invertebrates
-
Field Trip: Doodletown
American carrion beetle, Necrophila americana. The name “Doodletown” usually gets a quizzical look, but it’s real, or was once. Nestled between Bear Mountain, West Mountain, and Dunderberg Mountain in Bear Mountain State Park, Doodletown was a village founded in the late 18th century. Iron mining, logging, and tanning (using hemlock bark) were local industries early…
-
Worms
Last year, on a night walk in Inwood Park, our guide said that earthworms were slowly transforming, indeed, destroying, our northern hardwood forests. Whoa! I’d never heard that before and wanted to look into it. After all, earthworms are the gardener’s and the composter’s friend, right? Hasn’t that been drummed into our heads for years?…
-
Field Trip: Beetles!
Found this handsome creature on the beach on Nantucket, where it was not doing well with the shifting, treacherous, sisyphean sands. The good folks at Bug Guide identified it for me as Tricrania sanguinipennis. Like the oil beetles we found at Jamaica Bay, these parasitize ground nesting bees. Euphoria inda, the bumble flower scarab, found…
-
Local critters
Inside, on a wall. Outside in the Back 40, in a pot.
-
In the Back 40: Mummified Millipede
I found this in the Back 40 (inches) last week. It’s probably a leftover from last year. The Back 40, to bring you up to speed, is my small, fenced & walled concrete slab of backyard. Here, near the west coast of Brooklyn, USA, I get what I think is a fair (and wondrous) amount…
-
Interior insect
I found this insect working its way up the bathroom wall Sunday while I was flossing. I love the sharp triangular shape of the wings. If anybody knows what it is, or where it fits among the hexapoda, let me know. It was less than a quarter-inch long, which made for challenging photography, and a…
-
In the Back 40
A little proto-spring cleaning in the Back 40 reveals some early signs of life. Just in time! Some greenery, mostly tenacious sunflowers just popping up, and a little patch of moss. But there were some creepy-crawlies in the mix: Earth worm. Found under a pot, moved into the compost bin. I think these are spider…
-
Honey Bee
I spotted my first Honey Bee of the year yesterday around 1pm. On the sidewalk at the bus stop on 5th Avenue and Union St. Here she is, sticking to the sunny side in the 50 degree day. Daffodils are out; willows are unwrapping their furry buds. You don’t have to consult your Farmer’s Almanac…
Backyard and Beyond 