Meticulous Mom

I spent 10 or 15 minutes watching the Steel Blue Cricket Hunter the other afternoon.  I had seen it several times scurrying around hunting for crickets.  It stings the cricket, paralyzing it, then carries it to a hole or burrow and then lays one egg on top of the still living cricket.  It takes only one day for the egg to hatch and the larva then eats the cricket.  In a previous post I showed the cricket hunter with one of its victims.  I then saw the wasp pick up the cricket and fly away with it.

This past week I saw the cricket hunter evidently after the deed had been accomplished and watched the meticulous mom covering up the hole where she presumably had already laid her egg.  I watched her carry pieces of grass and 'rocks' (actually debris from a newly laid sidewalk) covering up a small hole between the sidewalk and the edging stones.

She worked diligently for many minutes until she was finally satisfied with her work and then flew over toward my butterfly bushes and began another cricket search. 

Here's a video showing another cricket hunter also covering up an 'egg hole'.  Maybe you can see why I was so fascinated watching MY cricket hunter doing the same thing.

Butterfly Bush Update '14

There haven't been nearly as many butterflies around my butterfly bush this year as in years past.  I haven't seen a single Monarch butterfly.  There have been a few Painted Ladies, but again not as many as last year.  There have been quite a few skippers though, too many to try to identify. 

But one regular has been the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail - the female, unlike many bird species, is flashier and larger...

than the male.

Actually the female is a dimorph and can either be yellow or black.  This black butterfly showed up this year...

but is it the dimorph or a Pipevine Swallowtail...

a Spicebush Swallowtail...

or a female Black Swallowtail???

Pretty sure it's a female Black Swallowtail.  Here are a couple of pictures of the female black form of the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail courtesy of wisconsinbutterflies.org:

I've also seen photos where the female was half black and half yellow.

FYI here is a photo of the male Black Swallowtail.

Another visitor was this beautiful little green dragonfly.

And the ever present snowberry clearwing.  Lots of those this year.  You can really see where it gets its name in these photos.

So that's the report from the butterfly bush.  More on the Steel Blue Cricket Hunter in the next post.

And Then There Were Three

We lost another one of our stray/feral kitties today.  Here's the whole gang sharing dinner just a few weeks ago - from left to right Van Gogh, Romeo, Spot and Tabby.

But lately Van Gogh hasn't been looking too good - losing weight, sometimes not eating and just being generally listless. This afternoon when I went out to feed everybody I found Van Gogh lying out under my tree, covered with flies and barely breathing.  He managed to move a few feet at a time several times, but he was unsteady on his feet, and would immediately lie down again.  I debated about taking him to a vet.  In all the time I've known him and he's hung around my house I've never been able to pet him. That changed today probably because he was just too weak to try to avoid me.  He let me pet him several times and swat the flies off of him.  Taking him to a vet among all those strangers and unknown animals might stress him even further, besides the fact that it was Sunday and the only vets open were the emergency vets in Swansea.. But I couldn't stand not doing anything.  Finally I decided to see what would happen if I tried to pick him up and put him in the carrier. He was too far gone to do anything and I got him in the carrier very easily - needless to say something that never would have happened if he was well.

The vet confirmed that he was in critical condition and she agreed that the decision to put him to sleep and out of his misery was probably the best for him.  So Van Gogh is resting peacefully in kitty heaven tonight.  I know his buddies will miss him as will I.

Van Gogh with his best buddy Romeo

 He's been a fixture in the neighborhood for quite a while. It will be strange not seeing him around any more.

Tiny Tarsiers

Ever see the movie 'Gremlins'?  Here's a clip.



Things are not all cuteness and light as the movie develops.  Tarsiers are some of the smallest primates in the world and are only found on islands in Southeast Asia. Maybe tarsiers were the inspiration for Gizmo and his buddies, until they show their evil side anyway.  Or maybe not.  In this photo, can you see a little sly glint in its eye??

Philippine tarsier

Tarsiers are prosimians, considered to be more primitive than monkeys and apes.  Other prosimians include lorises and lemurs.  Tarsiers have such big eyes because they are nocturnal and those eyes allow them to see better in the dark.  The word tarsier comes from 'tarsus' or ankle bone because the tarsier has an elongated one enabling it to be a pretty darn good leaper considering its size.



Once thought to be extinct, the pygmy tarsier weighs less than two ounces and is only found in Sulawesi. Tarsiers are the only primates that are totally carnivorous.  The majority of their diet is insects, but despite their size they have also been known to prey on birds, snakes, lizards and bats.

The spectral tariser is less specialized than its Philippine cousin as it lacks adhesive toes!  It too is found in Sulawesi as well as the island of Selayar.

Tarsiers have elongated fingers that have nails, but two hind toes have special claws for grooming. They also have very acute auditory senses, capable of hearing high frequencies of up to 91 kHz.  Perhaps in order to hear each other's high pitched voices.

Here is another video about tarsiers.

Cats and Boxes

What is it with cats and boxes anyway??  Take my cat Dolly for example.  She loves to scratch on cardboard boxes, among other things.  And of all the choices there are of places to sleep, guess what she chooses?  There are several kitties 'cubes' and beds in the living room.  And she does use them sometimes.

And there is the couch and chest with a cozy quilt on top.

There's a bed on the kitchen table.

And in the bedroom?  There's the bed, of course.

And two new kitty beds I added when I redecorated...

although Sprite and Violet have sort of claimed those.

But where is Dolly's favorite place to sleep?  On top of a box in the living room. 

She uses it so much I added a cushion for comfort.  Here's a video of other kitties (and a few dogs) who love boxes (and other places to squeeze into).  Enjoy!

Plentiful Peacocks

Most people are familiar with the peacock even if you've only seen photos and not had a chance to meet one up close and personal.  Who could ever see one and not be mesmerized by that gorgeous tail.  As with some birds, the male is the most noticeable.

The female is much more demure. 

The species is actually called the peafowl - peacock specifically refers to the male, and peahen, the female - and is a member of the pheasant family.  There are two Asian species and one from Africa.  The iridescent 'eye' in the male's upper tail feathers are what makes for the spectacular displays of the male and even though the female lacks the upper tail extravaganza, she will also sometimes display to ward off other females or signal danger to her chicks.

But there are a whole slew of other things that are named after the peacock or reminded the people that named them of that flamboyant bird.  Some you can see how they got their name (most also have 'eyes') - others not so much!

There's the Peacock Mantis Shrimp



There are several types of fish named after peacocks.  There are two difference species of Peacock flounder - the Bothus mancus found in the shallow waters of the Indo-Pacific...

and the Bothus lunatus seen near coral reefs in the Atlantic and Caribbean waters.

The ocellate river stingray, native to several areas in South America, is a freshwater ray that is also known as the peacock-eye stingray for obvious reasons.

Bornite is an important copper mineral found worldwide, and is also known as peacock copper because of its iridescent tarnish.

There are several butterflies known as peacock butterflies, including several species from the Americas, but it's the European Peacock, also found in Asia, that puts the emphasis on 'eye'.

Then there is the peacock coquette. a species of hummingbird found in South America.  For a short video clip and photos, click here.

There are also several flowers that are referred to as the peacock flower, but the one with the most distinctive 'eye' is the Moreaea villosa native to South Africa.

Perhaps one of the most unusual critters is the peacock worm, a marine worm that lives in a tube of mud or sand stuck together with mucus, and sporting tentacles that resembles peacock feathers.  Well, kind of.

One of the most puzzling things I found is the peacock goat.  No iridescence, no 'eyes', not much resembling a peacock - it's black and white.

A couple of sources say something about a spelling error by a journalist that called it a peacock goat instead of a striped goat.  One heck of a spelling error!!  Guess the error was never corrected because it is STILL known as the peacock goat.

There are a lot of other things (especially more fish) named 'peacock' whatever.  Maybe that will end up being a second post, although the reason I haven't included some of them here is because, like the goat, they fall into the 'not so much' category.  But for now there are already lots of 'peacocks' to go around!

First of the Season

I pruned my butterfly bushes a little late this spring and they've only been blooming about a week now.  The word must have finally gotten out because I had the first butterfly sighting of the season - a beautiful Eastern Tiger swallowtail!