HumBug

HumBug: Winter Insects

by Anthony Westkamper on February 16, 2020 at 11:10AM

Walking along the road, I saw my first two milkmaids (Cardamine californica), the daffodil bulbs my friend gave me last fall, are starting to put up leaves and the pussy willows are budding out. They are all welcome reminders, spring is still in our future.

HumBug: Worms, Ticks and Hand Sanitizer

by Anthony Westkamper on February 2, 2020 at 3:21PM

During the damp months of the year, dozens of robins at a time visit my yard. They hop about, stopping, tilting their heads, then driving their beaks into the ground, sometimes pulling up an earthworm.

HumBug: Three for a Rainy Day

by Anthony Westkamper on January 26, 2020 at 6:13PM

With rainy cold days suppressing entomological activity it put my assertion that there's always, ALWAYS something interesting to find outdoors to the test. So, camera in hand, I went looking.

HumBug: The Current Mass Extinction

by Anthony Westkamper on January 19, 2020 at 4:51PM

There have been five major mass extinction events in the fossil record. Some folks claim the human race is causing the sixth right now.

HumBug: Even Parasites have Nightmares

by Anthony Westkamper on January 12, 2020 at 11:10AM

Some experts assert that the most common lifestyle in nature is that of parasitism. (Read Rachel Nuwer's interview with ecologist Kevin Lafferty "Parasitism is the Most Popular Lifestyle on Earth" for more on this.)

HumBug: Things that Need Bugs

by Anthony Westkamper on December 29, 2019 at 10:50AM

I didn't expect to see a lot of insects but it was sunny today so I went for a walk along “my” stretch of the Van Duzen River. I saw exactly two flies, a lone wolf spider and some flying things too tiny and far away to identify.

HumBug: Best of the Bugs

by Anthony Westkamper on December 15, 2019 at 11:04AM

After almost five years doing a weekly blog it had to happen. With rainy, cold weather and the fact that over the last several years I've already written about most of the noteworthy entomological subjects hereabouts, this week I didn't see any new critters worth photographing or writing about.

HumBug: Preserved for Posterity

by Anthony Westkamper on December 8, 2019 at 11:06AM

I recently did something I haven't done in a long time. I went looking for glow worms in my backyard.

HumBug: Revisiting Old (Poisonous) Friends

by Anthony Westkamper on November 24, 2019 at 4:27PM

Back on Oct 2., 2016, I posted an article on the infestation of western black widow (Latrodactus hesperus) spiders at the Carlotta Post Office. Just this week my wife and I had occasion to visit the area again.

HumBug: Late Butterflies, Hornets and Moths

by Anthony Westkamper on November 17, 2019 at 5:37PM

A quick walk along the Van Duzen River turned up one each variegated meadowhawk and shadow darner dragonflies neither of which allowed me to get close enough to get a photo. It's OK, I have hundreds of shots of the meadowhawk and dozens of the shadow.

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