The Insects and Animals of Texas

     Over the past few days I was able to join my girlfriend in a leadership retreat for her business. The retreat was on the outskirts of the Dallas / Fort Worth area, and I have to admit, it was my first time to Texas.

     There were a lot of interesting creatures that are either rare or not existing back at home, so needless to say, the camera was always out and my eyes were constantly scouring my surroundings. Within the 50 feet from the main lodge to our cabin door, I found a surprising amount of life. These same 50 feet were walked by many people over the several day sojourn, however it always took me pointing the creatures out before anyone would notice them. I attribute this heightened sense of animal awareness to looking for bugs all my life.

     The very first bug I saw was during the evening we arrived. Just sitting on a bush off the main path was a wheel bug.

Arilus cristatus, or more commonly know as the Wheel Bug

     One of the largest true bugs in North America, wheel bugs measure up to 1.5". This guys was a bit shy of that, coming in around 1.25". The wheel bug can be identified by it's characteristic wheel or cog shape protruding from its armor. These carnivorous creatures can give a nasty bite if threatened, and even has a stink glad for emergencies. However, they aren't bad creatures; wheel bugs will feed off of garden pests and if given their space, they wont bother you.

     During the next day more insects came out, and the largest concentration of life was around a landscaped island of several flowering bushes and hardy shrub of rosemary. Butterflies danced around, flower to flower, uncurling their straw like mouth parts to sip the sweet nectar. The most impressive lepidopteran was the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail.This butterfly had a 6" wingspan and quickly caught my eye as it's large yellow wings lifted him from flower to flower.

Papilio glaucus, or more commonly know as the Easter Tiger Swallowtail

There were several other interesting things I found right off the main path:

• The frame of the main door to our cabin had a collection of moth eggs, which were all empty. This was particularly cool as I've only seen moth eggs one other time! About 10 years ago, when I knew much less and was accidentally destroying more then helping, I found a collection of moth eggs on my bedroom window. I eagerly stuck half my body out of one side in hopes to gather the eggs and place them in a container where I could watch them hatch. Unfortunately, to remove the eggs, I scraped them all off the glass, crushing all of them. Lesson learned: if you ever find bug eggs, don't remove them from the surface you found them on! Either move the leaf or bark into a container, or let them be. 
• The only reptile I found (I don't just talk about insects here) was a small Texas spiny lizard. I saw this guy a few times, and every time he saw me he would scamper back to the bushes. 
• A bumble bee covered in pollen.
• A regular ol' grasshopper which was, of course, much larger then the ones up here near Chicago. 

Lots of interesting animals!

     Now Texas is an interesting environment compared to the Midwest biome that I'm used to. The summers are longer and hotter, and droughts are more common. With an arid environment you'd expect to see smaller dessert creatures, but instead I found the insects to be quite big and well off. There were some, however, that succumbed to the heat. I found a deceased praying mantis on our porch, as well as a dying beetle that I took back to my room and tried to save with some water (but was unsuccessful). 

     Another cool creature I saw that I normally don't see much of at home is the praying mantis. This one was positioned right underneath a collection of flowers, laying in ambush to catch any unsuspecting pollinator. I actually got a video of it trying to catch something, but until I figure out how to slow down the video and zoom in, it wont look very good. Disappointed? Here, have a picture of the little guy instead.

A clever green praying mantis patiently awaits its next meal

     Still aren't satisfied? How about some spiders. I have never, in all my years, seen spiders as big as the ones in Texas. I was in awe of their size and colors, and the only think I kept thinking was "Man, I want one of these as a pet".

What appears to be a corn spider. While it may look small in this picture, this 3" behemoth enjoyed the lacewings I threw into its web.

A beautiful green lynx spider, roughly the same size as a rose flower (2.5")

     Texas has a surprisingly diverse fauna despite the arid temperatures. Larger species thrived and the wildlife made for a very interesting trip. Oh, and the leadership retreat was pretty awesome too. Now all I need to figure out is how to get one of those green lynx spiders up here...

Types of Cameras

Over the course of this blog I will be using various different cameras to capture and document the small wonders hidden in our own backyard.

DSLR Nikon:

Pamela has a DSLR which I will occasionally borrow. The DSLR pictures will be by far the most crisp and clear pictures on this blog. I plan on giving her a macro lens as a gift (secretly I'll be getting it for myself) which I'm really excited about because some of the best insect pictures I’ve seen have been taken with one.

European paper wasp - actually taken with a Canon DSLR

Pentax Optio RZ18:

My Pentax purchase occurred like how many material goods are acquired these days – from a daily deal website.  I immediately pounced on the deal when I saw that it had 16.0 megapixels and had an18x optical zoom. Upon purchasing it, I dubbed it my “Adventure Camera” and now I take it with me on the more rugged travels where the iPhone and the DSLR stay home. The zoom is by far my favorite part, and besides some strange ambient light correction, it’s a solid camera that has produced some great pictures.

A squirrel, asking for another helping of gruel

iPhone:

The camera on my iPhone is actually pretty good, and when used correctly it can create very clear and crisp macro photos. As it is my phone, I will always have it on me, so the majority of the photos taken with it are from the everyday adventures I go on. I am now finding that it is these everyday adventures that often yield the most interesting and candid photos. Occasionally these photos will go through the filters and the editing of Instagram, so don’t judge.

A mama house spider with her babies, found in the electrical box of my sisters new house

Microscope:

One of the advantages of working at a facility that handles microelectronics is the abundance of microscopes. While we do have a microscope/camera setup that goes up to 10x, the camera is quite old and has low resolution. Some of these photos will be taken with my iPhone peering through the microscope eyes. The view through the microscope is a revealing one that shows how complex and fascinating small creatures can be. Images taken with a microscope will be part of my "under-scoped" series.

A Boxelder bug, several times magnified

Enjoy.

Animal Birthday Party

Almost all our animals' birthdays are in July. Because July was insanely busy, and because we had leftover carrot cake from my own birthday, we decided to have a joint birthday party for Ernie, Leo, and Duckie tonight.

The eldest of all the critters, Duckie turned seven on July 21st.

Leonard turned two on July 23rd.

Not the best photo (because he's such a rascal),
but it was Ernie's GOLDEN birthday this year on July 2nd!

If you think this is nuts, stick around . . . All I have to say is our animals are awesome. Stay tuned; we're headed to Lake Geneva, WI tomorrow for the holiday weekend, so I hope to update on some lake adventures. I'll bring my bug box!

Good night.