This week’s crawly is an excellent swimmer and one good-looking little beetle. Meet the Acilius abbreviatus predacious diving beetle. We’ll call them “Aci” for short. Aci is a western species, found along the West Coast and as far east as Idaho.At just one-half inch in length, this bitty beetle is[Read More…]
Science
Crawlies with Cri: American barn owl
With Halloween right around the corner, this week’s crawly is a creature of the night. Meet the American barn owl (Tyto alba pratincole).If you’re lucky, you’ve seen a barn owl up close and personal. Heck, maybe you even have one living in your barn. They come by their common name[Read More…]
Crawlies with Cri: Broad antennae plant bug
This week’s crawly is a beautiful, beneficial non-native bug from across the pond. Meet the broad antennae plant bug (Heterotoma planicornis).Native to Europe, the broad antennae showed up in New York in 1915. They are now established in the Northeastern United States and on the West Coast, but not in[Read More…]
Are you a mosquito magnet? It could be your smell
Maddie Burakoff AP Science Writer NEW YORK (AP) — A new study finds that some people really are “mosquito magnets” and it probably has to do with the way they smell.The researchers found that people who are most attractive to mosquitoes produce a lot of certain chemicals on their skin[Read More…]
Crawlies with Cri: Green bird grasshopper
It’s a bird. It’s a…grasshopper? Meet the green bird grasshopper (Schistocerca shoshone).We met the green’s cousin – the spotted bird grasshopper – back in 2019. At that time “our” spotted hopper was the only recorded bird grasshopper in Oregon. A lot has changed.We aren’t exactly suffering a “plague of locusts”[Read More…]
Crawlies with Cri: Female white-headed woodpecker (Dryobates albolarvatus)
This week’s crawly is a bird worth taking a road trip for. Meet the white-headed woodpecker (Dryobates albolarvatus).You don’t have to go on a road trip; they have been spotted in our area around Table Rock, Lost Creek Lake and over in Grants Pass and Cave Junction. However, you’ll have[Read More…]
Crawlies with Cri: Tule bluet damselfly
Many do not know what it’s like behind blue eyes, but this week we’ll try to get some insight into what’s behind the particular set on the tule bluet damselfly (Enallagma carunculatum).First: It’s pronounced “too-lay”.Bluets comprise the Genus Enallagma and unsurprisingly are called bluets because the males, at least, are[Read More…]
Crawlies with Cri: Wooly bear caterpillar
This week’s crawly is wooly, but it is not a bear and it cannot predict the weather. Meet the wooly bear caterpillar (Pyrrharctia Isabella). Before we learn about the moth the wooly bear morphs into, let’s talk about the weather.The popular folklore around wooly bears is that the size of[Read More…]
Crawlies with Cri: Jagged ambush bug (Genus Phymata)
You may not have known it, but we’ve been waiting eight years to meet this week’s crawly. Meet the jagged ambush bug (Genus Phymata).I first saw a photo of one on Twitter around 2014 and have been searching for one ever since. They’re tricky to find for several reasons. First,[Read More…]
IVFROG – stewards of the woodland
Nearly a decade ago, a public land decision to log Hope Mountain in Takilma hit a snag. Led by community-minded folk, namely the late John Meengs, neighbors went into action. They wanted to preserve the clean, clear and cool waters of nearby Page Creek which meanders through their forested properties[Read More…]
