perhaps for the purpose of improving their aim, slowing down dehydration, or masking the chemical scent.

I thought I had seen my first Bombylius major, but pretty sure this is instead Bombylius incanus. Still cute, though!

Bombyliidae –> Anthracinae certainly. I’m pretty sure this is Hemipenthes.

Dolichopodidae.

Coleoptera

A stunning number of tiger beetles! I think this is Cicindelididia punctulata. Among my multitudinous other shortcomings, I’ve seen very few species of Cicindelinae.

Bugguide: “slender, dark brownish-gray (in the east), with or without thin white markings; longitudinal row of pits on each elytron”

Red Milkweed Beetle, Tetraopes tetrophthalmus.

Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetraopes_tetrophthalmus, says: “When startled, the beetles make a shrill noise, while they make a ‘purring’ noise when interacting with another beetle.” Now I really want to hear it.

This weevil is a little unaware of its danger. It’s going to take a while to pin it down further, because weevils are the absolute worst to identify because they’re so specious. EDIT: Maybe Odontocorynus.

Tumbling flower beetle Mordellidae. I think tribe Mordellistenini. Not sure how to go any further.

Orthoptera

Very colorful, not sure which:

Very colorful, not sure which. (Dissosteira carolina nymph suggested, thank you!)

Very colorful, not sure which:

Blattodea

A very under-appreciated order. Let’s give them some love. Is this Parcoblatta, a wood cockroach? And I presume that’s her ootheca.

EDIT: “more likely to be Ectobius pallidus”

Hemiptera

I think this is Graphocephala fennahi, the Rhododendron leafhopper.

Spiders

I’m not sure but this might be Mecaphesa in Thomisidae. Note it’s a little hairy around the head. Anyone who wishes to chime in is welcome!

Odonata

Widow skimmer. I’m showing the photo from further away because I like it.

blue dasher Pachydiplax longipennis (thanks for the help with ID!)

And another shot, just because they’re so photogenic:

Eastern pondhawk Erythemis simplicicollis, thanks for the help with ID!

Lepidoptera

This stunning caterpillar is the camouflaged looper, the caterpillar of the Synchlora aerata, in Geometridae. Look at the camouflage!

Lookout point

Falls Trail

Unfortunately, I managed to drop my camera onto the parking lot pavement just as I started the hike. This may be responsible for so many of the photos coming out blurred as we look away from the center, almost like a tilt shift photo. Strangely, many of them also came out fine, so I’m not sure what was happening here.

The path took place in a valley, with heights on either side. It ended in a spectacular outlook (although the falls did not have water).

EDIT: blue-gray gnatcatcher suggested as the identification, please see comments below.

These presumably Buprestid beetles were everywhere:

See what I mean about some of the photos being blurred away from the center? This next photo actually had a f-number of f/13 , there’s no way it should be looking like this. Mildly heartbreaking, because I think it could have been a good photo.

The falls would have been here:

The cliff dwellings

View from inside one of the cliff dwellings:

Starting from a relatively lower and wetter area, to a peak with 360 degree views around.

I think Fallugia paradoxa:

Perhaps Eleodes in Tenebrionidae?

There were many of these rocks with veins running through them.

Lots of robber flies everywhere! These are apex predators in their own niche, so if there were that many of them, there were probably lots of bug life that evaded my notice.

At the top:

Panorama at the top:

Pygmy nuthatch

Lots of Syrphid flies

Looks like an elephant, a Ganesha / Ganapati look-alike

Bombyliidae, maybe Geron?

Chalybion californicum, I think, based on the shape of the head

Another robber fly

This fly belongs to Anthracinae in Bombyllidae

A skipper butterfly

I watched as the presumed Mirid bug crawled onto the lizard’s head. The lizard was not amused.

Went with family, so not many photos. Definitely would love to come back and take some time to explore, especially the bugs.

In particular, Rehoboth State Park contains an Atlantic white cedar swamp, which is a habitat I haven’t explored before.

I’m guessing Olethreutes:

This ant and the aphid were interacting, but I couldn’t spend too much time studying it. It was interesting to me that the aphid was winged…so it was less likely to stay in one place, be “millked’ by the ant, and need protection. I’ve heard some ants remove the wings from the aphids to make them more domestic, I wonder if that was in the cards.

Lepturinae, longhorn flower beetle, in Cerambycidae. I think Analeptura lineola.

Firefly

Pisaurina mira

Long legged fly at home, Dolichopodidae, probably Condylostylus