A Pleasant Evening at the Preserve

 Monday night I settled into a spot at dusk near the northwest corner of the norther n tract to see what was flying  after dark.

In the meantime I was treated with a glorious sunset as the rainclouds cleared.

As the sun set, I could hear the booming of a Common Nighthawk, which still finds summer refuge here.

A pair of bats came zooming in above the fire lane from the lowland forest to the west.

As the darkness deepened, my lighted sheet began to become animated.

Burrower bugs landed in the first wave, followed by various species of scarabs, including a small light brown  individual  that was initially identified as a sand-loving scarab.

As usual, I was hoping for moths and eventually a few appeared.

The Southern Emerald was the first and later a Subject Lichen Moth and some micros of various species  arrived, but they remained outnumbered by the beetles.

Fall color is stunning this year

 The colors in the preserve this year are stunning. Although most of the Liatris has gone to seed, the Balduina, Carphephorous and Blue Curls are rife in places as is the Lopsided Indian Grass. The Scrub Blazing Star has declined, but is doing well in one remaining isolated patch. Mechanical management apparently took a toll on the other populations here. I also found a striking metallic wood-boring beetle.

Another Tiger Beetle Species

 As I  have  noted before, the more time I spend here, the more discoveries await.

Today while I was collecting small pieces of debris emerging from the sand following the recent rains, I found a third species of Tiger Beetle.

It is Ellipsoptera hirtalabris, a common scrub species, but one I have never recorded here in the past 20 years of observations.

I also checked the Lupine planting areas. I did not find any living seedlings, but the recently planted Lupines that are being irrigated seem to be doing well.

The irrigation was an important factor in one of the driest Mays on record for the area.

Brazilian Pepper, Butterflies

I stopped today to dig up a Brazilian Pepper that I had found during a walk-through a couple of weeks ago.
I also collected a little trash and flagged a lupine seedling.
A few butterflies were out after the rain, including Pipevine Swallowtail.
I also noticed that the air potato beetles had made it here, judging by the holes in the leaves of the vines.    

A New Polyphylla Beetle

While I was doing some night invert work the other night, primarily in search of new moth species for the site, one remaining Auburndale Scrub Beetle appeared.
He was followed by a related beetle species that I had not seen here before.
These genus appears at lights only in spring here, as far as I know.

Beetles To The South Of Me...

I followed up on my recent beetle search with another search in the south tract, where very little work has ever been done.  I've had a couple in the past, the same as recently in the north tract.

This new location yielded as many as 23 at one time, which may have  scared away the moths I was looking for.

It was truly impressive.

Beetles & More

I checked to see whether more Polyphylla beetles were showing up at the preserve. Only one came to my light, along with some click beetles, an ant lion and some moths and smaller insects.

I did find one new moth, which has been confirmed.

Maybe next year the population will be more numerous.

Beetles, Roaches and Crickets, Oh, My!

I went out this evening to check on the status of the resident invertebrate population in early spring.
I brought my light, but not my chair, a concession to becoming an older person.
In an hour I saw a Sand Cockroach, a Mole Cricket and the Auburndale Scrub Beetle and a few assorted smaller beasties.
I just wanted to make sure everyone was home still.

Beetles are really back

Went out Tuesday night with Paul Skelley to look for beetles. We found at least 30 as well as a handful of what he calls "rain beetles" because they're only active when it's raining.
Rain was threatening Tuesday night, but only a trace fell in the area, despite the thunder and lightning in the near distance.

It is spring. I saw my first Common Nighthawk of the season soaring and diving overhead and heard a Chuck-will's-widow calling from the south woods, which is a different location from recent years.

I'm planning to go out tonight and try again for beetles in the south woods.

Bullbats 2, Beetles O

I went out this evening to try to attract some beetles. I saw two Common Nighthawks, one of which buzzed my position a couple of times. However, the beetle quest was cut short by raindrops and wind. I got out before it worsened. Maybe later this week.

Looking for white sand

I began clearing the gyrochopping debris from the open areas when I could find them.
The fact is that without digging up some trees, the open areas will remain small because of normal plant succession/regeneration. A more radical approach may eventually be necessary. Perhaps the best time to do it is while the trees are small and the western burn piles are still unburned.
Work stopped while I paused to collect a rather large (55 mm) beetle that came walking into one of the cleared areas. It's a Cerambycid of some sort, I was told. It's in the freezer.

Beetles about done, it seems

I continued beetle monitoring last night, but had only one at the light and it was lethargic. After flying around a little, it just sat there clinging to the sheet.

I heard both a Chuck-will's-widown and a Common Nighthawk.

While I was walking around looking for flying beetles and checking things out, I found more trash.

Eeeek! I'm a bug pimp!

I was out again tonight checking on the beetles, but this time I was supposed to capture a couple to see if they can live long enough to join a female in Gainesville to mate and lay eggs for the video camera.

Who says entomology is no fun?

Chasing bugs in the dark

This has been a real change from my normal daytime activities of hauling trash, checking fences and monitoring endangered plants and animals.

I've been out with entomologists from Tallahassee and Gainesville to get a better idea of insect life here, especially beetles. The prime area appears to be the area that has historically been more open, which seems to make an additional argument for better habitat management.

There could be some exciting news on the insect front soon, but at the moment I'm sworn to secrecy on the details.

More later.