Depresso updates

 

Peppertree dodder: devoting most of its energy to making flowers, most of the vegetative portions seem to be wilting for some reason. I hope it's not making flowers because it's about to kick the bucket (I've noticed that stressing it induces flowers).

Lace bugs (pictured): they vibrate inaudibly. I have been staring at some in hopes of finding some complex dynamics of interest, but I haven't been able to make heads or tails of the situation despite watching them for hrs. Although in other lace bugs they are used in various maternal care behaviors the species I have around here don't use them for any clear function. I've tried everything I can think of: disturbing specimens, introducing foreign specimens, watching courtship behavior (which doesn't seem to involve the vibration type I'm investigating and isn't very exciting to watch it seems), even trying to see if there's any vibrational correlate to leaf lushness. No luck. I do know that both nymphs and adults do it, that specimens may occasionally vibrate even when on my hand or otherwise frightened (but do not seem to use it as a distress signal and typically do not vibrate when alarmed), that adults sometimes fan their wings during vibration bouts, and that specimens do not tend to visibly react to others' vibrations or wing fanning, but not much else.

Casebearers: Cryptocephalus sanguinicollis grubs seem easy to rear and eat a wide variety of rotten plant matter. They also accept nonrotten fare, including grocery vegetables and rose petals. They don't do much besides eating and walking.

Millipedes: haplodesmid-type things definitely getting out of hand. Also if I didn't mention this before sometimes they make egg nests with only one egg inside (these nests don't seem any smaller than the ones with around a half dozen eggs). Inspected the gut of the new Griffith Park macrosternodesmid-type thing and it's still dark, implying it's still feeding on rotten matter in captivity. It's nice that (since its body is translucent) I can see the animal's digestive system without killing it. Added some white rot wood to both macrosternothing localities' cups, because I suspect brown rot may not be the right type of rot to feed them.

Asterella californica: grows slowly, doesn't do much.

Eleodes carbonaria: doesn't do much either. Hisserdude said it seemed male, which was my suspicion too.