Damsel flies

“Pain In The Neck”

ESPatch Aug 17, 2014 7 comments

“How you doin?”

Bare with me as I take a quick jog down nerd boulevard to examine one of the stranger activities performed by the damselfly.

Before mating damselflies spend a considerable amount of time ‘checking each other out’ through close physical contact.

The selection of a suitable mate comes down to (as I have learned) the mesothoracic plates on the anterior surface of the females mesothorax, and how well the male bits (cerci) fit with these plates.

Here is a close up of the male’s abdominal fiddly bits,

ebriumFemaleThorax that interface with the top of the female’s thorax:

http://www.enallagma.com/cerci/damselflyMating.html

I found these two with their lock and key mechanism fully engaged in my stock tank. It is believed this interlocking system allows each sex to assess the species identity and suitability as a mate. Coupled together in this fashion they can fly perfectly in tandem.

Here is a video of the entire life cycle of these beneficial mosquito-eating insects:

Talking of stock tanks.

I use this one to catch rainwater from one of my gutters for hand watering purposes.

I flip it over when it is nearly drained and invariable perform an impromptu, non-adjudicated

andros_highland_fling copy

after encountering the scurrying beasties that are always lurking underneath it.

I have recently got into the habit of jumping back when I flip it,

green_snake just to be on the safe side.

This time under the tank my mystery prize was…

Two huge writhing mounds of Greenhouse Millipedes,

Oxidus gracilis

I know they are nothing like the African Giant Black Millipede Bear, and yes, feel free!

Moving Along:

As the Texas heat rises to August temperatures,

DSC07075 copy this artemesia ‘Silver King’ snow drift helps to cool things down.

As does the silvery-‘blue ice’ cypress…(must not focus on the grape vine…

must not focus on the grape vine…

…

Grape Vine2 …argh!)

…oh who am I kidding? It is just hot.

The blooms on this Pride of Barbados adequately sum up August in Austin.

I have quite a few of these around the Patch but this particular plant, in the least favorable of soils in my Hell-Strip, is by far the most vibrant.

Moy Grande Hibiscus also packs some summer heat.

Still, as far as summers go, this one has been relatively lenient, feeling shorter than usual with our late rains.

Plants are still full with no additional watering to date (apart from plants in containers) but more miraculously…I haven’t tied a single iced-turban this year, not one!

As for future winter attire?

After attending the Hill Country Weavers knitting and loom Camp she has it covered.

Happy 7th young assassin.

Finally:

A few before and after renderings of a design I recently generated for a Georgetown residence:

Stay Tuned For:

“Wail of a Weekend”

hqdefault All material © 2014 for eastsidepatch. Unauthorized
intergalactic reproduction strictly prohibited, and
punishable by late (and extremely unpleasant)
14th century planet Earth techniques.

“That’s Just Not Blight!”

ESPatch Oct 1, 2012 6 comments

Disturbing forest Ents,

unconventional attire, the smell of kettle corn and turkey legs, the sound of distant doodle-sacs, it could mean only one thing.

We had arrived after driving our trusty steed down the dusty “old potato” road at the Sherwood Forest Celtic Festival

http://www.sherwoodforestfaire.com/

In the middle of Texas!

Guinevere wasted no time finding the hair braiding tent,

while Arthur (and Excalibur) held session at the round table.

But the stars of the day were so little you could barely see them,

ladies and gentlemen I give you the…

…Pignut Flea Circus!

Imaginations ran wild watching these highly trained Irish fleas performing acrobatics, trapeze and walking the high wire.

Oh and should you need a break for a while…

I intend to integrate a couple of these into my hardscaping.

Back in the Patch:

The harvest moon rose over more unsettled weather this week,

and another couple of inches of well needed rain.

This was the view from my computer table before the rain.

Note the Mex. bush sage in the foreground.

There is no hiding their legginess now! This had me laughing all the way to my truck.

Toadstools emerged overnight,

and nearly all of the blooms on this yucca were beaten off the stalk,

lodging in tight at the base of the crown…oh that’s just great.

Well I am not going in there.

Salvia is currently in fine form, and this Barbados cherry,

Malpighia emarginata

is filling up the entire back garden with its cherry/honey fragrance.

The rain has greened up the muhly in my Hell-strip,

and pushed datura into a flowering frenzy.

This next insect looked like it needed some of the nectar.

This is a Rustic Sphinx, and it is one very large moth in the Sphinginae family.

Manduca rustica

They are very fond of desert willow, moonflowers and petunia. I found this one crawling around on my front doormat, looking decidedly unwell.

The next character was very shy and required some coaxing which in turn made it difficult to get a steady shot.

What I need is a camera with a retractable fake finger adaptation, though that would surely get me into trouble.

Myrmeleontidae – Antlions

Although they resemble dragonflies or damselflies they are not related.

Finally some grossness:

Captain it appears that this sand cherry is under attack?

Stay Tuned for:

“Notre Dame it’s got Cold”

All material © 2012 for eastsidepatch. Unauthorized
intergalactic reproduction strictly prohibited, and
punishable by late (and extremely unpleasant)
14th century planet Earth techniques.