Nature of Central Oregon

Robber Fly (family Asilidae, order Diptera)

Posted August 23rd, 2008

Robber Fly (family Asilidae, order Diptera) is the common name for a large group of some 7100 species of insects in the Asilidae family. Robber flies (also known as raptor flies and bee eaters) attack (often in mid-flight) and devour other flies, beetles, butterflies, moths, bees, dragonflies, damselflies, ichneumon flies, wasps, grasshoppers, and some spiders by injecting them with saliva containing neurotoxic and proteolytic enzymes which paralyze and digest the insides. The robber fly obtains its nourishment by sucking out the resulting fluids.  This one photographed from about 6 inches away on Saturday, August 23rd, 2008, on Bessie Butte Trail about 6 miles south of Bend, Oregon. [Information source: Wikipedia]

Golden-Mantled Ground Squirrel
This article has been moved to www.toynutz.com/squirrel.html as of April 29th, 2009. 

The Polyphemus Moth (Antheraea polyphemus)

Posted August 24th, 2006

On August 22, 2006, I spotted this big (about 3.5 inch long) caterpillar crawling across the groomed grassy lawn where I work.  I brought it home and placed it in a grove of small poplars, which I found out from the internet is one of the kinds of leaves it likes to eat.  The caterpillar immediately attached itself to the base of one of the sprouts (left) and spun itself into a cocoon (middle left), barely visible with the camouflage of dead leaves wrapped around it, within the next 24 hours.

With a little research, I discovered that the caterpillar will become a Polyphemus moth, or Antheraea polyphemus, a member of saturniidae, or giant silk moth family. (See photo below left as extracted from Fairfax County Public Schools website.  Its wingspan will reach up to 5.5 inches.

According to the website, the larva will remain in pupal form in its cocoon until early May.  As an adult moth, it has no digestive organs - not even a mouth - but instead lives only to mate. Afterwards, the female will lay several dozen eggs. The lifespan of the adult moth is about two weeks.

Rockchuck
This article has been moved to www.toynutz.com/whistlepig.html as of April 29th, 2009. 

Dwarf Mistletoe:  No Myth

Posted April 23rd, 2004

The Western Fence Lizard

Posted April 23rd, 2004

Sceloporus occidentalis, otherwise known as the Western Fence Lizard, is common to Central Oregon and is so named for its practice of perching on top of fence posts to warm itself in the morning sun. This photo was taken along the banks of the Deschutes River in June 2008.

A few years ago, there was an interesting article about this species of lizard in the New York Times:

What’s the Buzz?

Posted June 30th, 2002; Updated February 7th, 2008

As you drive along any Central Oregon road, open the windows of your car and you’ll hear it. Walk any suburban trail on the outskirts of Bend, Oregon, and the sound will surround you ...like the electrical buzzing of a high-tension line, only louder. From the Rabbitbrush to the Lodgepole Pines, you can hear the mating call of the male Cicada all summer long ...but only this year.

The cicada (family Cicadidae) is also known as the Harvest Fly or Seventeen Year Locust. But it is not a locust. Locusts belong to the order Orthoptera, which includes Grasshoppers, Crickets, Katydids, Cockroaches, Praying Mantises and Walking Sticks. Cicadas, on the other hand, belong to the order Homoptera, the group of insects that includes Aphids, Leafhoppers, Mealy Bugs, Scales, Whiteflies and Psyllids.

They’re called Seventeen Year Locusts because most species of Cicadas emerge as adults, seemingly all at the same time, every seventeen years. They spend the rest of their lives underground as nymphs, or larvae, surviving by extracting the juices from the roots of trees and shrubs. Although they sometimes cause serious damage to crops, they are relatively harmless to the hardy growth of Sagebrush, Rabbitbrush and Bitterbrush of the Central Oregon High Desert.

The Cicadas you can find locally are typical of those found in most other parts of the country. A Cicada is typically about one and one half inches from head to tail, up to two inches if you include its large transparent wings which make it look like a giant housefly.

Only the male sings. The sound is generated by the vibration of a drum-like membrane on the underside of its abdomen. While males are easy to locate because of the noise they make, females are silent and nearly impossible to find - at least until they pair up with a male.

You can find Cicadas from dawn till dusk from June through September in the sagebrush fields that surround our town, although they seem to favor Rabbitbrush to the more pungent Sagebrush.

Be sure to stop and listen for a while, and maybe wander slightly off the trail to get a firsthand look at these unusual creatures. Your next chance to hear these serenading insects after this summer (2002) won’t be until the year 2019.

Meanwhile, other breeds of cicada, since not all of them take seventeen years to mature, will fill the gap, singing the song of courtship nearly every summer where ever there is an open field of scrub brush or a grove of trees.

A Puffball With Attitude

Posted July 2nd, 2002

It was the summer of 2000.  While wandering around a reclaimed Pumice quarry not far from town, we stumbled across this weird-looking fungus amidst the scrub brush and pine needles.  We fantasized about it being mysteriously left on planet Earth by extraterrestrials.

As it turns out, it is a Hedgehog Puffball or Spiny Puffball (Lycoperdon echinatum) mostly native to the Rocky Mountains, and to less extent to the Cascade Range.  This specimen is well into its spore-producing stage.  We had never before seen anything like it.  Measuring nearly a foot across (30cm), it weighed in at about 8 pounds.

It is reported that, in its early stages when the insides are still white and bread-like, it is edible.  But by the time we found this specimen, the insides were already filled with dark mustard-yellow spores, considered poisonous to breathe in concentrated doses.  The outside was tough like leather, with bizarre spines that looked as if they were once filled with air but now deflated.

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