Sometimes biodiversity surprises you by appearing in unexpected places. Walking through the garden from the garage, this juvenile or nymph katydid jumped onto a load of clean laundry and rode into the house.

Katydids are herbivorous insects and they do nibble on my roses at night. But they also are important food for many of the bird and lizards that eat insects in my yard. As long as predators can find clean, safe food in our yard, they come and maintain a balance. Only two or three katydids seem to survive to adulthood.

Two species of katydids, common in the Los Angeles area, are both residents in our yard.

This nymph is a fork-tailed bush katydid (Scudderia mexicana); it will grow up to be all green with long, thin leaf-shaped wings.

The other species we see is the broad-winged katydid (Microcentrum rhombifolium) To see a photo of this classic, katydid with wide, green leaf-shaped wings.


Insects that eat your plants are best kept in check by a balanced ecosystem with predators. Put the insecticides aside and attract insect predators to your yard.

Praying Mantises Emerge

Digging deeper into backyard biodiversity means getting you to look at what is in your backyard too.

This past week we had consecutive days of temperatures in the high 90s F. The praying mantis egg cases seemed to be plumper each day. (This egg case was laid by a female praying mantis that I had caught and used in a class I was teaching last fall.)

Saturday night the low hovered around 60 degrees F. Sunday morning dawned overcast but warm. Everything was just right and the pray mantis juveniles emerged from their egg case leaving behind debris shed as they emerged.

We missed the moment of emergence, but this photo taken by our friend Jessica shows how the praying mantis juveniles hatch all at once. Jessica caught this moment in her yard.

The 4 -5 mm long, tiny praying mantises were dispersing when we saw them. There were 20-30 of them.

We wished them well as they dashed along the grape vine and across the patio supports. Some will become food for birds, lizards and other insects. Hopefully, some will grow up to prey on a variety of insects in the yard and lay their egg casings on twigs to continue the cycle of praying mantises in the yard.

Giant Mosquitoes ?

There’s been concern among some of my neighbors that we are being invaded by giant mosquitoes.

Actually, the spring rains have encouraged the pupation of large numbers of common crane flies (Tipula planicornis). At first glance, these long-legged flies do look like mosquitoes, but they actually have very little in common.

The crane fly larva feeds on roots and plant matter under leaf litter. It kind of looks like a large (half inch long) thick-skinned maggot. It isn’t an attractive childhood, but it is nothing like the aquatic mosquito. Once the crane fly develops into an adult with wings it has a fairly short lifespan and typically does not eat. You can tell it is a fly and not a mosquito because it only has two wings (one pair). Mosquitoes and all other kinds of flying insects typically have four wings (two pairs).

Some people call crane flies “mosquito hawks” with the assumption that they eat mosquitoes. Unfortunately, that is a myth. Personally, I think they look like fairies when they fly up from the grass.

The past year’s warm dry weather followed by a moderate winter with normal rainfall has enhanced grass growth. Crane fly larva prosper in grass and we seem to be having an unusually large population of adults this spring. The females are considerably thicker in body. One source said that females are unable to fly. There appear to be far more males than females, and I saw a group of males mobbing a single female all trying to mate with her.

Is anything eating these crane flies? So far I haven’t seen any birds or other animals munching on the flying adults. If you look at them closely, they are mostly long brittle legs and glassy wings. There isn’t much to eat. However, I’m sure that as larva they are consumed by a number of our yard birds, Bewick’s wren, California and spotted towhee. Perhaps their availability added to the Bewick's decision to nest in our yard. Bewick's wren nest.

So don’t be alarmed by a large long-legged crane fly headed your direction. It isn’t a mosquito and it isn’t going to hurt you. Part of being a good gardener is getting to know the species in your yard. The common crane fly isn’t going to harm you or your garden. In fact I noticed a young alligator lizard sunning itself about a foot from the breeding crane fly group. Maybe it was waiting for the soon to be laid, crane fly eggs.

Habitat for Wildlife in the City

A desert cottontail dashed frantically across the street. Where ever she stopped she seemed exposed and threatened. She seemed the perfect analogy for all of the native residents of our neighborhood this morning.

The warm days have brought an unseasonal beginning of spring. The cottontails are breeding. The reptiles and butterflies are emerging from their cool weather slumber. And the birds are heavily invested in nesting. This male Bewick’s wren is busily collecting food for a family of chicks.

But it is February. This morning city workers are drastically pruning streetside trees as another storm is headed our way. The sound of chain saws cuts through the afternoon air. It brings a feeling of angst and worry. Add in the gardeners with their blowers and electric pruners chewing through what was this morning’s safe habitat and you have wildlife scattering like frantic rabbits.

How many early nests in those trees are already occupied with youngsters?

How many overgrown shrubs are harboring hummingbird chicks just about to leave the nest?

A dead liquid amber tree on the corner died over the summer. It is slated for removal. As I walked by I noticed a woodpecker hole high on a main branch. A timid head peered out. Parent or chick? For cavity nesters, finding an appropriate tree can be nearly impossible.

For once the city is trimming trees in winter. But this year, the plants and animals have a different calendar.

The trees need to be trimmed and a dead tree at a major intersection is a danger. But we seem to have forgotten that plants have other reasons for existing rather than pleasing our eye. Plants provide food and shelter. Trees are bedrooms and nurseries. They are restaurants and hotels.

Take a look at your yard–your trees and shrubs, flowers and grass. If you aren’t providing habitat, you aren’t part of the real neighborhood.

Surviving the California Rain

Five days of drenching rain.

The green lynx spider continues to hold on to her geranium stem.

But her egg sac? It looks as though it may be completely saturated. Her drive to produce viable offspring may have been thwarted by the wet weather. Still she holds on and stands guard. Before the rain

Throughout the week, the bird feeders have been a center of activity. The feeders have provided food to birds even in the rain. This afternoon, however the Cooper's hawk was also using the feeders. I caught him just after he had made an attempt to catch one of the doves eating at feeder. He stopped for just a moment on top of the feeder before heading up into the wet trees. Video of a Cooper's hawk.

How the tiny hummingbirds survive the driving rain amazes me. I've been looking for nesting attempts. So far I haven't found any. I'm sure that any initial nests will have been abandoned because of the weather.

Thursday morning we spotted a disoriented California towhee sitting beside the neighbor's brick wall. The towhee's feathers were tattered. It may have been an older individual. It wasn't injured. It just seemed exhausted. We shooed it away from the street and open sidewalk and up into the bushes along our yard. At least there it had shelter from the elements. At times there have been several species of birds sitting on the patio to escape the worst of the rain and hail.

Since Monday, our tiny niche of biodiversity in Woodland Hills, California has received over 7 1/2 inches of water. I'm sure that isn't much in many other places, but in California it is a fair amount. Our annual rainfall averages only 16 inches.

A two-foot wall of mud flowed down our little canyon and was stopped by our fence. No disaster, but enough mud to close off the cottontails' regular path under the fence.

A sunny moment and a rainbow. The rain has quenched our drought parched landscape, but for some the intensity of the rain has been too much.

Subterranean Termites, Of Course

It is a warm spring day in Southern California. The first Allen’s hummingbird chicks left the nest on April 1 and 2. This year, I don’t mean to brag... but, I have four nesting Allen’s hummingbirds. So far all the nests are safe and sound and the little ones are growing fast. I would take photos but...

We had a soft, unmeasurable rain two nights ago. Follow that nocturnal dampness with two sunny days warming the ground and what do you get? Swarming subterranean termites, of course.

I’d take a picture, but I can’t find the camera.

You’ll have to believe me when I say these small, black termites with their two pairs of fluttering wings harken back to primordial times. Their flight is less flying and more rising up, clinging to the air and hoping for a breeze. They just need to get far enough away from home to drop to the ground, loose their wings and start their own wood devouring colony of their own.

Does it surprise me to see swarming subterranean termites? No. Deep soaking winter rains encourage abundant flowers and the expansion of termite colonies. I’d love to show you a photo of the blooming photinia and flannel bush, but the camera is not to be found. (flannel bush at the top, photinia here, Michael found the camera) It is somewhere in the boxes of items that need to be moved back into the house after... you guessed it...TENTING FOR TERMITES!

We had dry wood termites. They are bigger, more reddish brown in color when they take flight. Subterraneans? No, we didn’t have those. But somewhere up the hillside, these little guys are living underground naturally. Now, they are taking to the air, floating down the canyon right toward out house.

Where are my western fence lizards when I need their hungry mouths? Where are the insect eating birds? Well at least the black phoebe has shown up and is snatching termites out of the air.

As soon as I find that camera...

Gray Bird Grasshopper ?

There is a green grasshopper in the ornamental plum tree. It’s rich velvety green color suggests a gladiator katydid, but binoculars reveal its antennae are more like a creosote grasshopper. No, that’s not right either, there are no markings on the legs.

With its green image seared into my memory I type “green grasshopper” into Google and the hunt begins. Eventually, I’m at BugGuide searching through the taxonomic trees of grasshoppers. I finally come across a photo that matches and the name in the caption surprises me completely.

This green beauty is a nymph or juvenile form of my old friend the gray bird grasshopper (Schistocerca nitens).

The gray bird seems to appear out of the ether in mid-to-late summer, when actually like any good magician it was hiding in plain view. The young gray bird grasshopper looks completely different from the long, hard, gray body it will have in a few months.

Because the grasshopper’s exoskeleton carries its color, new markings or even completely different coloration can appear with each molt of the exoskeleton. As the grasshopper grows it will molt multiple times. It is a typical and successful natural strategy: blend in with the background when you are young and vulnerable, change your appearance with adulthood so you can attract a mate and reproduce. When you are a creature born in an ecosystem that is green in spring and dries to a crackly brown by late summer, its a huge plus if you can change your coloration to fit in.

This year, southern California skipped through its green phase and went directly to parched brown. Irrigated yards are the greatest outpost of green. Perhaps that is why this young gray bird grasshopper appeared. The food possibilities are much greater this year along suburb sidewalks. But this little guy jeopardized invisiablity by chosing to snack on purple foliage. On these leaves, it was definitely not camouflaged.

Here Be Spiders!

Zone 1 is the Realm of Spiders! I’ve tabulated and entered the data collected counting plants and animals in Zone 1 for the Backyard Biodiversity Project.

The area consists of the cement walkway with steps to the front door, the wall, the eaves and the planter under the stairs. As you can see, there is minimal habitat.

I have collected data on this Zone three other times, October 2001 and January of 2004 and 2005. I couldn’t understand why it was taking me so much longer this time around, but there was a good reason.

Previously the highest species count was 19 different plants and animals.

This time, I found 63 species living in Zone 1 or traveling through it. There are 47 different animal species and 16 plant species.

I think the major difference with the species count comes from the fact that it is summer. During January counts I only saw 4 species of spider, but in June there are 2 species of mites and 14 different spider species.

They range in size from adult corner spiders (Hololena curta) about the size of a quarter to a tiny delicate spider only a millimeter in size that is gray in color and sways like a dancer on the filaments of its web. Young wolf spiders roam the stairway while 7 juvenile black widows (Latrodectus mactans) are trying to grow up unnoticed at the corner of a step or in between bricks. Though they are feared by many people, the odds are against any of these youngsters making it to adulthood. Most likely, they will become food for someone else.

Seven cobweb spiders (Pholcus phalangiodes) stake out the high overhangs while another exotic, a sow bug killer spider (Dysdera croctoa) hides under a brick in the planter waiting for one of the common pill bugs (Armadillidium vulare). The pill bugs have increased in number, so it is fine with me if this girl hunts the planter.

There is a house spider (Achaearanea tepidariurm) on the stairs. A predatory red mite dashes across my data sheet. And if I count early in the morning, I see this young common orb weaver (Neoscona oxacensis), before she roles up her web from the previous night and retreats to the Boston ivy for the day. Currently, she’s only about 5 mm, but come the end of summer she will be a plump beauty snaring insects in her web each night.

A mourning dove, an alligator lizard, a desert cottontail and a striped skunk occasionally pass through this small Zone. The dove and the lizard bask in the sun, the cottontail uses the steps, while the skunk seems to be dining on the occasional brown garden snail.

Since I removed some of the nonnative plants and have reduced the water in this area, the exotic brown garden snails and the Argentine ants have decreased. In fact I haven’t seen an Argentine ant in this Zone since 2004.

The weeping fig (Ficus benjamina) is a perfect example of an exotic species severely damaged by this year’s winter frost. While it is slowly recovering, native plants weathered the frost and are a better option. To help Zone 1 provide more habitat, I plan is to add more native plants and create a small rock pile that will offer shelter to slender salamanders and alligator lizards.

See what was in Zone 17

Animalbytes Annual species directory

Backyard Biodiversity Project - Day 8

Who knew that five cements steps leading up to the front door could be such a challenge. This seemingly sterile landscape shelters communities tucked in cracks and along the edges where debris collects.

There are the remnants of a European honey bee, a lone pill bug marching along, clusters of springtails breaking down the debris into soil.

Everything is small here. My loop reveals that the tiny spider with its web among the brick edging is a young black widow. One springtail stands out from the rest. It is larger, honey colored and has longer antennae.

Then I stumble across the truly unusual. In this brown and grey world, a lime-green maggot only 4mm long. Is it masquerading as a caterpillar? What is it doing among the dead leaves? What is it?

I search through my books and find nothing. I go back to take a photo and it is gone.

Searching the Internet I finally find that it is a larva from the Syrphid fly family, a kind of flower or hover fly. This green guy was looking for aphids or other insects to eat.

Just as importantly, I found two wonderful insect identification resources:

• The Bug Guide - scientific source with a great search capability
• What's That Bug - two "save-that-beneficial-insect" like-minded folks also from Los Angeles helping people all over the world identify insects

A driving force of the Backyard Biodiversity Project is becoming aware of the living things that are sharing this small piece of the planet with me. Be INFORMED before you squash! Most bugs, even my green maggot, are beneficial to humans and the planet.

Backyard Biodiversity Project - Zone 17

Part of surveying the plants and animals of Hummingbird Hill is recording all the data. I’ve divided the property into Zones. The Zones are different sizes but each is a type of habitat.

Zone 17 Description

• Location: Planter in front of house on a North facing slope, from driveway to the eastern property edge. Includes driveway in front of house.
• Soil Condition: Poor, concrete and gravel over clay
• Water Availability: Manual hose irrigation and rain
• Climate: Dry, sun
  
• Human Traffic: Minimal, but daily car traffic across driveway
• Animal Traffic: Minimal canine passing through

I’m interested in Native vs. Exotic species - who is surviving, who is not. Who is feeding on whom. What animals are interacting with which plants. The hardest task is finding a good source for identifiing the small creatures and the “weeds.”

Zone 17 General Notes:

• Densest populations of animal species were found in specific areas. Dominant species are scale and aphids; exotic cottony cushion scale (Icerya purchasi) [on Native holly cherry] and exotic oleander aphid (Aphis nerii) [on exotic oleander] 170; and Native rose aphid (Microsiphum rosae) 50 [on exotic oleander]. Small milkweed bugs (Lygaeus kalmii) constituted a reproducing population of natives on the ground among the gravel. Spiders were found on the oleander stumps. All other animals were singletons or deceased populations.
• Dominant plant species is unidentified. Most successful plants are volunteers in cracks of driveway.
• Exotic snail and crustaceans only represented by deceased bodies possibly due to drought.
• The greatest species diversity was among spiders, 7 species and insects 10 species.
• 31 species identified - 25 animals, 6 plants
• Greatest population - cottony cushion scale (Icerya purchasi) 200 individuals and yet-identified volunteer ground cover, 34 plants.
• Currently no birds, reptiles or mammals live in this Zone, though birds have nested here in the past.
• Animals out number plants. Natives out number Exotics.
  

Native Insects:

1. rose aphid, Microsiphum rosae, 50 (feeding on oleander)
2. California carpenter bee, Xylocopa californica, 1
3. small milkweed bug, Lygaeus kalmii, 67
4. gray bird grasshopper, Schistocerca nitens, 1 (body parts left by predator)
5. black gnat, Bradysia impatiens, 1

Exotic Insects:

1. oleander aphid, Aphis nerii, 170 (feeding on oleander)
2. Argentine ant, Iridomyrmex humilis, 1 (one the garage door)
3. cottony cushion scale, Icerya purchasi, 200 (feeding on holly leaf cherry)
4. oleander scale, Aspidiotus nerii, 1 (feeding on oleander)

Not yet identified:

1. long-legged fly, Dolichopodidae ssp type, 1

Native Spiders and Crawlies:

1. round snail, Discus whitneyi, 3 dead
2. soil mite, Oribatei spp., 1
3. corner spider, Hololena curta, 3
4. trashweb spider, Cyclosa turbinata, 10

Exotic Spiders and Crawlies:

1. brown garden snail, Helix aspers, 6 dead
2. common pill bug, Armadillidium vulgare, 4 dead

Not yet identifed Spiders and Crawlies:

1. snail, cone type, longer than wide, 1 dead
2. spider unidentified, ‘1 mm’ brown, 1
3. spider unidentified, ‘3 mm’ brown no web, long front legs, 2
4. spider unidentified, ‘ant-sized’ black, 1
5. spider unidentified, ‘ant-sized’ black with web, 1

Native Birds:

1. band-tailed pigeon, Columba fasciata, feather
2. California towhee, Pipilo crissalis, 1

Native Mammals:

1. desert cottontail, Sylvilagus audubonii, scat

Exotic Mammals:

1. fox squirrel, Sciurus niger, 1

Native Plants:

1. sow thistle, Sunchus ssp., 15 (volunteer in driveway cracks)
2. spotted spurge, Euphorbia maculata, 1 (volunteer in driveway cracks)
3. annual bluegrass, Poa annua, 2 (volunteer in driveway cracks)
   

Not yet identified:

1. ground cover with white flowers, 34 (volunteer in driveway cracks)

Exotic shrub:

1. oleander, Nerium oleander, 4 (recently cut to the ground)

Native tree:

1. holly leaf cherry, Prunus ilicifolia ilicifolia, 2 (volunteers)

Backyard Biodiversity Project - Day 3

I started on what I thought would be the most sterile “zone” on the property - Zone 17, a barren, gravely planter next to the sidewalk and the lower driveway. To my astonishment I logged in six species of plants and individuals, or remnants of individuals, from 24 animal species!

Stunning!

What’s that bug? This is a small milkweed bug (Lygaeus kalmii). I came across 9 adults.

And if you look closely at the gravel.

In between leaf litter and seeds from the now cutback oleander, there were 58 juvenile small milkweed bugs. That means this population is living and reproducing in this small planter, along the driveway.

These bugs typically feed on milkweed, but there is no milkweed in the area. What are they feeding on? Could it be the oleander? It seems to be the sterile oleander seeds they are eating. It will be interesting to see if there are milkweed bugs near the other oleanders.

The Backyard Biodiversity Project

Summer is rolling across the Southern California landscape. Mornings are cool, but the clouds burn off to a haze by midday.

Like a seedling feeling the sun’s warmth and pushing up to the surface, I feel like June is time to do a little growing. So I’m bursting out of my shell and plunging forward with a project that is near to my heart.

The Backyard Biodiversity Project

For the past couple of years I have kept track of plants and animals over, on, in and under the ground here at Hummingbird Hill in Woodland Hills, California. Some of these records have been detailed, others have been sporadic. For example:

• My record of bird species visiting our yard goes back 7 years. Originally, it was simply noting on a pad which birds I had seen during a month. Now I know which week in May to expect the hooded orioles to return. I know that a year ago today the red-shouldered hawks were just about ready to leave the nest (hawklets). As of May 2007, 64 different avian species have lived at or visited Hummingbird Hill.
• I’ve identified 13 species of spiders, including our colony of trapdoor spiders. (trapdoor spiders)
• We have a breeding population of California slender salamanders. Our only amphibian species.
• We’ve seen three species of lizards, eight species of butterflies and four different species of bees.

We don’t live in the wilds somewhere, we live in suburban Los Angeles. We are close to the Santa Monica Mountains, but only two blocks from one of the busiest freeways in the U.S.

In June, I am going to do what I’ve wanted to do for years. One quadrant at a time, I am going to inventory the plants and creatures on our .75 acre of property. I think the diversity of insects, worms, arthropods, birds, reptiles, and even mammals will surprise you.

Here’s a taste of the creatures I’ve mentioned before:

Creating a Garden that Attracts Wildlife
Urban Wildlife

Insects: Native bees; Trapdoor spiders; Jerusalem cricket; gray bird grasshopper; mourning cloak butterfly; monarch butterflies

Reptiles: western fence lizard; spur-thighed tortoise, Turkey; starred agama lizard, Turkey

Birds: goldfinch; red-shouldered hawk; crows and owls; white-crowned sparrows; Bewick's wren; CA quail; Allen's hummingbirds & babies; bird houses.

Mammals: desert cottontail; mule deer; bats; harbor seals.

Native Plants: frost and CA natives; autumn

Adventures:
Cambria Audio Adventure - elephant seals, Elfin forest (podcast)
Bolsa Chica Wetlands - Part 1
Bolsa Chica Wetlands - Part 2 (podcast)
Solar Eclipse 2006 Turkey

Counting starts tomorrow. Get ready for a June of DISCOVERY.