Garden Visitors

[steve99]

 Little Corella.

 

[Silas_Sancona]

Sleeping Longhorns... Hanging by their jaws..












Peek -A- Boo Toad, ..Awakening for an evening stroll around the yard to grab dinner. 

[Rivera]

On 7/6/2023 at 8:09 PM, Silas_Sancona said:

Sleeping Longhorns... Hanging by their jaws..

Very cool, never seen this before!

[Silas_Sancona]

4 hours ago, Rivera said:

Very cool, never seen this before!

I wasn't aware this was how they slept either until seeing pictures posted by a nearby native plant nursery a few years ago while trying to ID some in the yard..  In some species, you'll see upwards of a dozen or so bees clustered on a stem ..slowly taking off to forage when the sun hits where they're sleeping in the morning.

Among other things, Brittlebush, ..or the California species of Encelia, / other stuff in the Sunflower fam..  Bush Mallows ( Malacothamnus ) / Checkerbloom, and Globemallow  seem to be target genus that attracts them. Then again, some sp. pollinate cacti, Squash-type plants, and numerous Annuals ..Spiderlings ( Boerhavia ) ..Sticky, Warm season ground cover-y plant which can be kind of weedy,  and Kallstroemia grandiflora  right now.

[Foxpalms]

A yellow sac spider on a Washingtonia robusta frond.

Edited July 8, 2023 by Foxpalms

[Silas_Sancona]

7 hours ago, Foxpalms said:

A yellow sac spider on a Washingtonia robusta frond.

...My arch nemesis,  lol 

VERY common in California,  and have been bitten by them many times ...and had them drop ( or Jump.. Yes, they can.. ) onto some part of my body,  from a Ceiling,  ...Appear on my bed,  or from behind a mirror in the bathroom ..seemingly from nowhere,     ..and nearly cause me to crash my car / cause others to crash their cars more than a few times.. 

This coming from someone who lived in an apartment FULL of Brown Recluse ( Partially because the complex was situated next to their favorite habitat ), ..another naughty Arachnid..

Sac Spiders = Ba $ turds,  all of them,  haha..

[Foxpalms]

12 minutes ago, Silas_Sancona said:

...My arch nemesis,  lol 

VERY common in California,  and have been bitten by them many times ...and had them drop ( or Jump.. Yes, they can.. ) onto some part of my body,  from a Ceiling,  ...Appear on my bed,  or from behind a mirror in the bathroom ..seemingly from nowhere,     ..and nearly cause me to crash my car / cause others to crash their cars more than a few times.. 

This coming from someone who lived in an apartment FULL of Brown Recluse ( Partially because the complex was situated next to their favorite habitat ), ..another naughty Arachnid..

Sac Spiders = Ba $ turds,  all of them,  haha..

The sac spiders seems to be more defensive than other spiders here though this one wasn't too bad and fairly slow moving. I have seen a brown recluse in my garden as they are invasive here but still pretty rare and they are fairly docile and not defensive. The false widows that the media also makes a fuss about here are also pretty docile as long as you don't apply pressure to them. Unfortunately I couldn't get a pic of the brown recluse as I didn't have my phone on me and I have never seen one since but plenty of false widows and sac spiders around to photograph. Here's a large one I saw last year. This year though I have seen lots of wolf spiders and the sac spider population seems to have gone down in the garden, but there's still plenty!

Edited July 9, 2023 by Foxpalms

[Silas_Sancona]

5 minutes ago, Foxpalms said:

The sac spiders seems to be more defensive than other spiders here though this one wasn't too bad and fairly slow moving. I have seen a brown recluse in my garden as they are invasive here but still pretty rare and they are fairly docile and not defensive. The false widows that the media also makes a fuss about here are also pretty docile as long as you don't apply pressure to them. Unfortunately I couldn't get a pic of the brown recluse as I didn't have my phone on me and I have never seen one since but plenty of false widows and sac spiders around to photograph. Here's a large one I saw last year.

I see Sac Spiders, they are sprayed, squashed,  ...or set on fire, haha..  

  We have False Widows as well and i surely won't mess with them, but leave them be since they are a rare encounter, at least here. 

I'd wager the Recluse you're probably seeing are Loxosceles rufescens since it is the commonest sp there..  That sp. is sometimes encountered in the U.S. as well.  Chilean Recluse also show up in different parts of the U.S. sometimes.. Supposedly established in around Los Angeles. 



We have one or two recluse sps here but you never see them.. I'm actually surprised i have yet to encounter any when tooling around in their preferred habitat in the desert just outside of town.

One thing i learned about Brown Recluse is they are VERY aware of their surroundings..  When my trashy room mate moved out of our apartment, ..and cleaned up all the junk he'd had scattered all over his room while he lived there, i went in there one night to make sure everything was out ( ..was preparing to  move out myself )  Anyway,  there must have been about a dozen Recluse hanging out on the carpet just outside the closet in that room.  As soon as i turned on the light, they all took off in the same manner a group of crabs might when approached.

An hour later, they were all back, hanging out just outside the closet again ..and took off when i shined a flashlight toward them.  No other " indoor " spider i've ever encountered responded in a similar manner.   A world renowned expert on recluse spiders taught at the college where i lived at that time and i'd ment to contact him about the behavior i noted,  but never got around to it.

I have one that tried to climb up my leg while i was taking a shower, and another i caught later in a pill bottle somewhere ( unless the box it was in was thrown out while in storage.. )
 

[Foxpalms]

1 hour ago, Silas_Sancona said:

I see Sac Spiders, they are sprayed, squashed,  ...or set on fire, haha..  

  We have False Widows as well and i surely won't mess with them, but leave them be since they are a rare encounter, at least here. 

I'd wager the Recluse you're probably seeing are Loxosceles rufescens since it is the commonest sp there..  That sp. is sometimes encountered in the U.S. as well.  Chilean Recluse also show up in different parts of the U.S. sometimes.. Supposedly established in around Los Angeles. 



We have one or two recluse sps here but you never see them.. I'm actually surprised i have yet to encounter any when tooling around in their preferred habitat in the desert just outside of town.

One thing i learned about Brown Recluse is they are VERY aware of their surroundings..  When my trashy room mate moved out of our apartment, ..and cleaned up all the junk he'd had scattered all over his room while he lived there, i went in there one night to make sure everything was out ( ..was preparing to  move out myself )  Anyway,  there must have been about a dozen Recluse hanging out on the carpet just outside the closet in that room.  As soon as i turned on the light, they all took off in the same manner a group of crabs might when approached.

An hour later, they were all back, hanging out just outside the closet again ..and took off when i shined a flashlight toward them.  No other " indoor " spider i've ever encountered responded in a similar manner.   A world renowned expert on recluse spiders taught at the college where i lived at that time and i'd ment to contact him about the behavior i noted,  but never got around to it.

I have one that tried to climb up my leg while i was taking a shower, and another i caught later in a pill bottle somewhere ( unless the box it was in was thrown out while in storage.. )
 

I think the recluses that are invasive in the UK supposedly originally came from shipments from America which would be loxosceles reclusa, however Loxosceles rufescens native range is only 450 miles south of here's so it's definitely possible they are here as well. loxosceles laeta the Chilean recluse is the most venomous of all the recluse spiders, and I have a theory that quite a lot of the very bad bite reports labelled as the brown recluse bites are misidentified and are actually Chilean recluse bites. As their venom is far stronger and fits those reports better. Someone here documented the brown recluse bite https://youtu.be/MF8sHFffxVw and it's evident venom is no where near on par with the Chilean recluse which definitely can pose a threat to life. What you said about the brown recluses being aware is what I experienced, as I looked down to get a closer look without making any vibrations that would disturb it, the spider scurried away quickly. Occasionally black widows are seen here, but it's rare, however the Australian redbacks seem to be more common and are on our invasive list.

Edited July 9, 2023 by Foxpalms

[Looking Glass]

12 hours ago, Foxpalms said:

I think the recluses that are invasive in the UK supposedly originally came from shipments from America which would be loxosceles reclusa, however Loxosceles rufescens native range is only 450 miles south of here's so it's definitely possible they are here as well. loxosceles laeta the Chilean recluse is the most venomous of all the recluse spiders, and I have a theory that quite a lot of the very bad bite reports labelled as the brown recluse bites are misidentified and are actually Chilean recluse bites. As their venom is far stronger and fits those reports better. Someone here documented the brown recluse bite https://youtu.be/MF8sHFffxVw and it's evident venom is no where near on par with the Chilean recluse which definitely can pose a threat to life. What you said about the brown recluses being aware is what I experienced, as I looked down to get a closer look without making any vibrations that would disturb it, the spider scurried away quickly. Occasionally black widows are seen here, but it's rare, however the Australian redbacks seem to be more common and are on our invasive list.

Nothing scares people more than spiders, and it’s how the nefarious and legendary “Brown Recluse” scare/myth in the US became so popular years ago.   There was an excellent medical article titled “It’s Never a Sider Bite”.  It was meant to educate physicians about this very topic.   Spider bites are extremely rare, and brown recluse spiders are even more rare than regular spiders and are very, very hesitant to bite.  A good rule to live by as a diagnostician is… “it’s never a spider bite”.

Every single Brown Recluse spider bite diagnosis out side of their native range (and most inside) have been historically, incorrect diagnoses.  

There are actual documented cases where families in endemic areas have collected thousands….  THOUSANDS… of confirmed brown recluse spiders in their homes without anyone ever being bitten once.   The chance that a solitary one is going to run out of the shadows, in a place they don’t exist, and get you, is 0%.  

For a while, in the US, brown recluse spider craziness ran rampant, even in the practice of medicine.  It still persists culturally today in the medical community.   Doctors were missing cases of anthrax and pyoderma gangrenosum, and other rare infections, while running around calling everything a “spider bite” (which is even more rare).

In the early 2000s, and beyond, most of these so called “spider bites” turned out to be skin infections from a new strain of bacteria never before seen, called “community acquired MRSA” which was causing rampant skin infections in the US, and required a change in antibiotic usage for skin infections during that time.   (As opposed to the original hospital acquired MRSA infection strain).  

If you had an abscess, went to the doctor, got certain antibiotics and got better, that was not a spider bite, that was MRSA.  Spider bites toxin injury doesn’t magically get better with antibiotics….  Infections do.   
 

 

[Silas_Sancona]

1 hour ago, Looking Glass said:

Nothing scares people more than spiders, and it’s how the nefarious and legendary “Brown Recluse” scare/myth in the US became so popular years ago.   There was an excellent medical article titled “It’s Never a Sider Bite”.  It was meant to educate physicians about this very topic.   Spider bites are extremely rare, and brown recluse spiders are even more rare than regular spiders and are very, very hesitant to bite.  A good rule to live by as a diagnostician is… “it’s never a spider bite”.

Every single Brown Recluse spider bite diagnosis out side of their native range (and most inside) have been historically, incorrect diagnoses.  

There are actual documented cases where families in endemic areas have collected thousands….  THOUSANDS… of confirmed brown recluse spiders in their homes without anyone ever being bitten once.   The chance that a solitary one is going to run out of the shadows, in a place they don’t exist, and get you, is 0%.  

For a while, in the US, brown recluse spider craziness ran rampant, even in the practice of medicine.  It still persists culturally today in the medical community.   Doctors were missing cases of anthrax and pyoderma gangrenosum, and other rare infections, while running around calling everything a “spider bite” (which is even more rare).

In the early 2000s, and beyond, most of these so called “spider bites” turned out to be skin infections from a new strain of bacteria never before seen, called “community acquired MRSA” which was causing rampant skin infections in the US, and required a change in antibiotic usage for skin infections during that time.   (As opposed to the original hospital acquired MRSA infection strain).  

If you had an abscess, went to the doctor, got certain antibiotics and got better, that was not a spider bite, that was MRSA.  Spider bites toxin injury doesn’t magically get better with antibiotics….  Infections do.   
 

 

Not totally correct..  When i lived in Kansas, i knew about a dozen people who had scars from confirmed  recluse bites.  Some of those scars were quite gnarly looking btw too,  but not huge.. 


That said, yes, for the most part, Recluse really aren't as big of a threat as was touted by many in the past, at least not Brown Recluse.. Chilean Recluse?  that's a different story,  to some degree at least..   I lived with them in both of my apartments there / roaming around my room while i slept ( Creepy to think of them climbing on me, while sleeping, lol ) and had ...many more.. within the place i worked at the time. 

Rummaging around in the basement of that place, esp when the power failed ..or the basement was flooding and it was a race to move all the Kegs / Boxes of Alcohol not stored in the cooler down there up stairs ) was fun to say the least. I'll bet there were plenty hanging around down there ..

Running lights and sound, i was often up in the rafters running or changing out cords, or moving light fixtures / speakers.  Don't recall ever coming across any Recluse up there.  Almost falling through the Ceiling?   that happened at least 3 times though, lol.

Like you mentioned, ( Familiar with where the location mentioned in a " 2000 Recluse found in a home " article is )  there are plenty of homes that can contain hundreds ..or more.. of them and there are no reported issues..  Far less confrontational / temperamental compared to others, like Sac, Funnel Web, or Phoneutria  Spiders..

Outside of it's known range, i'll believe anyone who claims to have seen legit Brown Recluse ..or other non native, and potentially dangerous spider  only if they can provide concrete proof ..ie: crispy,  detailed images of the spider / various physical traits used in Id'ing it / conformation of it's ID made by a legit Arachnologist who could back up the claim ..to be sure the person making the claim isn't just miss-id'ing a much more common species w/ something foreign..

[Foxpalms]

57 minutes ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Like you mentioned, ( Familiar with where the location mentioned in a " 2000 Recluse found in a home " article is )  there are plenty of homes that can contain hundreds ..or more.. of them and there are no reported issues..  Far less confrontational / temperamental compared to others, like Sac, Funnel Web, or Phoneutria  Spiders..

 

The whole Sicariidae family are very reluctant to bite, recluses and the sand spiders from my experience. The sand spiders are very fast skittish when disturbed but don't bite, however like the brown recluses if pressure is applied to their bodies there's a chance they could bite. Someone in the UK keeping one as a pet was actually bitten by one (Sicarius thomisoides) because it ran out as they where cleaning the enclosure, the glass must have been dirty as usually they can't climb smooth surfaces and ran onto their hand. As they panicked and tried to flick it of them the pressure caused the spider to bite them and as a result they spent 3 days in the hospital. Luckily for them it was one of the less venomous sand spiders (still far more venous than any recluse) and not a hexophthalma hahni or that would have resulted in either an amuptation or likely death. Though when gently prodded and not squashed they don't seem to initiate a bite responce.

[Silas_Sancona]

58 minutes ago, Foxpalms said:

Someone in the UK keeping one as a pet was actually bitten by one (Sicarius thomisoides) because it ran out as they where cleaning the enclosure, the glass must have been dirty as usually they can't climb smooth surfaces and ran onto their hand. As they panicked and tried to flick it of them the pressure caused the spider to bite them and as a result they spent 3 days in the hospital.

☝️ That is one reason why i would never keep spiders ( ...or any Arachnid ) as pets ..Venomous sps esp.. I'd be the owner who got bit, haha..  

[Rivera]

23 hours ago, Silas_Sancona said:

VERY common in California,  and have been bitten by them many times ...and had them drop ( or Jump.. Yes, they can.. ) onto some part of my body,  from a Ceiling,  ...Appear on my bed,  or from behind a mirror in the bathroom ..seemingly from nowhere,     ..and nearly cause me to crash my car / cause others to crash their cars more than a few times.. 

Wtf...  this is disturbing.

I'm mostly a "live and let live" kind of guy, but anything that jumps on me has broken the truce. 

Also, the apartment full of brown recluses... 🤦 I hate it. 

I can appreciate spiders, and have a positive association with all the western orb weavers and wolf spiders (so many wolf spiders, but they are small here, like mostly under an inch front to rear legspan, so not scary). 

My wife and I were staying in Costa Rica. A fairly large spider was looming over the bed, but high up. We didn't like the looks of it, but we were using a mosquito net since our friend got dengue fever in the area so we figured "whatever."

In the morning we found that spider perched right over the slit in the net where we had been crawling in and out to pee during the night, and that was too much for us. After I dispatched it, my wife brushed my arm from behind and I was so surprised I accidentally backhanded her in the face. Naturally, she was pretty upset and I didn't feel too good about it either.

23 hours ago, Foxpalms said:

The false widows that the media also makes a fuss about here are also pretty docile as long as you don't apply pressure to them.

Regrettably, I have applied pressure... accidentally.

[Foxpalms]

19 minutes ago, Rivera said:

Wtf...  this is disturbing.

I'm mostly a "live and let live" kind of guy, but anything that jumps on me has broken the truce. 

Also, the apartment full of brown recluses... 🤦 I hate it. 

I can appreciate spiders, and have a positive association with all the western orb weavers and wolf spiders (so many wolf spiders, but they are small here, like mostly under an inch front to rear legspan, so not scary). 

My wife and I were staying in Costa Rica. A fairly large spider was looming over the bed, but high up. We didn't like the looks of it, but we were using a mosquito net since our friend got dengue fever in the area so we figured "whatever."

In the morning we found that spider perched right over the slit in the net where we had been crawling in and out to pee during the night, and that was too much for us. After I dispatched it, my wife brushed my arm from behind and I was so surprised I accidentally backhanded her in the face. Naturally, she was pretty upset and I didn't feel too good about it either.

Regrettably, I have applied pressure... accidentally.

Hopefully that spider in Costa Rica over you're bed wasn't a Phoneutria boliviensis.

[Silas_Sancona]

2 minutes ago, Rivera said:

Wtf...  this is disturbing.

I'm mostly a "live and let live" kind of guy, but anything that jumps on me has broken the truce. 

Also, the apartment full of brown recluses... 🤦 I hate it. 

I can appreciate spiders, and have a positive association with all the western orb weavers and wolf spiders (so many wolf spiders, but they are small here, like mostly under an inch front to rear legspan, so not scary). 

My wife and I were staying in Costa Rica. A fairly large spider was looming over the bed, but high up. We didn't like the looks of it, but we were using a mosquito net since our friend got dengue fever in the area so we figured "whatever."

In the morning we found that spider perched right over the slit in the net where we had been crawling in and out to pee during the night, and that was too much for us. After I dispatched it, my wife brushed my arm from behind and I was so surprised I accidentally backhanded her in the face. Naturally, she was pretty upset and I didn't feel too good about it either.

Regrettably, I have applied pressure... accidentally.

Lol.!!!.

Knowing there are BIG venomous spiders native there, ..like Phoneutria, ...i could see me doing exactly the same thing..   I actually swatted a friend with a tree branch after running into a fat Orb Weaver and it's associated massive ...and surprisingly strong... web while a group of friends and i were hiking to a known after hours spot at a lake one night where i used to live in Kansas. Never heard the end of that afterwards, haha. 


It was kind of disturbing knowing there were Brown Recluse hanging around, especially after my messy roommate moved out and i found a ton more ..upstairs... where our bedrooms were.  Up until that point, i 'd slept a bit easier believing they hung out mostly down stairs, near the kitchen and living room area.   That said,  handled it until i moved out. 

Had the classic experience of " Peek -a- boo spider hiding under the sheets " ( Fat Brown Reclues, of course..  ) while staying at a friends parent's house when i went to sleep in one of the guest bedrooms..  Slept out in the living room, lol.

The one that accosted me in the shower was captured and placed in a jar, after i nearly knocked myself out trying to get it off the back of my leg and out of the shower at the same time.  I'd thought maybe it died in the jar and decided to open it a few days later.. Nope, darn thing made a dash out of the jar toward my face.  Caught it again and put a couple Jumping spiders i caught  in with it the next day.. that worked, lol.

Downtown, where i'd worked at night when i lived there, you'd see them slung out on the sides of buildings after a good summer storm ..Just hanging out, watching everyone walking by..  No worries, right?  

My other apartment there was surrounded by other apartments, a Hy Vee / Bank, other stuff in that shopping center next door,  and other homes behind my complex  and i think i found one or two Brown Recluse outside that place in the two 1/2 years i lived there..  Apartment that was full of them sat next to a patch of woods and other apartments on a hill, ...also surrounded by wooded areas,  below the north side of Kansas University ..prefect habitat, -complete with human dwellings, lol. 

Speaking of Wolfies,  Lol, you'd probably have hated the ones i came across  in Ohio.. Big, ..and kinda mean looking.. but harmless.  found a good sized one  here a few months ago also.   No Huntsman here yet, though they're supposedly common.  Handled a couple in FL. while cleaning up at a nursery i'd worked at.  Intimidating? definitely. They run very fast for big spiders too.

Only " Jumping " spider(s) i ignore ..are jumping spiders..  Others, esp. Sac Spiders.  They jump at / on me?   Yeahh.. i move away  very  quickly / spider die ..very quickly.. 

When i was ..maybe 7 or 8??  i was sleeping on my grandma's bed one night when a woodlouse spider ..or something similar was crawling across the ceiling.. My mom insisted that if i just laid there and watched it, it would stay ..up on the ceiling and move to some corner of it..  Did for awhile, ..until it wandered toward the ceiling light, directly above me, ...and decided to drop, directly onto me..  I've never allowed my mom to forget that " advise " haha. 

[Rivera]

8 hours ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Lol.!!!.

Knowing there are BIG venomous spiders native there, ..like Phoneutria, ...i could see me doing exactly the same thing..   I actually swatted a friend with a tree branch after running into a fat Orb Weaver and it's associated massive ...and surprisingly strong... web while a group of friends and i were hiking to a known after hours spot at a lake one night where i used to live in Kansas. Never heard the end of that afterwards, haha. 


It was kind of disturbing knowing there were Brown Recluse hanging around, especially after my messy roommate moved out and i found a ton more ..upstairs... where our bedrooms were.  Up until that point, i 'd slept a bit easier believing they hung out mostly down stairs, near the kitchen and living room area.   That said,  handled it until i moved out. 

Had the classic experience of " Peek -a- boo spider hiding under the sheets " ( Fat Brown Reclues, of course..  ) while staying at a friends parent's house when i went to sleep in one of the guest bedrooms..  Slept out in the living room, lol.

The one that accosted me in the shower was captured and placed in a jar, after i nearly knocked myself out trying to get it off the back of my leg and out of the shower at the same time.  I'd thought maybe it died in the jar and decided to open it a few days later.. Nope, darn thing made a dash out of the jar toward my face.  Caught it again and put a couple Jumping spiders i caught  in with it the next day.. that worked, lol.

Downtown, where i'd worked at night when i lived there, you'd see them slung out on the sides of buildings after a good summer storm ..Just hanging out, watching everyone walking by..  No worries, right?  

My other apartment there was surrounded by other apartments, a Hy Vee / Bank, other stuff in that shopping center next door,  and other homes behind my complex  and i think i found one or two Brown Recluse outside that place in the two 1/2 years i lived there..  Apartment that was full of them sat next to a patch of woods and other apartments on a hill, ...also surrounded by wooded areas,  below the north side of Kansas University ..prefect habitat, -complete with human dwellings, lol. 

Speaking of Wolfies,  Lol, you'd probably have hated the ones i came across  in Ohio.. Big, ..and kinda mean looking.. but harmless.  found a good sized one  here a few months ago also.   No Huntsman here yet, though they're supposedly common.  Handled a couple in FL. while cleaning up at a nursery i'd worked at.  Intimidating? definitely. They run very fast for big spiders too.

Only " Jumping " spider(s) i ignore ..are jumping spiders..  Others, esp. Sac Spiders.  They jump at / on me?   Yeahh.. i move away  very  quickly / spider die ..very quickly.. 

When i was ..maybe 7 or 8??  i was sleeping on my grandma's bed one night when a woodlouse spider ..or something similar was crawling across the ceiling.. My mom insisted that if i just laid there and watched it, it would stay ..up on the ceiling and move to some corner of it..  Did for awhile, ..until it wandered toward the ceiling light, directly above me, ...and decided to drop, directly onto me..  I've never allowed my mom to forget that " advise " haha. 

Oh no, that'll leave an impression on a youngster!

Not much of a photo and I don't know what this is, but they were numerous in Saigon where my wife and I stayed with a friend.

After I trapped it and let it go in the yard, my friend who lived there was like, "What are you doing?! We kill those!" 

[Silas_Sancona]

4 hours ago, Rivera said:

Oh no, that'll leave an impression on a youngster!

Not much of a photo and I don't know what this is, but they were numerous in Saigon where my wife and I stayed with a friend.

After I trapped it and let it go in the yard, my friend who lived there was like, "What are you doing?! We kill those!" 

Superficially, it looks like a common Huntsman,  maybe something like Olios or Heteropoda ( Commonest sps  both of which occur here in the Southwest/ parts of CA  also )  but i'm sure there are many more Genera of Huntsman spiders there in S. E. Asia and no doubt there are likely venomous sps there as well.

I'd probably have tried to capture / release it also since most Huntsman aren't all that cranky / aggressive, and just want to hunt bugs, ...with plenty of " this is creepy " going through my mind while trying to capture it.

I remember camping trips to Mt. Madonna or Sanborn and being leery of using the bathrooms at either place at night.. No black Widows, but plenty of big, Wolf- spider types hanging out on the ceilings / walls of the outhouses at both places sometimes..

Fyi, if you and your wife / family ever make trips down to Cabo, La Paz / Todo Santos,  keep an eye out, esp. if hiking in the mountains.  We have our own, regionally native, ...but related to Phoneutria... Wandering Spider sp. ... Was discovered in 2013:  Califorctenus cacachilensis.  

https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/543495-Califorctenus-cacachilensis

Doesn't appear to be dangerously venomous, but ..a softball- sized Spider is intimidating enough.  Not sure, but think surveys continue to see if the species occurs further north.


 

[amh]

A tiny cicada next to a piece of cat food for a size reference.

[amh]

All this spider talk. I've been bitten by the two bad spiders species here and neither were pleasant experiences, but the big lesson is to wear gloves when working and don't put your hands in areas that you cant see. The wolf and trapdoor spiders are common where I live. The wolf spiders have eyes that reflect blue and green when hit with a flashlight beam, there are a lot of eyes.

[Rivera]

Not sure what this bumblebee was doing hanging out in the tree ferns last night, but here she is.

[Darold Petty]

Locals doing the 'wild thing'    I use no chemicals in my garden, and I have a flourishing little community of native bumblebees. (no idea about species ID)

[EJPalm05]

Baby Racoon in my garden and a Woodpecker.

Edited July 12, 2023 by EJ NJ

[Silas_Sancona]

Covered in pollen and taking a nap ...or just done working for the day.. Don't blame him, lol.



Gray Bird Grasshopper nymph



Skipper sp..



 Something you don't see to often, A Flying Lion ( Ant Lion, adult ).   There was a bee or wasp hiding inside the Bamboo stake at the same time.





Next generation of bug control patrolling the wall..



Rescued another from drowning while flooding the Pumpkins.. After drying it out / placing on a leaf,  we'll see if he makes it



One happy Toad..

[Rivera]

I disturbed this looper's daytime hiding spot while watering. It dried off on me, then flew away.

[Silas_Sancona]

3 hours ago, Rivera said:

I disturbed this looper's daytime hiding spot while watering. It dried off on me, then flew away.

Not being able to sleep last night, i checked on the lizard again.. Still in the same general area, but was fine..  

Another critter  i've had my eye on the last several weeks? ..not so much, lol..

[greysrigging]

Australian Green Tree Frogs on my verandah.

[steve99]

 A Scaley Breasted Lorikeet turned up in the backyard a few days ago.  It's the first one I've seen since the solitay one that turned up 12 months ago. - it hasn't been back as yet.     I also saw a Hybrid Pale Headed Rosella yesterday.  

[Silas_Sancona]

First of the larger " Sulphurs " of the season helping out the bees..

Orange Sulphur, Colias eurytheme







Citrus/ Apache Cicada exo-skelly..  Not sure if it was the same one, but an adult was calling from the same tree earlier today.



An interesting thought within the circle of life:  Who is the predator, ..and who becomes prey..  Look closely.

[steve99]

Satin Bowerbird.

 

[Silas_Sancona]

Leaf-footed Bug



Good year for the Med. Geckos.. Good enough that this kiddo ended up in the house..





Back outside to continue bug patrol..




Another, not so welcome visitor eliminated..

[Looking Glass]

Many lizard species in the yard, but these are the only ones not allowed to stay….  Hatchlings are easier to deal with than the 12+ pounders.    

Iguanas.  

A big adult managed to dig a hole under my neighbor’s Spanish roof tiles so he has a comfortable place to spend the nights now.  

Edited July 24, 2023 by Looking Glass

[Silas_Sancona]

Interesting article from Smithsonian that i'm sure will create some buzz..  Noting who pollinates what in the yards over several years, and out in habitat, have to say i completely agree with the thoughts shared. 

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/pollination-from-honeybees-could-make-plants-less-fit-to-survive-and-reproduce-180982467/
 

[Silas_Sancona]

A bunch of pictures of an uncommon ( ..in more developed parts of the Valley ) and much anticipated Monsoon Season visitor. Probably the healthiest of the 3 i have found in the neighborhood since moving here.. 

Couch's Spadefoot, Scaphiopus couchii  The most common of the locally native Spadefoot sps you'll find here.  Like most, Couch's spends most of the year underground awaiting the vibrations from Monsoon-Season Thunderstorms  or heavy rainfall to bring them out to feed n' breed over the course of a few weeks in July and August -in AZ, most years-. 

Development of Tadpoles can adjust to how quickly a given breeding pond retains water. Under average circumstances / cooler water conditions,  development can take 3-5 weeks, but in many cases, tadpoles can go from egg to frog / toadlet stage in under 10 days.

Like all Spadefoot species, Couch's possesses a pair of hard, fingernail-like " spades " on the back feet to aid in digging burrows, and possibly use as a defence mechanism. Like all other Amphibians, they can also produce a noxious skin secretion to deter predation which can smell like peanuts and give those sensitive to it a runny nose after handling.

Up until recently, all American Spadefoot species were lumped into the genus Spea. Further research broke this into two genera, as well as teasing out individual species within the " Western " group:  Spea = " Western " Spadefoots, Western, Great Basin, Plains, and Mexican Spadefoot,  ...and Scaphiopus, =  the " Southern " Spadefoots,  which includes Couch's, Eastern, and Hurter's.

Aside from the relatively smooth skin, vertically - oriented, cat - like pupils are the easiest way to tell all Spadefoot sps. from True Toads, ..and pretty much all Frogs, esp. those that occur here in the U.S..

This kiddo was hopping about last night while i was watering stuff out front. Took it ( not sure on the sex ) inside for a quick photo shoot in the bathroom sink before letting it resume the evening hunt..   Now i really wish i had a small pond, lol. If i put together a list of 20 favorite frogs/toads i have personally observed / handled, this species would be #2 on that list.









Overhead / Frontal view:





Closer up of the Vertical Pupils:



" Spades ":   In Couch's, the spades are sickle- shaped. They are more wedge - shaped in Mexican Spadefoot, the other fairly common sp here in / around Phoenix and Tucson.

[Cindy Adair]

Really amazing photography and comments here! Thank you!

No destructive iguanas on my farm yet. I like the blue markings on this occasional as far as I know harmless visitor.

[Looking Glass]

9 hours ago, Silas_Sancona said:

. 

 

As far as toads go…. That’s a supermodel right there.  

[Looking Glass]

7 minutes ago, Cindy Adair said:

Really amazing photography and comments here! Thank you!

No destructive iguanas on my farm yet. I like the blue markings on this occasional as far as I know harmless visitor.

This looks much like the South American Giant Amevia (Amevia amevia) that are in my yard.   They are big, like a couple feet long.  There used to be just one hanging around…. Today there were 7 in the yard hard at work.   They stay on the ground, dragging along in jerky, twitchy movements, and make a living digging beetles, grubs and worms out of the yard.  They dig a lot of small holes in their searches.  Sometimes flinging dirt all over the sidewalk and driveway.  They love digging along edges and borders.   

 

Sometimes I have to separate them before someone loses a leg.  

 

 

I wonder if yours is a Puerto Rican Giant Amevia (Pholidoscelis exsul)?  
http://www.wildherps.com/species/P.exsul.html

[Cindy Adair]

Wow Looking Glass, not only an amazing video but I think you have nailed the identity of the lizard in my photo! 
 

I definitely see holes here that are not my dreaded Strategus rhino beetles. Some have tarantulas

and I think others are Amevia holes. 

Unless the holes are next to the stem of young palms I ignore them. 

[D. Morrowii]

Sounds like the Amevia non native are they having any negative impacts down there? Pretty cool little guys!

[Looking Glass]

So many non-natives.  Probably has some sort of negative impact.  They seem to eat large bugs and worms….  Sniffing them out and digging them up.  Native species that I see do similar stuff are baby possums and white ibis.