If you walk along Foothill Blvd to the field station, you may be enjoying the masses of Common Fiddleneck (Amsinckia intermedia) and Distant Phacelia (Phacelia distans) blooming in the parkway, spurred on by the unusually rainy winter. Both Common Fiddleneck and Distant Phacelia are characteristic annuals of California Sage Scrub – a native plant community […]
Tag Archive 'bees'
Insect update
Posted in News, Sightings, Web Updates on May 17th, 2013
We’ve recently added nine new insects to our BFS invertebrate list – one bug, three flies, two moths, one butterfly, and two bees. Here they are: Bug: A rough stinkbug – Brochymena sp. (Hemiptera:Pentatomidae) Rough stinkbugs, Brochymena sp. occur throughout North America. Rough Stink Bugs are often found on trees, where they are very well-camouflaged […]
This past Saturday, a group of hardy volunteers turned out on a cool, misty day to complete the cattail clearing at pHake Lake. Our main target for the day was “south beach”, a supposedly open area on the south shore of the lake used by many classes. So everyone was in the water or in […]
Recent additions to the BFS invert list
Posted in News, Sightings, Web Updates on Aug 25th, 2012
Since our last update we’ve added fifteen new taxa to the BFS invertebrate list, including 1 katydid, 2 bugs, 2 beetles, 3 flies, 1 butterfly, 5 bees, and 1 wasp. As always, many thanks to everyone who’s helped observe, photograph, collect, and identify these inverts, including Ben Stapp, Jonathan Wright, Hartmut Wisch, John Ascher, David […]
BFS Invert list updated
Posted in News, Sightings, Web Updates on Jun 7th, 2012
We’ve recently updated the BFS invertebrate list, and I’m afraid that our blog posts have not kept pace with our new invert finds. Altogether since our last invert blog update, we’ve added an additional 57 taxa, including 3 spiders, 1 silverfish, 1 dragonfly, 2 grasshoppers, 6 bugs, 10 beetles, 10 flies, 5 moths, 3 butterflies, […]
Two new BFS plants
Posted in News, Sightings, Web Updates on Mar 25th, 2012
Two new plants have recently been discovered at the BFS. Many thanks to Leroy Gross and Erika Gardner of the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden for identifying the plants and making voucher specimens. Gilia angelensis A patch of Gilia angelensis (Chaparral Gilia) is flowering in a grassy area along the path by the Foothill Blvd […]
Recent additions to the BFS invert list
Posted in News, Sightings, Web Updates on Mar 27th, 2011
We have nine new additions to the BFS invert list: Dactylopius sp. (Cochineal) Our first addition is an insect that any casual observer might notice at the BFS, but it had somehow been overlooked in our list making – Cochineal (Dactylopius sp.) – that white cottony stuff on Opuntia sp. cacti (Prickly-Pear or Indian-Fig): Dactylopius […]
Nearly 100 new taxa added to BFS Invert List!
Posted in News, Sightings, Web Updates on Jun 17th, 2010
Although I normally write a news post for any new additions to the BFS Biota Lists, your busy arthropod researchers – primarily Hartmut Wisch, Harsi Parker, and Jonathan Wright – have gotten ahead of me! Since March we have documented nearly 100 new taxa for the BFS Invertebrate List and added many new photos. Over […]
Just in case you were fantasizing about nature’s creatures living in perfect harmony, you can get a dose of reality from two recently-spotted BFS denizens, who are clearly looking out for #1… Exhibit 1 is the Brown-headed Cowbird: Brown-headed Cowbirds, Molothrus ater, are small blackbirds that do not build their own nests. Instead, females lay […]