4mm length. Was on a Palo Verde tree.
Appears to be parasitic on common cocklebur roots
Interesting that the AI offered only birds as suggested ID.
Eleven seen. First just at sunset although overcast. Five came to black light flashlight shinning on sheet held up with hiking sticks. Watched three burrow into sand as I was taking down set.
I searched very hard for F. wislizeni this trip, and documented every Ferocactus found, but found none, and I would have called this one F. cylindraceus but the AI is calling it wislizeni on most of the pics.
One valve found in the extensive shore deposits of barnacles, Balanus amphitrite, with Tilopia bones in 15 minutes of looking. Nearly 30 species of marine invertebrates were deliberately introduced into the Salton Sea, including at least 14 bivalves (Carpelan & Linsley 1961), and others were accidently introduced with other species. I don't believe any bivalve species survive today.
This part of the lake is a tragic wasteland of algal blooms and fisherman's trash.
Beating along with the Extremely common acmaeoderoides stramineus and Squamodera ephedrae
dark chelicerae, prominent heart mark. At a two backlight setup with @finatic , this individual ran up the sheet, grabbed the largest bug, and ran away with it!
Imperial County, California, US
Found on Fan-leaved Tiquilia (Tiquilia plicata) by @swbirder Maybe 2mm in length.
This is a color relief geographic range map for the five continental subspecies of Common Side-blotched Lizards (Uta stansburiana) in the U.S. Each subspecies' distribution was estimated by me and is color coded with likely contact zones between subspecies depicted in gray (also estimate by me).
Based on my three decades of work on this species I have noted where they either occur, or probably should occur. The map is limited to the U.S., but the subspecies in Baja California and mainland Mexico do not change from what is depicted (it's either U.s. elegans or U.s. stejnegeri down to their southern range limits). There are a couple insular subspecies in the Gulf of California limited to a few islands not depicted on this map.
I have placed the location of this observation as "the valley of the great Salt Lake" because that's where Spencer Baird and Charles Girard (1852) initially reported the type specimen as coming from.
My only goal in sharing this is to aid iNatters in identifying why they may be seeing one subspecies or another in their observations. For now, subspecies can be identified based on geographic location, but the contact zones are areas where one or the other subspecies' genetics may come through in terms of pattern.
Even though I was looking specifically for this gall I seemed to miss it at the time. These small swollen nodes seem to be the right call for this species. There is not a lot of literature noting it.
cryptobiotic soil
Biological soil crust.
Pupa found when opening gall; appears to be tied by an umbilicus (white strand) to the base of the gall. Head to distal end of gall. Note ovipositor along the abdomen. Length about 2.5 mm.
Caught one napping; body ~1 mm long
Euphorbia polycarpa with insect galls
Large, woody gall with wide, leafy bracts on Hilaria rigida. Larva measured about 5 mm after extraction. Found off trail while performing field work under permit.
In leaflets of Olneya tesota. Each gall contained a single larva - photo #2. The galls are bladder-like with a very thin wall and pretty much occupy an entire leaflet. I collected several in a clear plastic container. Within an hour many larvae had exited the galls and were crawling about. After five days they appear to be alive but affixed tightly to the container wall. My guess is that they would be seeking to pupate/estivate in or near the soil. Galled leaflets soon abort from the leaf.
Adult emerged 9 days after exiting the leaf gall:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/88486346
Length approx. 2 mm.
ID provided by R. Gagne
Reared from galls on Desert Ironwood, Olneya tesota.
Adult emerged 9 days after larvae exited the leaf gall:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/88486346
Length approx. 2 mm.
San Diego County, California, US
Fun day with @jaykeller and @pileated
Growing up through what appears to be an old bed mattress left over from mining camp. Near bottom of second image. Mammillaria grahamii?
Adult emerged from apparent l-tridentata-fringed-cup-galls from this observation. First five photos through glass. Fifth photo includes exuviae. Last four are from December 17 - looks to be on its last legs.
Large.
Possibly the largest scorpion I've ever seen.
Dune scorpion (Smeringurus mesaensis) capturing an Antlion (Myrmeleon)
Very large. Near Algodones Dunes Wilderness Kiosk.
First observed this individual on Feb 10, 2018 and my nephew was along this time so was able to better determine a height of about 16 feet. Easily the largest specimen I've seen. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/10052128
Two individuals growing together. I will break this observation into two if they are different species. What are the odds!?