week in Arizona

[Pulk]

I went on a trip with my parents June 13-21, a week in AZ then 2 days in Vegas. From the 22nd till now I've been taking and sorting through photos... even though a good portion of them were taken in hotel rooms along the way before I even got back.

IDs on anything not ID'd would be extremely helpful.

Casa Grande, AZ


Steatoda sp.




this was on the border between the desert and a parking lot for trucks behind starbucks.


Gila Bend - 1 night




across the road from the motel




queen, different sp.


shield/stink bug (pentatomidae) - Chlorochroa sayi?






Temnoscheila sp.


this does not even come close to doing it justice.


toward Portal

salticid





cicada exuvia




closest thing to a T for the entire trip


Portal - 2 nights

portal is a very interesting place. i met barney from hatari inverts there... apparently this was the worst possible time of year to go, but he suggested some (successful) places to look for bugs.



i found this very amusing














this queen is 1.6 cm body length and was carrying what looked like larvae.
the diversity and size of the ants (everywhere in AZ) was impressive. (i only figured out what had been happening later, but i got to see a colony of one species raiding another!)




with so many ants... TONS of antlions










i'm pretty sure this is the nest of the species above


wasp 2







wasp 3






wasp 4 - digger wasp?









Vaejovis cashi (?)


i found 12 of these little brown scorps, each solitary under its own rock.


gnaphosid or corinnid



selenopid crab spider (selenopidae)



wolf/lycosid




decent size, 1.75-2" in the photo. she's made a sac.


Armadillium vulgare



Arenivaga sp.?





dead, but 7 cm!


carpenterworm moth





lichen moth - Lycomorpha fulgens


this moth flew directly in front of the car (driving slowly) for maybe 100 yards.


tiger moth - Grammia sp. (closest i can find is nevadensis)











unknown amphiesmenopteran })






this is a caddisfly and not just a black moth, right?


Gryllus sp.



Gryllus sp.?




i caught this cricket just finishing its molt... you don't see that too often.


milkweed bug - Lygaeus sp. (kalmii?)


this and the following coreids were at the Southwestern Research Station.


leaffooted bug - Chelinda sp. (coreidae)




i think this adult is another coreid species.


leafhopper nymph?










it exhibited the most tantalizingly anthropomorphizable behavior ever: it would pause, then lift and wave one front leg -exactly- like humans wave hello. it also did a cool camouflaging side-to-side motion. make sure to "watch in high quality" http://youtube.com/watch?v=dloIku3Vklg

assassin bug (reduviidae)




found at a light at night, eating an ant queen.


bloodsucking conenose/kissing bug - Triatoma rubida (reduviidae)




found at the same light about 10 seconds later.


giant water bug - Abedus sp. (herberti?)








i wasn't interested in aquatic insects whatsoever, but this bug is awesome! it's in distilled water right now; would bottled water (or something else) be better?

 

[Pulk]

bombardier beetles - Brachinus sp.




just like josh_r and the author of For Love of Insects described, there was a bunch of them running around under a rock - it was really cool to see it in the wild. they're only ~1 cm.

tiger beetle











pleasing fungus beetle - Gibbifer californicus





mantid






there were lots of these in a small area. i'm assuming they're hatchlings (just over 1 cm bl)


dragonfly exuvia





damselfly naiad



white velvet ant, actually a wasp - Dasymutilla gloriosa





harvestman/opilionid






these were extremely abundant in the place i was flashlighting. the extended legspan is 5.5 inches!


antlion adult 1





i think they do this as a threat posture.













antlion 2



i'm guessing the eye isn't supposed to look like that, but it's interesting.

antlion 3








after seeing all the pits the first day, i remarked that it would be cool to see adults that night... and i did, for the first time.


unknown mygalomorph - dipluridae? (Euagrus?)









i was pretty excited to find these (two). this is the web under a rock, and habitat. the larger one, pictured, is almost 2 cm bl.


Globe




Lake Roosevelt area

pipevine swallowtail - Battus philenor










the plant they were on (pictured) isn't a pipevine. i don't know what they were doing there, considering they weren't pupating.


Plectreurys sp. (plectreuridae)


she was right next to a -perfectly- preserved scorpion molt. :?
i bred members of this genus a few months ago - http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=125340


forest south of Holbrook








the bones were lying out like this, only 25 yards or so from the road.


carabid?



Scolopendra polymorpha




it's a little yellower in real life than in the picture. but look at those terminal legs!


uloboridae?





ticks & tick eggs




there were ten or so under the rock, 3-4 mm bl. i found some very similar ones in Flagstaff.


Holbrook/petrified forest - 2 nights

petrified wood



collared lizard


these are actually pretty plentiful.





plateau striped whiptail - Aspidoscelis velox



unknown orthopteran



male velvet ant


only about 6 mm


Chinle/Canyon de Chelly - 1 night





another antlion




video: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pulk/2619635276


Flagstaff - 1 night


another cicada molt




this cicada molt has pigmentation, unlike the other one (which is the tan color of pede and scorp exuviae)


crab/thomisid and scolopendromorph shell


they were under the same rock.


solifugids


tiny, only 8 mm bl




this one was typical solifugid size.
it looked cool on the black gravelly sand substrate of sunset crater... it is a beautiful and unusual national monument.


tenebrionidae - Eleodes obscurus?


they were pretty big, close to 1.25"








no idea what these beetles are, but they are a lot like ironclads (both
movements and body structure), and even better at playing dead. one actually convinced me.


great plains skink - Eumeces obsoletus


her burrow was under a rock.
while i was photographing it she ran some distance into the undergrowth. i highly doubt she'll find her way back.
i took 3 of 8 easily visible eggs... any advice on incubating them?


Phrynosoma hernandesi






any recommendations for cheap harvester ants?


Scolopendra polymorpha

this pede was under a rock -just- outside of the national monument (phew). at first i thought it was injured, but upon closer inspection it became clear that it was about to molt RIGHT then. my parents were generous enough to wait in the car for 50 minutes or so, for me to film it.













video: http://youtube.com/watch?v=Vyid3gF-RDk


Las Vegas (2 nights)

only thing worth photographing in Vegas. they wouldn't let us take pictures of O.

~~

variation in antlion eyes (far right is from Encinitas, the day i got back )



AZ ants - correct relative sizes (middle in 4th row is 1 cm bl)

 

[aliceinwl]

Great pics!

Your skink looks like a great plains skink. For the eggs, get some vermiculite. Get it moist, but not wet (~1:0.8 ratio of vermiculite to water by weight). It's better to be a little too dry than too wet. Fill a little container with a secure fitting lid about 2/3rds of the way with the vermiculite. Burry the eggs about 2/3rds to 3/4ths of the way. Place the container somewhere where the temperature stays relatively stable. Room temperature would likely be fine. Open the lid once a week for air exchange.

If the rock was replaced, I think there is a good chance she'll return for her remaining eggs. Good luck with yours.

-Alice

 

[Pulk]

thanks! Gq gave very similar advice... I will definitely implement it.

 

[ahas]

Nice shots yo! Cool looking bugs.
Fred

 

[James H]

Those are some great shots, looks like you had a pretty good trip. What camera lens were you using to get those shots.

 

[josh_r]

this ant is Messor pergandi



this is a male wasp species..... most likely a very small velvet ant or Tiphiid wasp.

closest thing to a T for the entire trip

i cant believe u didnt find a single T. that place is CRAWLING WITH THEM!!



camponotus sp. poss. noveboracensis





pogonomyrmex barbatus i believe



camponotus sp. (vicinus??)



aphaenogaster cockerelli

this queen is 1.6 cm body length and was carrying what looked like larvae.
the diversity and size of the ants (everywhere in AZ) was impressive. (i only figured out what had been happening later, but i got to see a colony of one species raiding another!)

could you explain the raid to us?? was one species of ant red and the other black??

wasp 4 - digger wasp?

male velvet ant



yarrows spiny lizard - Sceloporus jarrovii

 

[josh_r]

isnt it amazing how many bombardier beetles can be found under a single rock???

your euagrus might be chisoseus. Hexurella apachea is also in that area however.

 

[Pulk]

wow, thanks for all the id's! (you can tell I don't know anything about ants or wasps.)

there were a couple (3 or so) burrows that looked like they might house tarantulas, but flooding failed and I was too lazy to dig them all the way up.

in the assumed raid, the raiding species was red and the raided species was red and black.

 

[MaartenSFS]

Wouw, very nice photos. It seems the desert does yield a great variety of life. Question: Do those adult antlions live in those conical burrows, or just the nymphs?

 

[crpy]

Beautiful pics, thats why i love Arizona, great fauna:clap:

 

[myrmecophile]

You did well considering you were a still a bit off season. The raiding ants were probably Polyergus, they are obligate slave makers on Formica species ants.

 

[MaartenSFS]

You did well considering you were a still a bit off season. The raiding ants were probably Polyergus, they are obligate slave makers on Formica species ants.

Do you mean to say that they enslave ants of another species?

 

[josh_r]

as myrmecophile said, they were most likely Polyergus and it is uncommon to see them actually raiding another species nest and extremely fascinating to boot! ive only seen this happen once and it floored me! ive found many many colonies, but only an actual raid once. they have cicle shaped mandibles used to pierce the other ant colony to death (usually in the head) and they steal all the other species pupae, larvae and eggs. they raise them as their own and...... you get a half red, half black and colony.... or in your case... half red, half red and black and colony. its a trip to see. you should have taken pics of the battle.

 

[josh_r]

Wouw, very nice photos. It seems the desert does yield a great variety of life. Question: Do those adult antlions live in those conical burrows, or just the nymphs?

just the nymph

 

[Pulk]

thanks myrmecophile.

I didn't realize that's what was happening at the time. (the next night I saw an ad at the research station asking for locations of ant raids)

note: the water bug could also be Belostoma sp.

 

[myrmecophile]

My pleasure. I had a thought this morning after I posted and was already on the road. Depending on size you could also have observed an Army Ant, (genus Neivamyrmex) raid. There are a large number of species in SE Az. If Neivamyrmex they would have been smaller as would the victims. They frequently, some species exclusively raid other ant species. Common victims of raids are Solenopsis and Pheidole. If you have even a not so good image post it up.

 

[josh_r]

neivamyrmex raids are amazing! ive only seen it once but it was intense. i really like neivamyrmex. how many species are here in az myrmecophile?? i know there are quite a few. i ve seen them from flagstaff to organ pipe nat'l mon. to portal and the pajaritos. i just dont know which species as i dont know enough about them.

-josh

 

[Pulk]

sorry, I don't have any pictures.

 

[funnylori]

Great finds! We found a ton of solifugids in TX, but none looked as weird as yours there.