More assorted news

 

I photographed the fully macropterous form of Gryllodes sigillatus a few days ago! Unlike most of the "rare" specimens I encounter, it is genuinely rare and not merely underdocumented-but-common. I kept seeing full macropters in my yard but failed to catch any until today (they kept jumping off). I managed to catch this one mainly because it barely jumped and seemed slightly weak (I felt bad for it, so I fed it a rice blob before releasing it).

I also managed to photo a semi-macropterous female (also rare) a while before this. Not posting my pics of it here, since they were of poor quality, but it looked just like a full macropter lacking the long needle-shaped hindwings. Its forewings were the same length as those on the full macropter though. 

Neither the semi-macropter nor full macropters ever used their wings in my presence by the way.

On an unrelated note, I made another trip to the Californian coast in hopes of finding some Xanthoria parietina. Once again I did not see a single foliose lichen of any sort; the whole place was coated in generic range/yellow/black/white crust lichens just like last time. Here is a pretty pic I took there though!

I go to AZ

(the view outside my hotel)

Here are some pics from my recent trip to Arizona! Sadly the trip itself was a disappointment - I came back emptyhanded because I saw nothing I wanted to take home. In fact, the trails I looked in were completely devoid of Marchantiophyta. I was also bored the whole time because I don't enjoy sightseeing very much.

Red Rock State Park:

Miller Visitor Center

Argia ludens male (these were abundant)

Unidentified skipper thingy

Eleodes longicollis

(who knew river mud could be so pretty)

Eleodes obscura sulcipennis

A member of the Stenomorpha marginata group; sadly dead

Miscellaneous pics:

I found this Polyphylla specimen sleeping in the open on an urban wall; it was probably unable to move to a safer location because nighttime light pollution (read: attraction to lamps) had rendered it too confused to do so. It sat on my arm unrestrained for the rest of the day since it was too drowsy to flee. I could not find a safe place to release it before night came, and once it was dark the scarab woke up and panicked all night (it presumably has a psychological need for flight). Fortunately I found a suitable release location the next morning.

(yes the lichens really were this color)

Solanaceae, presumably

(this was the only place I visited that didn't have reddish dirt)

Wild Shelfordella lateralis male (seemingly dying of pesticides)

Lygaeus

Sadly, none of these were Xanthoria parietina