Photo Essay
Nature Trail Tour - September, 2009
Take a virtual tour of the Sibley Nature Tour!
[Additional Tours: February, 2006 | April, 2006 | May, 2006 | July, 2006 | August, 2006 | October, 2006 | January, 2007 | February, 2007 | April, 2007 | May, 2007 | June, 2007 | July, 2007 | August, 2007 | September, 2007 | October, 2007 | January, 2008 | December, 2007 | March, 2008 | July, 2008 | September, 2008 | November, 2008 | January, 2009 | February, 2009 | March, 2009 | April, 2009 | May, 2009 | June, 2009 | July, 2009 | August, 2009]
Charlotte Burke returned to do the virtual trail again in September. As always, her observational skills revealed new things to ponder, beautiful patternings, pretty flowers, and unusual insect activity. She visited on a day that sprinkled some rain, as well as another day of more pleasant weather.
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For some reason the old blooms on tasajillo remained on the new berries as they formed, and the blooms slowly turned black.
Tumbleweeds bloom in September.
Despite the late date, she found mesquite beans that were still turning red, and on the beans, she found these mating bugs. Will the female lay the eggs on the mesquite bean, on its bark, or somewhere else?
At first glance, Charlotte thought she had found a black spider on the seeds of a desert holly, but it was just the darkened seed.
Sand Dropseed grass forms beautiful arching stems as it goes to seed.
Euphorbia lata is one of many local species of euphorbia, and like all of them, the milky sap can irritate eyes, and cause photosensitivity if the sap is left on the skin.
Flowering straw, a beautiful perennial daisy of west Texas was framed by the cascading seedstalks of three awn (or spear) grass… the seeds of the grass stick in people’s socks easily.
A tiny crematogaster ant investigated the dropping of a horny toad filled with the body parts and heads of harvester ants.
Leaffooted bug nymphs clambered up and down one of the desert willows at the building.
Notice there are two different instars of the leaffooted bugs in these two photos.
This instar of the leaffooted bug is possibly the last one before adulthood. It is on a mountain laurel seedpod.
Lehmann’s lovegrass added a delicate tracery to the stiff stems of ephedra (popotillo). Charlotte has an eye for discovering wonderful patterns and textures, and the Sibley Nature Center is most happy to share them, for being aware of the subtle patterns and textures of one’s landscape is a way to deepen one’s appreciation for our home.
What tied these mesquite leaves together?
A mockingbird protected some ripening tasajillo berries, even in a light rain.
Most Aphanogaster ants are dark black. Why are some of these more light in color? Even though Sibley staff have had thousands of kids catch insects, including this species of ant, we had never noticed this “morph.”
The Aphanogaster ants were taking feathers down into their nest, adding it to their storehouse of rotting stuff (that helps feed millipedes that live with them and protect them.)
These Aphanogaster ants were not carrying anything away from the mesquite bean – were they licking sugar off of the beans?
Tidestromia (the gray leaves) and portulaca framed an Aphanogaster ant hole.
The portulaca blooms were in two different stages of bloom – notice how the stamens are spread further on one of the blooms.
Did the rabbit that left the little pellets also eat the ephedra (popotillo). Notice how the stems near the droppings are bluish (which might mean newer growth), while the ones further away are green.
Aphids and mealybugs clambered on the stem of a plant.
Bristlegrass gone to seed made an interesting pattern agains the popotillo.
Centipede tracks in closeup.
Why did the centipede go in circles?
Climbing milkweed went up a mesquite,
And down a tasajillo.
Cowpen daisy leaves have a beautiful color.
Crematogaster ants visited dried sap on a mesquite.
Droplets of rain dotted the leaves of a croton with several stages of seedpods – are the stars on top where the flower has dropped off, and the seedpod (seen lower) has not yet formed? Croton is also known as doveweed, for it is the favorite food of mourning doves.
Why was this beetle holding its head? Why did it have silk wrapped around it? Did it have a parasite that made it pull off its own head? How weird!!!
Dried mud crusted up, and an earthworm left a pile of castings after the mud had dried. How did the earthworm survive the saturated soil?
During September, mesquite leaves begin to fall.
Preying mantids create their egg cases beginning in September. This one is very fresh – it had not dried to its normal brown.
Saltbush seeds are green in September, but begin to turn golden and then brown by the end of the month.
Harvester ants carried a number of body parts of their dead nestmates out of the nest and left them at the edge of the cone of dirt. (or could there be another explanation?)
When the humidity is high, harvester ants often swarm at the mouth of their nest. Earlier in the year, this means winged adults will emerge, but does it mean that in September?
A horny toad waited for lunch near a harvester ant nest. The feather was from a molting dove.
Jackrabbits scrape a shallow trench in the dirt to cool their bellies.
A preying mantis ate a shield bug on a screen.
When a mesquite is found with the leaflets stripped off of a leaf, it is a good idea to try to find the small chimney of an ant species that gathers the leaves to create fungus gardens in their nest. The turrets are extremely hard to find. Sibley staff has only found two turrets in 20 years!
A monarch fed on a groundsel with bristlegrass and tidestromia (espantes vaqueros–ghost cowboys) nearby.
During the rainshower, the monarch hung from a mesquite branch under a larger mesquite branch for protection.
A very tiny moth hung out in the dead leaves of a yucca at the base of a yucca.
Some rabbit pellets were covered with mud placed there by termites. Others weren’t, so were the uncovered pellets fresher? Do rabbits defecate in the same spot for a few days? If so, is there a reason they do so?
Rabbit tobacco has unusual seedheads… it is a member of the daisy family that has no ray flowers.
A more uncommon (at Sibley) species of harvester ant that is all red colored had a detritus pile near their nest, too.
Many of the saltbush seeds have galls that form around them.
Yucca, broomweed, a second croton species and white lazy daisy present a pleasing September scene.
Since spurges have toxic sap, what ate all the leaves off of this species of spurge. Notice new leaves are beginning to form.
A third species of spurge formed a tangled mat.
Why was this tasajillo stem all shriveled up – had the stem below been invaded by an insect that prevented nutrients and water from traveling up the stem?
Termites formed a mud tube through and above a six inch layer of freshly laid caliche that will soon be a new parking lot at Sibley.
Termites also formed their mud tubes on a still living broomweed.
Termites covered an old mushroom with the mud, too. The mud protects them from the drying air as they process the material inside.
Is this termite work, too? It would be unusual for them to cover a flat area with their mud crust.
An old yucca crown was well covered with mud from the termites, too.
A spotted whiptail lizard tried to hide from Charlotte.
Espantes vaqueros (tidestromia) has the sweetest smell when it is in bloom… it is amazing that such tiny blooms produce such an incredible odor that can fill the air.
The old root stem of a yucca had been hollowed out (probably by the larvae of the giant yucca skipper butterfly that is only flying in February and March.)
In September, this year’s seedpods of the yucca begin to open.
A beautiful shelf fungus grew on a very old and rotted Siberian elm log.
A tiny assassin bug hung out on a leaf.
This orb weaver spider web had an unusual cross shape of thicker silk.
This orb weaver had been very successful, and had wrapped up dozens of small prey items.
A tarantula had covered her hole with webbing, and the webbing caught some rain drops, but what is that brown thing hanging down into it?
Three awn grasses can be pretty when they have gone to seed.
Charlotte found a grouping of three horsecrippler cactus – this species of cactus is hard to find on the Sibley property.
Tidestromia (espantes vaqueros) made a pleasing contrast of textures with the stiff green leaves of yucca.
Perennial wild zinnia looks nothing like the cultivated annual.
Can you identify everything found under this mesquite?
When windmill grass seed is ripe, it turns black.