Some time ago, I blogged about a strange beetle larva that I had found. It is clearly the larva of something – probably a beetle. However, I still have no idea what it is.
Interestingly enough, I have only found this critter in one place – close to one of the ponds near my office. I have never found one by my house or in any of the parks. Therefore, my suspicion is that – while obviously not aquatic – whatever this grows up into prefers to be near water.
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Posted 1 year, 6 months ago at 1:55 pm. Add a comment
While walking around my yard taking pictures of insects several days ago, I noticed a spot on the cover of one of our yard chairs. I didn’t think much of it and continued to photograph other things. Some time later I looked at the chair again but for some reason the “spot” seemed to be in a different place. I shook it off as a misperception and continued to find other things to photograph. When I came back to the same chair and noticed the spot was in a different place, I began to think this was more than meets the eye. I watched the spot for a minute and noticed that it was slowly moving. This was no spot, but instead was a fascinating bug that I have long hoped to get a picture of. Therefore I proudly introduce the debris-carrying larva of a lacewing.
However, as will soon be evident, this highly beneficial bug has a rather macabre habit.
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Posted 2 years, 4 months ago at 4:15 am. Add a comment
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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Posted 2 years, 6 months ago at 5:15 am. Add a comment
