Today I joined the WGNSS Botany Group as we hiked a portion of the Whispering Pines Trail to look for a rare clubmoss, then bushwhacked back to the beginning and went off-trail to a nearby sandstone box canyon to look for rare ferns. We found the clubmoss—Diphasiastrum tristachyum (blue clubmoss)—growing in the shortleaf pine/scarlet oak forest atop a LaMotte Sandstone cliff. Though common in eastern North America and Eurasia, the area in and around Hawn State Park is the only known station for the plant in Missouri, and this population is highly distinct from the next nearest population in Tennessee.
Diphasiastrum tristachyum (blue clubmoss—family Lycopodiaceae) in shortleaf pine forest atop LaMotte Sandstone cliff.
Diphasiastrum tristachyum (blue clubmoss—family Lycopodiaceae) with an old strobilus (spore-bearing reproductive structure).
We also found the ferns in the box canyon along with Mitchella repens (partrideberry) growing on the moist sandstone bluff faces of the canyon. This plant is not as rare in Missouri as blue clubmoss, but it is still seldom encountered outside of the LaMotte Sandstone forests of Ste. Genevieve County. An interesting feature of the berries is that they require two flowers to be fertilized and then develop together into a single berry—if you look closely at the berry you can see two “dimples” representing the remnants of the two flowers.
Mitchella repens (partridgeberry—family Rubiaceae) in shortleaf pine/scarlet oak upland forest on LaMotte Sandstone.
Mitchella repens (partridgeberry—family Rubiaceae) in shortleaf pine/scarlet oak upland forest on LaMotte Sandstone.
Each Mitchella repens (partridgeberry—family Rubiaceae) berry exhibits two “dimples” belying its two-flower provenance.
As we hiked I paid attention to the grasses (family Poaceae), which were as diverse as anywhere I’ve been lately (at least, since I’ve started paying attention to such things). Many of them I can recognize easily—river oats (Chasmanthiumlatifolium), little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), Broomsedge bluestem (Andropogon virginica), etc, but many more were new to me, including several species in the large and diverse genus Dichanthelium (rosette grasses). For most of them, rather than trying to identify in the field, I collected samples to look more closely at home with a microscope and my copy of “Steyermark’s Flora of Missouri.”
Dichanthelium sp. (rosette grass—family Poaceae) basal rosette in shortleaf pine/ scarlet oak upland forest atop LaMotte Sandstone.
One of them seems to be D. commutatum var. ashei (Ashe’s panic grass) [identified by Nathan Aaron via iNaturalist], which is distinguished by habitat (intact sandstone or chert woodlands), nodes not hairy, and small stature with leaves clustered towards the tip of the stem. We also saw (but I did not photograph) the common woodland D. boscii, which is larger and has massive spikelets and famously long-hairy nodes. I’ll share the full list here when I can, but it probably numbers around a dozen species.
Dichanthelium commutatum var. ashei (Ashe’s pacifist grass—family Poaceae) in shortleaf pine/scarlet oak upland forest on LaMotte Sandstone.
Insects were not numerous, despite the pleasant conditions, but I did see and manage to photograph a fiery skipper (Hylephila phyleus—family Hesperiidae).
Hylephila phyleus (fiery skipper—family Hesperiidae) in shortleaf pine/scarlet oak upland forest on LaMotte Sandstone.
After the outing, several of us enjoyed lunch at the Midway Bar & Grill in Weingarten, Missouri. I had an elk burger, yum!
Midway Bar & Grill in Weingarten, Missouri. I had an elk burger—yum!
Last month I made the fifth and final trip to extreme northwestern Oklahoma as part of a trapping study conducted at several locations throughout the area. Recall the main part of the study involved “jug traps” baited with pure ethanol (EtOH), sweet red wine (SRW), or a 50:50 blend of both (SRW/EtOH) to evaluate their efficacy in capturing longhorned beetles (family Cerambycidae). The traps were set in mid-May with the help of my good friend and longtime collecting buddy Rich Thoma (see First insect collecting trip of the season) and checked at ~5-week intervals throughout the season—first in mid-June at the beginning of a 3-week long collecting trip to the southwestern U.S. with another good friend and longtime collecting buddy, Mike Arduser (see 2023 Southwestern U.S. Collecting Trip iReport), then again in late July (see July “jug trap” run) and late August (see August “jug trap” run), and, finally, this last trip in early/mid-October. The July and August trips were solo, but Rich joined me again for this last trip, which concludes two years of data collection for the study (last year traps were placed across extreme southern Missouri). I plan to begin preparing a manuscript this coming winter to analyze and discuss the findings. I hope you have enjoyed “tagging along” with me on these trips as much as I have enjoyed doing them!
Day 1 — 10 Oct 2023 Alabaster Caverns State Park Woodward County, Oklahoma
We got here right around 5:30, which left us only with a couple hours of daylight to get the traps taken down. The jug traps were choked full of Euphoria sepulchralis with some Cotinus nitidus—especially the SRW/EtOH trap, but I did see at least one Eburia sp. so hopefully there will be other longhorns as well. I bagged the trap contents from each of the traps for sorting and counting later (the SRW/EtOH trap was so full that my 1-qt bags weren’t big enough and I had to borrow a 1-G bag from Rich). After retrieving the traps we went back up on top to check the white bottle trap and look for beetles on flowers in the shortgrass prairie above the canyon. The bottle trap had been pulled by an animal, so nothing in it☹️, and the only beetles I saw were Chauliognathus longifolia and a variety of meloids on flowers of Guterrezia sarothrae.
Epicauta pensylvanica (black blister beetle, black aster bug—family Meloidae) on flower of Gutierrizia sarothrae (snakeweed) in shortgrass prairie.
Epicautaaspera (blister beetle—family Meloidae) on flower of Gutierrizia sarothrae (snakeweed) in shortgrass prairie.
Before long it started getting dark, so we headed down to the campground to set up camp, have a beer (or two), and cook some dinner (ballpark brats!).
Aphonopelma hentzi (Texas brown tarantula, Oklahoma brown tarantula, Missouri tarantula—family Theraphosidae) crossing sidewalk in gypsum/clay short grass prairie.
After setting up camp we got started on the fire by collected kindling and small branches, one of which was a dead branch I yanked off a small dead Celtis occidentalis. I could tell as I was pulling it off that it had been well infested by wood boring beetles, and as I broke apart the larger portion of the branch (~1” día.) I found a couple of unemerged Euderces pini adults inside their pupal chambers. After dinner we walked the road back up out of the canyon—immediately starting out I found a Tetracha carolina zigzagging crazily on the road, and up on top of the canyon I found two different species of tenebrionid beetles lumbering slowly on the ground in the shortgrass prairie.
Tetracha carolina (Carolina metallic tiger beetle—family Cicindelidae) at night in collapsed cavern hackberry/bumelia/juniper woodland.
Back at the campsite we found a nice Scolopendron polymorpha centipede—Rich collected it very carefully to avoid getting bitten! It was crazy windy up on top but very calm down in the canyon, and temperatures were Goldilocks for sleeping!
Scolopendra polymorpha (common desert centipede, tiger centipede, banded desert centipede, Sonoran Desert centipede—family Scolopendridae) at night in collapsed cavern hackberry/bumelia/juniper woodland.
Day 2 — 11 Oct 2023
Sleeping temps were again super nice, and after breakfast and breaking camp we retrieved the Lindgren funnel trap. Like the jug traps yesterday, it was inundated with Euphoria sepulchralis, but since I’m not taking data from this trap we sorted through and discarded them all , finding 5 Neoclytus mucronatus, 2 Elateridae, and 1 Sandalus sp.
Collapsed cavern in the morning light.
We went back up to the shortgrass prairie before leaving the park to check the snakeweed and camphorweed flowers again, hoping that Crossidius longhorned beetles and Acmaeodera jewel beetles might be active. I also wanted to see if I could find another of a meloid that escaped my attempts to photograph it yesterday. There was more activity on the flowers, but nothing of interest until I went to the next shelf down and found the meloid (Epicauta stuarti) on flowers of Gutierrezia sarothrae. I wasn’t able to photograph it on the flowers, but I did get a “finger-photo”. I’m glad I was able to find and photograph it, because it turned out to be a new eastern record for the species on iNaturalist, which contains relatively few records for what must be a rather uncommon species.
Epicauta stuarti (blister beetle—family Meloidae) on flower of Gutierrizia sarothrae (snakeweed) in shortgrass prairie.
Nearby I encountered a large, impressive Say’s grasshopper (Spharagemon equale), which I collected thinking Rich would really want it (he did!). Still, I hadn’t seen any Crossidius or Acmaeodera until I went back on top, and on the last clump of G. sarothrae available to check I found one C. pulchellus still embedded down inside the flowers and not yet active. I wonder how many others I missed!
The drive from Alabaster Caverns to Gloss Mountain takes about an hour, so we arrived right at noon. After a bit of lunch, we started out on top of the mesa to check the jug traps. As at Alabaster caverns, they were overwhelmed with Euphoria sepulchralis and lower numbers of Cotinus nitidus, but I did see a few elaphidiine longhorned beetles and elaterid click beetles. Unfortunately the third jug trap (EtOH-only) was broken and with no retrievable trap contents. Trap contents from jug traps A (SRW) and B (SRW/EtOH) were bagged for counting at a later date. The white bottle trap also had perhaps more than 100 E. sepulchralis (no vouchers) plus 1 Meloidae (and 1 wasp, 1 bee for Mike). There was lots of different flowers in bloom, giving me hope that insects, especially beetles, might be found on them. Some, like Polanisia dodecandra (redwhisker clammyweed) are not normally associated with beetles (at least not to my knowledge), but others such as camphorweed (Heterotheca subaxillaris), snakeweed (Gutierrezia sarothrae), and any number of Solidago spp. (goldenrods) are.
Solidago mollis (velvety goldenrod, soft goldenrod, Ashly goldenrod—family Asteraceae) on slope of gypsum caprock clay mesa.
I focused on camphorweed and snakeweed, by far the most abundant blooms out but also flowers in which I’ve found longhorned beetles and jewel beetles previously. No beetles were seen on them for some time, but eventually I found a single individual of Crossidius discoideus on the former and two C. pulchellus on the latter.
Crossidius discoideus (longhorned beetle—family Cerambycidae) on flower of Heterotheca subaxillaris (camphorweed) atop gypsum caprock clay mesa.
Crossidius pulchellus (longhorned beetle—family Cerambycidae) on flower of Gutierrezia sarothrae (snakeweed) atop gypsum caprock clay mesa.
Shortly afterwards I finally found Acmaeodera macra, first on the flower of H. subaxillaris and then on the flower of G. sarothrae—both times just a single individual.
Acmaeodera macra (jewel beetle—family Buprestidae) on flower of Heterotheca subaxillaris (camphorweed) atop gypsum caprock clay mesa.
Down below I continued checking the snakeweed and camphorweed flowers—to no avail, so I proceeded with checking the traps. The first jug trap (SRW) was broken and no trap contents recovered, but the SRW/EtOH trap was intact and overwhelmed by E. sepulchralis with many fewer C. nitidus and even a couple of Plinthocoelium suaveolens—trap contents were bagged for counting at a later date. The white bottle trap had about a dozen E. sepulchralis (no vouchers) and 1 meloid (plus 4 bees for Mike). I was disappointed that neither of the bottle traps caught any A. macra, which I’d just collected on top of the mesa and, thus, know they are here and active—perhaps their numbers are too low to effectively trap, or perhaps the beetles would prefer a yellow-colored trap to a white-colored one.
Once again there was only about an hour of daylight to work with by the time we got here, so I got to work quickly. I was hoping I would be outside the western limit of the range of Euphoria sepulchralis, which had overwhelmed the traps at Alabaster Caverns and Gloss Mountain State Parks, but such was not the case. Nevertheless, the first trap I checked (SRW) I saw a huge male Tragidion coquus—one of my highest priority target species—sitting on top of the beetles filling the jug! I grabbed it and secured it separately, then bagged the rest of the trap contents. There were other Cerambycidae in the trap, though I did not detect more T. coquus, and the same was also true in the SRW/EtOH and EtOH traps. The white bottle trap had 1 Acmaeodera sp. (prob. mixta) and 4 E. sepulchralis (plus 4 bees for Mike), and after retrieving all the traps and bagging the contents we hiked over to the dunes to watch the sun set in the western sky—we were a tad late, but it was still a beautiful sight.
Beaver Dunes at dusk.
Sporobolus arenicola (giant sandreed—family Poaceae) silhouetted by the setting sun.
We quickly headed to the campground to set up camp while we still had (some) light, cook a couple of burgers, and be mesmerized by the gorgeous night sky. While we were setting up camp, I found an emesiine reduviid—a freakish-looking, rail-thin assassin bug that I don’t ever recall seeing before—on the campsite picnic table.
Campfire a blazin’!
Later in the evening before turning in, I walked the roads—as is my custom—to see what beetles or other interesting critters I might come across. I only saw one tenebrionid, but I did encounter a fascinating case of cannibalism —a large Scolopendron polymorpha (desert centipede) that had captured and killed a smaller conspecific. The predator was a bit jittery and dragged its prey as it scurried away from my persistent attempts to look more closely at it but eventually settled down to allow me to see its venomous “claws” (modified first pair of legs) embedded within the body of its victim.
Scolopendra polymorpha (common desert centipede—family Scolopendridae) in hackberry woodland preying upon a smaller conspecific.
Venomous claws deeply embedded in the soft underbelly!
Day 3 — 12 Oct 2023
No lighting again last night, with cool temps and blustering winds that blasted all through the night. We slept comfortably though. We wanted to check the dunes before heading towards Black Mesa—me because I wanted to check the stands of Rhus aromatica (fragrant sumac), on which I had seen (but failed to collect) a single Lampetis drummondii, and Rich to look for fresh animal tracks in the sand. I did not see any Lampetis, but I did pick up a couple of Cicindela formosa and one C. scutellaris. I’d hoped to see more and get in situ photographs on the sand dunes, but it needed to warm up more before that would happen, and we were both itching to get started on our way to Black Mesa.
The first jug trap (SRW) was not very full, and most of what was in there was moths. There were a few Euphoria inda, which had been dominate last time, but once again picking through the catch revealed no Cerambycidae. It was a completely different story, however, with the next two traps. In the SRW/EtOH trap I immediately noticed Tragidion coquus, and picking through the catch revealed at least five individuals. It was the same with the EtOH trap, which had at least four individuals. I did not notice any other Cerambycidae, but since T. coquus was a primary goal for the trapping effort—on top of the one I already got yesterday—I was thoroughly satisfied. The catch from all three traps was bagged for counting at a later date. The white bottle trap had no Acmaeodera sp., one Euphoria inda, and lots of orthopterans that I gave to Rich (plus 105 bees & 6 wasps for Mike). After finishing the traps, we checked several Gutierrezia sarothrae plants in bloom in the flats below the outcrop and, for a while, did not see anything until I found a single Acmaeodera rubronotata on the flowers of one of the plants. I believe this is a new state record (NSR) for Oklahoma—the second NSR I’ve gotten this year and the third in the past two years! We continued checking the G. sarothrae flowers as we walked back up the back road, but no more were seen. I even went back down and rechecked all the plants in the flats below and back up along the road, all to no avail. After I got back up to the vehicle, I returned to the SRW trap to retrieve a dead branch from the Pinus cembroides tree that the trap was hanging in which appeared to be infested with wood boring beetles and was brought back for rearing. There is a decent chance that whatever I rear out of the branches might be a new state record for Oklahoma, since this is the only place in the state where western pines are found—surely the insects associated with them will also be western.
Tragidion coquus freshly pulled from SRW/EtOH-baited jug trap set in oak/pine/juniper woodland.
Acmaeodera rubronotata (jewel beetle—family Buprestidae) on inflorescence of Gutierrezia sarothrae (snakeweed) in oak/pine/juniper woodland.
Black Mesa State Park Cimarron County, Oklahoma
The results for the first two jug trap (SRW & SRW/EtOH) were again similar to the previous site nearby, containing mostly moths, very few E. inda, and almost no Elateridae. However, once again I saw multiple individuals of T. coquus in both of them—what a fantastic result for the final trapping period of the study! Curiously, the third trap (EtOH) had few moths and no Cerambycidae (that I could see), and it was loaded with E. inda. The catch from all three traps was bagged for counting at a later date. The white bottle trap had no Acmaeodera sp. and 10 Meloidae (plus 40 bees for Mike). After we finished the jug traps, but before retrieving the Lindgren funnel trap, we hiked up the Overlook Trail to see if we could again find Lampetis (Spinthoptera) drummondii on the Rhus aromatica bushes (as I’d done last time). Along the way I found a yucca weevil on the trail. Amazingly, in almost exactly the same place as I’d found L. drummondii last time, we found them again—I let Rich have the first one after we both photographed it, and though it took a while we eventually found two more which I collected. With temps dropping and the sun sinking, we hustled back to the car to put away the traps we’d retrieved and then went up to North Canyon to retrieve the Lindgren funnel trap. I did not see any Cerambycidae in it—just moths and a few click beetles and E. inda. This was a disappointing result, considering the jug traps had done so well attracting T. coquus, but I bagged the catch and will go through it more carefully at a later date.
View of Lake Carl Etling from Scenic Vista Overlook in Black Mesa State Park.
Lampetis (Spinthoptera) drummondi (family Buprestidae) perched on Rhus aromatica (fragrant sumac) at dusk in shortgrass prairie.
Sunset in the southern Great Plains.
Day 4 — 13 Oct 2023 Jct Hwy 64 & N1250 Rd Beaver County, Oklahoma
Last night was the coldest, windiest night of camping I’ve ever experienced! We were warm in our winter sleeping bags (although I did need to put my socks back on in the middle of the night), but the tent flapping awoke us frequently (and the one or two “necessary” exits from the tent in the middle of the night were not enjoyable!). When we did get up, the only thing we wanted to do was break camp and get in the car and out of the wind asap—breakfast and morning coffee would have to wait until we reached Boise City. All the traps had been checked, and while we had hoped to do a bit more collecting in the park before heading back to St. Louis, it wasn’t an option with temps in the mid-40s and biting north winds at 26 mph—nothing to do but start heading back. Along the way passing back through Beaver Co., we noticed lots of waterfowl in a large, shallow pond near the highway and pulled onto a nearby side road to get a better look at them. Even with binoculars we could only say for sure that they were ducks—they were too far away to identify beyond that. While we were there, I swept the extensive stand of sedges and rushes around the margin of the pond hoping to find Taphrocerus species—in this area I suspect T. chevrolati is the only species that would be encountered. None were found, even after quite a bit of sweeping—just a few flies and one 12-spotted cucumber beetle!
A rare wetland in a sea of dry prairie.
9.0 mi W Medicine Lodge on Hwy 160 Gypsym Hills Scenic Biway Info Kiosk Barber County, Kansas
We had thought about stopping at Salt Plain State Park in Woods County, which our route back to St. Louis took us right by, but I had a better idea as we were approaching Alva, which is only 15–20 miles south of Hardtner, Kansas where “Beetle Bill” lives. I last saw Bill in 2004 when I visited him with Jeff Huether, and I thought it’d be nice to stop by and say hey before checking out a spot in the Gypsum Hills just north of town where Cicindela pulchra—one of North America’s most beautiful tiger beetles (the name literally translates to “beautiful tiger beetle”)—has been reported. Sadly, Bill was not in town that day, so we left our regards and continued on to the site.
Temps had warmed up to the mid-60s—warm enough, we thought, that insects should be active, but the winds had not abated in the least (to the point where I eventually decided to leave my cap in the car rather than chase after it repeatedly). Unfortunately, scanning the sparsely vegetated red clay soil at the site revealed no tiger beetles, so I began searching the blossoms of Gutierrezia sarothrae for Crossidius. Most of the scattered plants were on the tail end of their bloom, so there were not a lot of fresh flowers, but eventually I did find three individuals of C. pulchellus on the plants. As I searched the area for additional plants, I encountered the dried out carcass of a black vulture (Coragyps atratus). I don’t normally collect carrion-feeding beetles, but there are a few beetle groups of interest that I’ve encountered on carrion (e.g., checkered beetles of the genus Necrobia and dung beetles of the genus Onthophagus). I brought the carcass to the roadside and slapped it against the road to see what might be dislodged and found two species of Dermestidae. I know people who study these beetles, so I went ahead and collected a series of each—mostly because the host association was sorta cool! No other insects were seen during the visit, but I did encounter a recently-died Celtis reticulata sapling with fresh-looking, frass-packed galleries made by a jewel beetle (prob. Chrysobothris) and, thus, collected it for rearing. By the time I got the wood bundled up and placed in the car, we were both so done with the wind that we decided we’d had our fill of collecting and embarked on the final 7½ hours of driving back to St. Louis.
Crossidius pulchellus (longhorned beetle—family Cerambycidae) on flower of Gutierrezia sarothrae (snakeweed) in red clay shortgrass prairie.
I’ve been taking advantage of my time off the bike to revisit some of my favorite local hiking spots, and today I returned to Young Conservation Area (formerly called Hilda J. Young Conservation Area) in the northwestern corner of Jefferson County. This is one of three conservation areas located within the LaBarque Creek watershed—by far the most ecologically diverse of the Meramec River’s 16 tributaries. The west side between the creek and the parking lot is a bit (okay, a lot) disturbed owing to its former days as a homestead, but the east side features high-quality forests ranging from riparian corridors and rich slopes of white oak to dry chert ridges of black oak and hickory and even a small semi-glade. The 6-mile LaBarque Hills Trail traverses all these habitats and provides some stunning vistas along its southernmost stretch.
Spectacular setting sun vista from chert ridge along the backside of the trail.
For my part, other than the seclusion and exercise, I focused on continuing to learn my winter grasses. Indian grass (Sorghastrum nutans), big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii), and switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) were common in the open areas near the parking lot (none of which I saw on my previous hike at LaBarque Creek Natural Area), while river oats (Chasmanthium latifolium) was seen within the forest, especially in the lower, moister sections of the trail. Also, unlike that previous hike, I saw only a few plants of broomsedge bluestem (Andropogon virginicus) and no little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) at all.
Broomsedge bluestem (Andropogon virginicus) growing in dry-mesic upland oak/hickory forest.
Bottlebrush grass (Elymus hystrix) occurred sporadically along the trail in the lower elevations within the forest, as well as two as yet undetermined species of wild rye (also in the genus Elymus)—one found along the trail inside the forest in moister areas (distinguished by its smaller, “hard-to-strip” seed-heads) and another found only in the much more open semi-glade (distinguished by its much more robust and “easy-to-strip” seed-heads). Nathan Aaron (via iNaturalist) identified the latter as Elymus glabriflorus (southeastern wildrye) based on habitat and season and suggested that the first one could be E. virginicus, which is distinguished by its inflorescence being barely (if at all) exerted from the sheath. Another grass, still undetermined, was found growing in patches in the riparian areas, its foliage still showing much more green than any of the other grasses and often growing intermixed with bottlebrush grass. I collected seed of all of them to sow in the back slope behind my house—the woodland species on the shadier side portions and the sun-loving species in the sunnier central area.
The appropriately-named “bottlebrush grass” (Elymus hystrix—family Poaceae) in mesic riparian deciduous forest.
Elymus glabriflorus (southeastern wild rye—family Poaceae), the more robust, “easy-to-strip” species growing in a sunny, semi-glade.
Unlike the lower areas, the upland stretches of trail were nearly devoid of grasses, or any ground layer for that matter other than a few lowbush blueberries (Vaccinium pallidum), but what they lacked in understory floral diversity they more than made up for in spectacular setting-sun vistas. I had to really hoof it during the last couple of miles to ensure that I reached the car before it got too dark, but it felt good to finish the hike with a nice effort. Now, time to jet out a key grasses and think about where I want to hike in the next couple of days.
I haven’t been to LaBarque Creek for quite a while, so it was good to see it again, especially without encountering a single other person (the benefit of being able to hike during the week compared to a Sunday). It’s still much warmer than I prefer for a fall hike, but it was beautiful out and I did see one insect—an unusually pinkish-brown—colored bush katydid (Scudderia sp.).
Scudderia sp. (bush katydid—family Tettigoniidae) in dry-mesic upland oak/hickory forest.
This is, in my opinion, the most interesting of the three conservation/natural areas in the LaBarque Creek watershed—by far the most diverse of the seven main tributaries that feed into the Meramec River. More than likely this is a result of the diversity of bedrock—dolomite in the surrounding hillsides with underlying sandstone exposed by the erosive actions of LaBarque Creek. The “rock garden” along one of the high ridges is among my favorite spots in the area.
Dolomite “rock garden” in dry-mesic upland oak/hickory forest at LaBarque Creek Natural Area.
I was also very happy to see that the Department of Conservation has begun renovating the small sandstone glade remnants on the west side of the loop by cutting out much of the eastern red-cedar that has invaded the remnants over the past several decades.
Early-stage renovation of sandstone glade remnant—mechanical removal of eastern red-cedars (Juniperus virginianus).
It will be interesting to watch the vegetational succession that is sure to take place in them over the next decade or so as grasses like little bluestem and eastern broomsedge colonize the now exposed lichen ground layer that had developed beneath the junipers. It will also be an interesting place to look for insects next spring, as wood boring beetles are sure to be attracted to all the newly-available freshly-dead wood.
Sandstone glade remnant at LaBarque Creek Natural Area.
For the first time in many months I was able to join the WGNSS (Webster Groves Nature Study Society) Botany Group on their regular Monday field trip (my frenetic bug collecting schedule and travel w/ Madam during this past summer had made this all but impossible). I wish I could have joined the group this summer, as that is when all the good stuff to see is out, but off-season botany is still fun, and the chance to test my ID skills with other experts only adds to the fun (not to mention just socializing as a group). St. Joe State Park is one of my favorites, and the Farmington Trailhead is a hidden gem that gets us away from the traffic of the park’s more popular bike loop and especially the grating noise of the ORV area.
The weather today was spectacular—almost too warm (I prefer a crisp, cool, sunny day for fall hiking), but the warm temps did have a bonus: a wealth of insects, some of which are not commonly encountered and one that I’ve never seen before. But, this was a botany outing, so I spent much of the time reinforcing my winter identification skills of the native warm-season grasses that grow in abundance along the paved trail that slices through the dry-mesic oak/pine forest. Little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii), Indian grass (Sorghastrum nutans), and witch grass (Panicum capillare) were common, as expected, and although all three are common species it was good to see them together as a reminder of their distinguishing characters: little bluestem with its small, curved seed-heads exposed along the stem, big bluestem with its “turkey foot” terminal seed-heads, and Indian grass with its robust, solid terminal spike of a seed-head. However, a number of other grasses were present that tested our skills (good thing we had Alan with us to help us out). Broomsedge (Andropogon virginicus) was abundant along the trail, resembling little bluestem but with its seed-heads guarded by elongated bracts and a bit more “yellowish” rather than reddish in color. We also saw a few plants of a less common relative, Elliott’s bluestem (Andropogon gyrans), its exaggerated bracts surrounding the terminal seed-heads and resembling the inflorescence of a bird-of-paradise (I think this is a very attractive grass that would look nice in native plantings). In the lower areas we found river oats (Chasmanthium latifolium), their distinctive flattened seed-heads ripe brown on still green leafy stems, colonizing drainages along and inside the woodlands, and a single patch of rock muhly grass (Muhlenbergia sobolifera) was also seen inside the woodland.
Insects made their appearance early on this warm fall day—catching up with the group at the beginning of the hike (I was a few minutes late, led astray by Google maps!), I encountered a Blackburn’s earth-boring beetle (Geotrupes blackburnii) on the trail—fall seems to be the time of year when I encounter these and their close relative, the splendid earth-boring beetle (G. splendidus), most commonly, and on the return trip at the end of the hike I found another one in almost exactly the same spot!
In between, we found some rather fresh scats on the trail (likely coyote) that were covered with broad-headed bugs (family Alydidae). To the chagrin of the others, I poked and prodded the scats to reveal several tiny dung beetles (Onthophagus sp.) underneath [2023-110b], and there were a few more on the scats when we looked again on the return, as well as another Blackburn’s earth-boring beetle. As we continued near the furthest point of our trip along the trail, I spotted a large, standing, dead shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata) in the forest not far from the trail. I hiked over to it hoping to find Rhagium inquisitor longhorned beetles (family Cerambycidae), which by now should have molted to adults in preparation for hibernating through winter in their circular, frass-lined pupal cells beneath the bark. The bark was intact but loose—perfect conditions for finding the beetles, but peeling back the first piece revealed something else—two adult Microtomus purcis assassin bugs (family Reduviidae). They dropped immediately and scrambled to hide under the leaf litter, but I persisted in chasing one of them until it tired of the chase and let me take a few shots.
Microtomus purcis (assassin bug—family Reduviidae), originally found under loose bark of large, standing, dead Pinus echinata (shortleaf pine) in dry-mesic, upland oak/pine forest.
At our furthest point along the trail, we saw something truly remarkable—a stream of ants crossing through trail (not in itself remarkable), and among them was an obvious queen heavily flanked by a gaggle of workers. According to resident ant-expert James Trager, these are Neivamyrmex nigrescens, one of two army ant species in the state, relocating their colony (the first time I have ever witnessed such an event). In warmer months, they do this before dawn for about two weeks out of every month; however, at this time of year the emigrations become morning affairs when it’s warm enough and cease altogether when it gets reliably cold. I struggled to get a passingly acceptable photo of the queen and her swiftly moving gang of supporters, but the memory will remain with me nonetheless.
Neivamyrmex nigrescens queen and gaggle of workers, one of two army ant species in the state, relocating their colony.
At various points to and from, we also found the larvae of two species of longhorned beetles (family Cerambycidae)—one in the stem of a small dead shortleaf pine sapling (probably one of the pine associates in the tribe Acanthocinini, perhaps Astylopsis sexguttata), and a twig pruner (Anelaphus parallelus) that had just cut the distal portion of the oak stem within which it was boring. In both cases, we located the larvae inside the stems and discussed the ways to recognize their presence within them. Finally, we found a small common eastern bumble bee (Bombus impatiens) male torpidly walking on the trail. This is the latest-flying of our midwestern species, but according to resident bee-expert Mike Arduser, “this is REALLY late!” He suspected there may have been a nest nearby since the male was not too beat up despite the lateness of the season. Having gotten our fill of grasses and bugs, the group then partook in a favorite post-activity tradition—lunch at a local restaurant!
Bombus impatiens (common eastern bumble bee—family Apidae) male in mesic riparian oak/hickory forest.
In late August, I made another trip out to northwestern Oklahoma to service “jug traps” and other insect traps placed at several locations throughout the area. The traps were set in mid-May (see “First insect collecting trip of the season”), checked for the first time in mid-June at the beginning of a 3-week long collecting trip to the southwestern U.S. (see “2023 Southwestern U.S. Collecting Trip iReport”), and checked again in late July (see “July “jug trap” run”). This post describes the third trip to service the traps—less about what the traps themselves had caught and more about other insects seen and collected at the locations where the traps have been set. The final trap run will be made in early October, and you can expect a post about that trip as well shortly afterwards.
Day 1 — 28 Aug 2023 Alabaster Caverns State Park Woodward County, Oklahoma
Finally a nice break in the weather. Rain moved through a few days ago and temperatures are decidedly lower than the mid-90 to low-100 temps that have dominated for the past few weeks. I started out in the shortgrass prairie along Raptors Roost Trail above the canyon. Last time I was here (5 weeks ago), the only cicadas I heard were Neotibicen superbus (superb dog-day cicada). This time I heard three different species: Neotibicen auriferus (plains dog-day cicada), Neotibicen pruinosus (scissors grinder dog-day cicada), and Megatibicen dorsatus (prairie cicada). I was able to snag one of the former but couldn’t get M. dorsatus—the one I really wanted. There were no Acmaeodera in the white bottle trap—just one Elateridae (and some bees for Mike). Robust patches of Helianthus annuus (annual sunflower) were in flower in the prairie—I checked the flowers hoping maybe some of the fall beetles I was interested in (Acmaeodera macra and Crossidius pulchellus) would be out by now, but all I saw on them were Epicauta sp. (blister beetles), Chauliognathus limbicollis (soldier beetles), and Atalopedes campestris (sachem skippers).
Chauliognathus limbicollis (family Cantharidae) on flower of Helianthus annuus (annual sunflower) in shortgrass prairie.
Male (top) and female (bottom) Atalopedes campestris (sachem skipper—family Hesperiidae) on flower of Helianthus annuus (annual sunflower) in shortgrass prairie.
After that I went down into the canyon to check the traps. All of them were completely overloaded—primarily Elateridae and Cotinis nitida. Field counting was impossible, so I bagged for counting later (I did see a few specimens of Plinthocoelium suaveolens and Eburia quadrigeminata/haldemani in the morass) and went down to the campground to set up camp and cook some dinner.
Euphorbia marginata (snow-on-the-mountain, smoke-on-the-prairie, variegated spurge, or whitemargined spurge—family Euphorbiaceae) in shortgrass prairie.
I debated whether to setup the lights (ultraviolet/mercury-vapor)—the moon is waxing towards full (which, by the way, will be the 3rd brightest full moon of the year), and though warm today (not hot) there was a tad of a cool crispness in the air down in the canyon as the evening progressed—good my my comfort but not so good for beetles! I set them up anyway (because that’s what I do), and for the first hour it was a steady accumulation of moths and a few crummy scarabs.
Tent, table, lights, and a large overhanging branch—the perfect campsite!
Eventually I ended up with a single alkali tiger beetle (Eunota togata globicollis—absent where I’m from but quite common in the Great Plains, but nothing else came after that and we’ll into full darkness. I did get a bonus—a dead male Neotibicen pruinosus lying on the picnic table on the campground.
Eunota togata globicollis (alkali tiger beetle—family Cicindelidae) at ultraviolet/mercury vapor light in hackberry/bumelia/juniper canyon woodland.
Adult male Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformis (evergreen bagworm—family Psychidae) at ultraviolet/mercury vapor light in hackberry/bumelia/juniper canyon woodland.
SkyView version of tonight’s night sky.
Day 2 — 29 Aug 2023
Sleeping temps were really nice, but I was awoken at 3:40 am by light rain and had to get up and put on the rain fly. It dumped soon afterwards, but I slept nicely anyway. In the morning first thing I found a Epicauta conferta blister beetle—beautifully marked with red on black, and after breakfast and breaking camp I checked the Lindgren funnel trap. On the way to the trap, I came across about a dozen more E. conferta on the road—all feeding on the fallen fruits of Sideroxylon lanuginosum (gum bumelia).
Epicauta conferta (family Meloidae)—one of about a dozen individuals feeding on the fallen fruits of Sideroxylon lanuginosum (gum bumelia) in hackberry/bumelia/juniper canyon woodland.
Like the jug traps yesterday, the Lindgren funnel trap was overwhelmed by mostly click beetles but did also contain Eburia haldemani/quadrigeminata and Plinthocoelium suaveolens in the mix. The trap contents were bagged unsorted for counting later.
Gloss Mountain State Park Major County, Oklahoma
There was even more Helianthus annuus (annual sunflower) in bloom here than at Alabaster Caverns (I’ve not seen this here since I haven’t been here much during this time of season), it they were simply loaded with Megatibicen dorsatus (bush cicada). I collected a half dozen from a single clump (and there were four more that flew away while I was doing so) and recorded one male singing. As it sang, a female flew to the plant, and the male then slowly backed down the stem and positioned itself directly opposite from the female, allowing me to photograph the pair together (before the female then flew off abruptly—I guess she didn’t get the right “vibe” from the male).
Megatibicen dorsatus (bush cicada—family Cicadidae) male (left) and female on Helianthus annuus (annual sunflower) in mesquite chaparral.
Right next to the patch of sunflowers i was working, I saw (and caught) a male Neotibicen auriferus singing in Prosopis glandulosa (honey mesquite. I would end up with about a half dozen and record one male singing over the next few hours.
Neotibicen auriferus (plains dog-day cicada—family Cicadidae) on Prosopis glandulosa (honey mesquite) in mesquite chaparral.
Walking the road into the park to check the lower traps, I encountered a few colonies of Vanduzeea segmentata on H. annuus being tended by ants.
Vanduzeea segmentata (family Membracidae) on Helianthus annuus (annual sunflower) in mesquite chaparral.
The white bottle trap had a single Acmaeodera sp. and a few other miscellaneous beetles (and 5 bees for Mike), and, as at Alabaster Caverns yesterday, both the SRW and SRW/EtOH traps (the EtOH trap was removed last time) were overwhelmed with Elateridae and Cotinus nitidus beetles and were thus bagged for counting later. However, once again I did see a fair number of Plinthocoelium suaveolens, Eburia haldemani/quadrigeminata, and elaphidiines in the mix. Up on top of the mesa, the jug traps were again overwhelmed and the catch bagged for later counting, and the white bottle trap had no Acmaeodera but several miscellaneous other beetles and bees.
Callophrys gryneus (juniper hairstreak or olive hairstreak—family Lycaenidae) on flower Asclepias engelmannii (Engelmann’s milkweed) in mesquite chaparral.
Woodward, Oklahoma
After leaving Gloss Mountain State Park and passing through Woodward, Oklahoma a short distance to the west, I couldn’t resist stopping at my favorite “Christian coffee shop”—sadly closed during my first trip to the area in May but open again under new ownership as a bakery during my July visit.
The coffee is undeniably good, but what I really love about this place is the life-sized dinosaurs in front of the shop, complete with signs giving the true “facts” about dinosaurs from a creationist viewpoint (see “2022 Oklahoma Insect Collecting Trip iReport”). As laughable as the “facts” are, the dinosaurs really are very nicely done (save the angel riding the Stegosaurus!).
Slapout, Oklahoma
Another “must stop” on the way to Beaver Dunes Park is the Slapout Service Station in—you guessed it—Slapout, Oklahoma. The town is (literally!) little more than an intersection, but inside the store is a standup freezer filled with some of the tastiest cuts of packaged meats I’ve ever had. I stopped to pick up a nice filet for tomorrow night’s dinner in the campground at Black Mesa State Park tad a way to celebrate a (hopefully) successful end of the trip.
Slapout Service Station.
Beef filet steak.
Beaver Dunes Park Beaver County, Oklahoma
I got here with just enough daylight left to check the traps if I could be quick about it. At the previous spots the traps have been so full that field counting wasn’t feasible, and here was no exception. Although I will eventually have to count them at some point, it does make things go more quickly in the field. I first checked the white bottle trap, which contained a few Acmaeodera sp. and bees, and was able to service all the jug traps and bag their catches quickly with a little bit of time to spare searching the dunes as the sun set in the western sky.
Sunset over Beaver Dunes.
I was looking chiefly for Megatibicen tremulus (Cole’s bush cicada), which was unknown until relatively recently due to the great similarity of its appearance and song to the more common and widespread M. dorsatus (bush cicada) and one that I have not yet seen. This cicada is generally found in more sandy habitats, and there are some iNaturalist records from this area. It didn’t take long, as soon as I hit the 2-track leading into the dunes I saw a male on Helianthus petiolaris (prairie sunflower), and although it looked nearly identical to the M. dorsatus I was catching earlier in the day (at Gloss Mountain State Park) the black rather than brown tymbal covers strongly suggest it is M. tremulus. I saw two more males as I searched the dunes, but both were far too wary and bolted before I could get within net range.
Helianthus petiolaris (prairie sunflower—family Asteraceae) in sand dune habitat with and a rising “super moon.”
Eventually the settling darkness became too much of an obstacle and I had to return to the car, but as a consolation prize I found a Plectrodera scalator (cottonwood borer) sitting on the upper stem of a sapling Populus deltoides (eastern cottonwood). Right next to the sapling was a much larger cottonwood in which several male Megatibicen dealbatus (plains cicadada) were singing—unfortunately none of which were within net reach (I can’t be too disappointed, as I did collect a couple of them at lights the last time I was here, and I’ve also collected the species in northern Texas).
Plectrodera scalator (cottonwood borer—family Cerambycidae) on Populus deltoides (eastern cottonwood) sapling in sand dune habitat.
Day 3 — 30 Aug 2023
No lighting last night—it was too cool and the moon at its brightest. It did make for comfortable sleeping, however (in the middle of the night I had to get into the heavy sleeping bag)! I decided to check out the dunes before heading on to Black Mesa since I had caught only a single Megatibicen tremulus (Cole’s bush cicada) yesterday and wanted to see if I could get a few more. The dunes were bright (and already hot!) in the morning sun.
Beaver Dunes in the morning light.
The cicadas proved to be common enough on the dunes (though not abundant as with M. dorsatus yesterday at Gloss Mountain), but unlike the latter, which were quite clumsy and easy to catch, these were incredibly wary and quick to fly. Less than half the individuals I approached I got within a net swing’s reach (and I have a telescoping long-handled net!), and most of those I could take a swipe at I missed. After more than an hour of trying, I had only two individuals to to show for it—both males singing from the branch tips of Rhus aromatica (fragrant sumac). I did manage to get photos of the one I caught yesterday, which I placed in sumac foliage for the photos, but in cruel turnabout, it got away from me before I could re-secure it! Life is just that unfair sometimes.😊
Megatibicen tremulus (Cole’s bush cicada—family Cicadidae) male singing from Rhus aromatica (fragrant sumac) in sand dune habitat.
Even more frustratingly, right as I was swinging the net at one of the two that I caught, I saw right next to the cicada what must have been the large and charismatic buprestid, Lampetis drummondii—a species I have not seen since 1995 when I encountered them rather commonly in western Texas. The buprestid did not end up in the net, nor did I see another individual, so my memory (and this note) will have to remain the only record of the species from this place, at least for now.
1.4 mi E of Kenton Cimarron County, Oklahoma
The jugs traps were not quite as overwhelmed as at the previous locations, and instead of Cotinus nitidus being the abundant scarab it was Euphoria inda. Elateridae were still numerous, but a cursory glance through the catch did not reveal the presence of any Cerambycidae. Nevertheless, the catch from each jug trap was bagged for sorting later. Walking back to the vehicle I encountered two Crossidius discoideus—one hanging out on a grass clump and another flying slowly above the ground nearby. I caught the latter and then tried to photograph the former, but it became quickly alarmed and I had to grab it. After I put it in the vial and went to get the other one out of the net, I discovered it had found its way out and escaped—good thing I had secured the first one! I scanned the plants on the way back to the car but never saw another one.
Crossidius discoideus (family Cerambycidae) in shortgrass prairie.
When I reached the car, I decided to keep searching the area—I had seen a Cicindelidia obsoleta (large grassland tiger beetle)—apparently all black in this area—when I first got here but missed it and wanted to see if I could find it again. It took a while, but eventually I did see another one and got it, and right afterwards I saw yet another one but it got away.
Cicindelidia obsoleta obsoleta (large grassland tiger beetle—family Cicindelidae) in sparsely-vegetated exposures in shortgrass prairie.
In the same general area as I was looking, I saw something red flying and ran to catch it. It was a Tetraopes femoratus, apparently having just flown from a nearby Asclepias latifolia (broadleaf milkweed).
Tetraopes femoratus (red-femured milkweed borer—family Cerambycidae) on Asclepias latifolia (broadleaf milkweed) in shortgrass prairie.
These new captures induced to me to spend another 45 minutes or so at the site, but I didn’t see a single individual of any of the species I had already collected or any other species of interest. By then it was late enough that I had to leave in order to have enough time to check the final set of traps in nearby Black Mesa State Park.
Brachystola magna (Plains lubber grasshopper—family Romaleidae) on sandstone outcrops in shortgrass prairie.
Black Mesa State Park Cimarron County, Oklahoma
I checked the canyon jug traps first—results were similar to the previous nearby site, with all traps loaded with Euphoria inda and Elateridae. I bagged them for processing later but did see a few Cerambycidae in the catch. The Lindgren funnel trap was also overwhelmed by the same, but since I’m not taking data from the trap I sorted through the catch and picked out 1 Enaphalodes sp., 1 Neoclytus acuminatus, and more than a dozen elaphidiine cerambycids comprising at least two species. While I was servicing the Lindgren funnel trap I found a Stenomorpha opaca crawling in the rocks, and nearby I found another one a short ways down the Overlook road.
Stenomorpha opaca (family Tenebrionidae) on rocks in shortgrass prairie.
The white bottle trap again had lots and lots of bees in it, but unlike last time it also had 8 Acmaeodera sp. plus 20 Meloidae and one Trichodes orestus along with tons of bees for Mike. I saw a few Megatibicen sp. males singing (presumably M. dorsatus rather than M. tremulus due to the non-sandy nature of the habitat) but couldn’t get close to them, and I heard several Megacicada dealbatus males singing in the tall cottonwoods down below by the creek. I think I’ve had my fill of chasing cicadas for now!
After finishing the last of the traps (26 in all at five locations!), I had about an hour of good daylight left and played a hunch that Lampetis drummoni (family Buprestidae) might be out now. I had seen one earlier in the day on Rhus aromatica (fragrant sumac) at Beaver Dunes but missed it, and I reasoned that I might find it in the same here. I took the Overlook Hiking Trail and had walked about half the loop—looking closely at R. aromatica patches along the way (and picking up another Stenomorpha opaca)—and was starting to think it might still be too early in the season (iNaturalist records from the area are all from September and October) when suddenly I saw one perched near the tip of a R. aromatica branch. It was not at all wary (likely due to the lateness of the hour, although my experience with this species in Texas is that they are not particularly zippy), and after taking a photo I was able to pick it easily with my fingers.
Lampetis (Spinthoptera) drummondi (family Buprestidae) perched on Rhus aromatica (fragrant sumac) at dusk in shortgrass prairie.
I checked the patch carefully and found another four—all perched in the same fashion and not at all inclined to fly off in alarm. I took another photo of the last one I found with a beautiful evening sky in the background, and those would be the only ones I would see for the rest of the hike.
Lampetis (Spinthoptera) drummondi (family Buprestidae) admiring the sunset!
As a writer of an entomology blog, I don’t normally get hate mail—at most a critical comment about the way my specimens are curated or labeled, or perhaps an opposing thought regarding application of the subspecies concept. But recently, I got a doozy! I was going to respond privately but didn’t want to reveal to them my private e-mail address. Then I was going to respond in a public post (and there is much to respond to), but I decided their position is so hardened that any response is pointless. Ultimately, I decided just to share the hate (sender’s name redacted to protect their privacy) as an example of how not to engage me in a discussion. We can (and should) debate the ethics of insect research, but equating entomologists who do collections-based research to depraved mass murderers doesn’t do much to promote rational and constructive dialogue.
Intentionally killing beetles is killing a sentient, conscious, and extremely refined competent life. That others before you have done it is no excuse nor a valid precedent for mimicking them. Todays imaging techniques can photograph molecules. There are techniques of photographing with layered depth of field images combined into one image that has clarity of all insect parts at their scale. Moreover there are 3D microscopes at that scale as well including capture of motion. Killing insects to collect is a macabre, harmful, antiquated and unnecessary. Today it is a pathological fetish to kill and display bodies of once sentient and conscious beings. When the world was large with only wooden boats scientists did that to record far away places. This is no longer necessary. Your collection is an example of how proficient your are at killing sentient beings within the synergistic wholes we call natural habitats. Nothing more. This is not research, kind nor has any inkling of respect for the insect. An excuse to kill based on populations is complete pathological rubbish and part of you knows this is true.
You may recall in May I set out “jug traps” at several sites in northwestern Oklahoma stretching from Gloss Mountain State Park (just east of the panhandle) to near Kenton (extreme northwestern corner of the panhandle). I call them “jug traps” because they are made out of 1-G milk jugs. “Windows” cut into the upper part of the jug allow entry of beetles attracted to volatiles emanating from a wicked bait bottle suspended inside the upper part of the trap, and propylene glycol in the bottom part of the jug acts as a killing agent and preservative. (See this post for details about the traps and photos.) Six sets of traps were set out at five locations (two sets at Gloss Mountain, one at other locations)—each set consisting of three traps baited with sweet red wine, pure ethanol, or a 50:50 mixture of both. This is the second season of the study (the first was conducted last year at locations across southern Missouri) with the objective of evaluating the efficacy of the trap and baits for capturing various beetles. Longhorned beetles (family Cerambycidae) are the primary objective, but certain cetoniine scarabs (flower chafers in the genera Euphoria and Cotinus) and click beeltes (family Elateridae) are also highly attracted to the traps. I’m collecting data on all of these groups for analysis of relative bait efficacy and eventual publication of the results.
In addition to the jug traps, I also placed white “bottle traps” at each location with the objective of collecting beetles in the genus Acmaeodera (family Buprestidae). Finally, to round out the trapping effort I hung a Lindgren funnel trap (baited with a 50:50 mixture of ethanol and sweet red wine) at two of the locations (just for the heck of it!). All of the traps are being serviced and re-baited at ~5-week intervals—the first of these servicing runs done at the beginning of a 3-week collecting trip across the southwestern U.S. Additional collecting is done at each location as time permits. This post presents notes and photos from the second trap servicing run, which took place from 25–29 July 2023.
Day 1 — 25 July 2023 Alabaster Caverns State Park Woodward County, Oklahoma
It’s been five weeks since I last checked the jug traps I placed in northwestern Oklahoma, so today begins a four-day run to take care of them. I’m alone this time (for the first time this year 😢), so instead of conversation I had to rely on a backlog of podcasts to keep me engaged during the 8-hour drive to this, the first of four stops. I got to here about the same time as last time—6 p.m., and it was just as hot (if not hotter—103°F) as last time; however, the heat did not seem to bother me this time. Perhaps all the collecting I’ve done over the past month has me now nicely acclimated. I set about to check the traps and was pleased to find all three hanging intact and apparently undisturbed (always a concern when I check traps). Similarly to last time, Euphoria fulgida was a dominant capture in all three traps, but a nice variety of Cerambycidae were captured as well (nine species total), including the very uncommon Trigonarthris atrata and the first capture of Clytoleptus albofasciatus. There wasn’t much going on in the shortgrass prairie above the canyon, so I headed down to the campground inside the canyon with hopes of a productive evening of blacklighting.
Calopteryx maculata (ebony jewelwing—family Calopterygidae) along canyon stream.
Schistocerca obscura (obscure bird grasshopper—family Acrididae) in shortgrass prairie.
Mentzelia nuda (bractless blazingstar—family Loasaceae) in shortgrass prairie.
I still had about an hour of daylight left when I arrived at the campground, which gave me plenty of time to get coals going for dinner, set up camp, and set out the lights (both ultraviolet [UV] and mercury-vapor [MV]). For a while it was mostly hemipterans (leafhoppers, leaf-footed bugs, stink bugs, and Neotibicen superbus) coming to the lights (I collected a handful of the latter along with a single N. lyricens that also came), but later I started picking up a few interesting things including Eburia quadrigeminata (that answers my question as to whether E. haldemani might occur this far north to replace E. quadrigeminata from the east), a couple of Smodicum cucujiforme, a Telamona sp., and a handful of small Cleridae and Bostrichidae.
Light setup (ultraviolet plus mercury-vapor) in canyon riparian deciduous woodland.
Lithobates blairi (plains leopard frog) comes to feast on insects attracted to the lights.
Day 2—26 July 2023
It was rather warm sleeping, but by the morning temperatures had cooled off nicely and a thin cloud layer promised to keep them from rising too rapidly. After breaking down camp (and coffee!), I checked the Lindgren funnel trap: it had a smattering of Cerambycidae and other insects, but nothing rare or in large numbers. I also noticed a rather large dead branch in the Salix nigra (black willow) tree overhanging the tent—recalling my capture last time of Poecilonota thureura on the tent, I thought perhaps this could have been the source of it and collected the branch for rearing. On the way out to my next locality, I checked the bottle trap that I placed last time and found only a single Acmaeodera sp. along with a Trichiotinus texanus and a few Meloidae (also 10 bees for Mike).
Neotibicen superbus (superb dog-day cicada—family Cicadidae) in riparian canyon woodland.
Gloss Mountain State Park Major County, Oklahoma
I wasn’t quite prepared for what I found in the traps this time, although I should have had a clue considering how many Euphoria beetles that were in them last time. The Euphoria-overload has not subsided since then, and as well other insects—namely Plinthocoelium suaveolens and Elateridae—were trapped in overwhelming numbers. I didn’t think to bag the catch and wait for a more comfortable situation to count the specimens until I was already on top of the mesa and committed to filed-counts, and as a result it took me almost three hours to count just the first two traps (one of them had 750 Elateridae!). I finally got smart with the third trap and brought its contents down to the parking area to count at the table and shelter. The traps down below were not as overwhelmed by Elateridae as the traps above, but P. suaveolens were still quite abundant. I did get two new bait trap captures—Knulliana cincta and Plionoma suturalis. I also got a few Eburia that look like the eastern E. quadrigeminata rather than E. haldemani. The last trap (EtOH-only down below) was compromised—broken and with the contents dried to a crisp and unsalvageable. Since the lower set of traps was compromised last time (by wind), I decided not to replace the trap and will exclude the lower set of traps from the data analysis (a shame since there were two species in the traps this time that I have not gotten in any other trap—oh well, in science you live by the rules and you die by them!). In total, at least 14 species of Cerambycidae were present in the traps (including another Aethecerinus wilsonii, which I collected for the first time ever last month near Black Mesa). There were only a few Acmaeoderamixta/immaculata in the bottle traps, but since I have not collected this complex commonly here before and it seems to be a transition zone from one to the other any additional specimens are welcome. By the time I finished counting the last trap, it was almost 6 pm and temps had risen from 95°F at the start to 106°F! I knew it was hot and that I was getting quite dehydrated (despite a food/water break between the two sets of traps), but I didn’t realize just how badly until I started guzzling liquids non-stop after I got back to the vehicle and made a beeline for the nearest town to get even more cold liquids before heading off to the next location.
Diceroprocta eugraphica (family Cicadidae) male singing in mesquite grassland.
Microstylum morosum (giant prairie robber fly—family Asilidae) in mesquite grassland.
Beaver Dunes Park Beaver County, Oklahoma
As with Alabaster Caverns the night before, I reached the campground with about an hour of daylight and set up camp, cooked dinner, and set up the lights (both ultraviolet and mercury-vapor). It was a good night for lighting, with still warm though not uncomfortable temps, although the now 1st-quarter moon was noticeably brighter than the night before. Right off the bat I got a Megatibicen dealbatus (plains cicada) and a couple of Polyphylla sp., and over the course of the evening I would get one more of the former and plenty of the latter. Cerambycid-wise, however, I got a single Eburia sp. and one elaphidiine, so not overwhelming. The Eburia looks like it could be E. haldemani, which would be interesting since at the two spots further east the Eburia I collected there look like E. quadrigeminata. The lights shut down a bit early, as the generator ran out of gas and I decided not to hook up the ultraviolet-only lights to the car. With the clatter of the generator suddenly gone, I was able to enjoy the nights sounds that I’d been missing to that point. The unusually wet year the area has been having meant not only that the landscape is unusually green, but the normally dry marsh behind the tent area is full of water—and bull frogs bleating their monotonous calls. Megatibicen dealbatus continued to sing in the taller cottonwoods around the campground—I wasn’t aware the song of this species was so similar to that of the more eastern M. pronotalis (Walker’s cicada), nor that they called as late into the night as this. In fact, few cicadas in my area call deep into the night, a notable exception being M. auletes. I guess it’s not surprising to learn that M. dealbatus does as well, as they are both in the same genus.
Everything you need in a campsite for light-collecting insects—except a 1st-quarter moon!
Day 3 — 27 July 2023
Lower temps and cloud cover were welcome developments this morning, and since I was already at the site where I would be checking traps I was able to get started earlier and be done before temps got too high. The area has evidently gotten a lot of rain recently, so much so that the 2-track shortcut to my traps was washed out and impassable (had to back up a long way… uphill!). I was glad to see the Euphoria extravaganza had ended with no consequent Eburia explosion like there would be in Missouri right now (although here I WANT to see Eburia as they are likely E. haldemani). Elaphidiines seem to rule the cerambycid diversity at this spot—I suppose most/all are associated with the Celtis reticulata that dominates the woodlands around the sand dune margins. Only a smattering of other Cerambycidae were present, none of which were especially unusual. There were about a dozen Acmaeodera in the bottle trap—they look mostly like A. immaculata in this area (along with a variety of bees for Mike).
Acmaeodera mixta (family Buprestidae) on flower of Helianthus petiolaris (prairie sunflower) along margin of sand dunes/prairie.
NearLake Etling Cimmaron County, Oklahoma
After finishing at Beaver Dunes, I made the 3-hour drive to Black Mesa State Park (despite the worrying clouds in the direction I’m going!). Just before getting there, I stopped at this spot—given to me by fellow cicindeliphile Dan Duran, who a few days ago saw Cicindela nigrocoerulea, a species I have not yet collected. There was an abundance of grasshoppers and several different types of robber flies, but tiger beetle-wise the only species I saw/collected was the über-widespread Cicindelidia punctulata along with a ground nesting bee (for MIke).
Canyonlands in miniature.
Ominous clouds to the west.
1.6 mi E Kenton Cimmaron County, Oklahoma
The worrying clouds worsened, and by the time I arrived at this spot a few miles northwest of Black Mesa State Park (my ultimate destination) a steady roll of thunder could be heard in the near distance. I decided to bag it—not as in ‘give up,’ but to literally place the trap catch in bags for later counting. The dreaded Euphoria overrun did not materialize, but not did I see anything that looked beyond the usual (I’ll have to wait for the counts to know if I should be pleased or not). I worked with some urgency as the thunder grew nearer and light rain began to fall on me. The catch in the third trap was not overwhelming, so rather than bagging it I brought it back to the car and sorted it there as long as I could manage before the rain became too heavy. Only a handful of Cerambycidae were trapped, none uncommon or in large numbers, but the bottle trap contained more than a hundred Acmaeodera sp. (A. immaculata I suspect) and lots of bees (for Mike). The most exciting capture was not in the traps, but a male Prionus heroicus that I captured in flight (I saw two others, but they never approached closely enough).
Dactylotum bicolor (rainbow grasshopper, painted grasshopper, or barber pole grasshopper—family Acrididae) in pinyon/oak/juniper woodland on sandstone outcrop.
Black Mesa State Park Cimmaron County, Oklahoma
Before the rain hit too hard to continue, I managed to service the bottle and Lindgren funnel traps. The former was swamped by perhaps a couple hundred or more of a largish bee species (but curiously not a single Acmaeodera!), while the catch of the latter was in the early stages of decay and could not be salvaged (not sure why, the reservoir should have contained 50% propylene glycol just like all other traps set out this season). Once the rain really started falling, it did not stop. I took advantage of the opportunity to go into town and pick up supplies—perhaps hoping by the time I returned the rain would have stopped and I could proceed with checking the remaining traps or at least set up camp. Such was not the case, and eventually with impending darkness I went ahead and set up while it was still lightly raining. The tent suffered a bit of moisture inside but not too bad, and with the rain fly in place and room to spare inside it was a comfortable place to catch up on my notes. Briquettes were also started in the rain but, thankfully, proceeded to embers, helped along by the eventual end of rain. I would have preferred to have been setting up lights for night collecting—or at least sitting at the table outside so I could process the trap contents that I bagged, but I did enjoy spectacular views as the rain ended amidst dwindling daylight (the rainbow view from my tent was unsurpassed!). After dark, I took a short walk to the park showers to see if any nocturnal insects were walking the roads or had been attracted to the bathroom building lights. Sadly, the park utilizes “low bug” yellow bulbs, so it was a fruitless excursion other than fulfilling the need to move the legs once more before settling down for the evening.
Storm clouds seem to be breaking up.
Rainbow view from my tent after the storm.
1st-quarter moon at night after the storm.
Day 4 — 28 July 2023
I came back in the morning to finish the job with the three jug traps placed in the hackberry/soapberry woodland canyon below the overlook. Again, I bagged the catches from the three traps, not because they were overrun by the beetles that I’m counting, but because they were overwhelmed by hackberry butterflies and millions of tiny sap beetles that would have extended the counting time into the afternoon. Given the 11-hour drive I had to get back to St. Louis, I decided it was best to bag them and count them later so I could arrive home in the evening at a reasonable hour. Also, I ran out of propylene glycol after servicing the bottle and Lindgren funnel traps, so I used straight antifreeze (diluted ethylene glycol) purchased in town to refill the reservoirs of the three jug traps. Functionally it performs the same as diluted propylene glycol, but I prefer to avoid using it when possible since it could be toxic if ingested by wildlife.
Sphecius grandis (western cicada killer—family Crabronidae) on flower of Asclepias engelmanniana (Engelmann’s milkweed) in hackberry/soapberry canyon woodland.
Elaphidiines were super abundant in all three traps—at least three species could be discerned, and Neoclytus mucronatus (apparently the “vogti” form) were also abundant. The most exciting find, however, was a Megacyllene sp. that looks distinctly like M. antennata—if this is the case, it would represent a significant northward extension to the known range!
Beetles In The Bush 