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What are these ants doing?

While taking pictures last week, I came across several ants traveling along the stem of a bush. I tried to get a good shot of one crawling along the thin limbs, but I just couldn’t get a good shot.  After some time, I became curious about what they were doing.  When I took a closer look, I was even more puzzled.

I have some suspicions about what was going on, but the truth is I don’t really know.  There were several of these “bumps” on the bush and the ants were traveling from one to the other.  There were perhaps five ants in total that I saw.

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A lesson in identifying snails

A number of time now while rummaging through leaves and picking up rotting pieces of wood I have noticed a very small snail here around Seattle.  The snail is rather pretty – with the body a bright blue and I have had fun taking some shots of it.  However, I have often wondered what kind of snail it is.

I do not own any books on snails, so this research had to take place entirely on the Internet.  As with all identifications, I’m not sure if I got it right but I think I now know what it is and I learned a bit about how to identify snails.

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What are those little millipedes?

I am not a trained entomologist (or even an untrained one) and therefore I often make mistakes when identifying the little creatures that inhabit our world.  This is one of those that I have most often misidentified.

In the past I have misidentified this as a centipede, but it is in fact a millipede.  The easiest way to tell the difference between a millipede and a centipede is a millipede has two legs per body segment while a centipede has one.

Millipedes are generally harmless, though there are several varieties that excrete cyanide as a defensive mechanism.  Still, to my knowledge there aren’t any millipedes out there that can kill out unless you eat one, which I don’t find very tempting.

There particular ones are very common here around Seattle.  I have seen them in a variety of places – from the ponds next to where I work to my backyard.  Recently, I finally took the time to figure out what they are.

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Name that moth!

Several weeks ago I found this moth on the side of our shed.

Moths are especially difficult to identify, and I’m not exactly sure that I know what it is.  None of my insect books had it, but that is the case for the majority of moths I come across.

Luckily, I came across this resource on the moths of the Pacific Northwest!  After thumbing through it a bit, I believe I finally know what type of moth it is.  And the drum roll…

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To be a springtail, or not to be a springtail

A few days ago while examining my patio furniture for more insects after my last find, I found some interesting critters on a chair cover.  My first reaction is it’s a springtail, but I’m not entirely sure.

It certainly looks like a springtail, but I couldn’t find any pictures resembling it on the identification site for springtails.  (Update: after posting this shot on Flickr I have found out that it is not a springtail but a juvenile Hemiptera) Speaking of the patio furniture, I find it quite interesting that it’s so popular with insects.  I would be curious to know what they find so interesting with patio furniture covers.  I just hope when the weather gets better they still find the patio furniture itself to be interesting – as right now it is one of the best places in my yard to find things.

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The mysterious beetle larva

I must admit that sometimes I really wish I had chosen birds over insects. Sure, birds can be more difficult to find – or at least more difficult to find a great variety of them.  However, consider this.  There are somewhere between 9,800 to 10,050 known species of birds in the world.  According to some lazy research, there are approximately 320 species of birds that frequent Washington State.  I suspect in the area around Puget Sound, the number is smaller.  Sure, species identification can be difficult at times.  However a trained specialist given a good look at the bird and the sounds the bird makes can make a reasonable guess at the species of the bird.  Even the most difficult sightings can be whittled down to a handful of possible species.  Also, it is highly unlikely that I will come across a species of bird here in Washington State that has not been extensively studied already.

Contrast this to identifying anthropods.  I’m not exactly sure how many anthropod species have been identified.  However, there are currently 900,000 known species of insects, which are a subset of anthropods.  Just in Washington State, over 700 species of spiders have been identified.  Even today new species are occasionally found here.  Therefore, it can be very tricky identifying whatever I find.  This specimen currently perplexes me.

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The Challenge of Identifying Spiders

Recently, as I have begun investigating what little life forms live around me, I have come across a great number of spiders.  While these little eight legged friends freak my wife out tremendously, I find them fascinating and I have strived to learn more about them.  To help with this, I have begun consulting web sites and I have been reading more about spiders.  What has become immediately obvious is spiders are extremely complicated creatures.  Just in Washington State there exist 700 species of spiders!

Really, I have no hope to get every spider I find to the species level, but I would like to get a general idea for each one.  Here is a shot of a spider I took by my office recently.

At the time I took this shot, I thought that for sure someone familiar with spiders should be able to identify this one.  I could not have been further from wrong.

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