Mantisfly and Wolf Spider-A Terrible Tango

Mantisfly - Dicromantispa sayi

Another treasure of the garden--a mantisfly. These little gems are not terribly common, and I'm glad to find one every few years. I found this one floundering in my little water garden and saved it by putting it on some petunias to dry out. Predatory, as its spined and grasping front legs would suggest, the mantisfly is a neuropteran, related to the predatory lacewings, and like them it flies reluctantly and weakly. Actually, it prefers to wait around on flowers for something to blunder by to be grabbed and eaten. Me too. But usually I wind up cooking instead.

Such a charming bug--tiny but outfitted with everything it needs to grab smaller insects, process and consume them. I'm amazed at the convergent evolution that gives this insect the same bug-eyed countenance and miraculous forelimbs of the big praying mantis. Just a real good preying apparatus, and it works for both mantids and the unrelated mantisflies.

 

There, the similarities end. And the story gets weirder, as it usually does with insects.   Larval mantisflies, which are speedy and flattened and look something like beetle larvae, parasitize spiders and their eggs. They hitch a ride on a female spider, like a wolf spider, and get into the egg sac while it's under construction. They suck the eggs dry with tubular mouthparts, then pupate in the nice strong silk egg sac. When they pupate, the adult emerges by chewing its way out of the egg sac. Wow.

Dicromantispa sayi, one of six North American species in its subfamily Mantispinae, has a wide range, from southern Ontario west to SD, Utah, NE and AZ, and south to FL, Mexico and Panama, the Bahamas and Cuba.Worldwide, there are about 400 species of mantisfly. Think about that for a moment. It's a little crazy when you think about it, and compare insect diversity to, say, mammalian or avian diversity. That's like saying there are 400 species of oh, say, gnatcatcher worldwide.

So when you see a big scary spider, know that there's something much scarier haunting it, and cut it a break. This, according to Eric Eaton of BugEric on Blogspot, is a fishing spider, genus Dolomedes, family Pisauridae. What it's doing on a dry ridge with two nearly-dry, fishless streams on either side is anybody's guess. Headed for my goldfish pond, hoping to snag a half-pound snack?

                             
I posted the photo above thinking I had a wolf spider. Below is a real wolf spider. And this is the one I hope you'll cut some slack. Because if the wolf spider had been able to hatch all its eggs in its carefully tended silken sac, which the female spider hauls around beneath her abdomen, you'd have seen something like this:

which we at first thought was a very fluffy wolf spider but which, upon closer inspection, resolved into THIS

 which I'm sure many people consider a Fear Factor moment, being covered in your own squirmy seething chillun'. I found it charming. So as much as I love finding mantisflies around, I'm thankful on the wolf spiders' behalf that there aren't a lot more of them.

Thanks to my friend Eric Eaton and the folks at Bugguide.net for helping me narrow down the choices of mantisfly. And for helping me tell a fishing spider from a wolf spider!

"Клуб 100 Футбольных Полей" B Magshop

I recently did an interview for the Russian and Ukrainian football fanzine Mag Shop Report. The magazine is dedicated to football fans from this region, with photos of stadiums and match day reports from fans in this part of the world. The fanzine also includes interviews with older supporters, younger generation ultras and features a good section on alcoholic beverages titled ‘Beer School’



Groundhopping isn’t so popular in the former USSR as it is in Britain and mainland Europe, but the first fanzine of its kind in Russia is trying to promote the hobby, with plans afoot to release an English edition of the magazine.

Mag Shop is written and edited by Yuri Paretski from Zelenograd, who supports his local club and CSKA Moscow. After our interview which is featured in Issue #6, Yuri became the first and only member of the 100FgC from Russia - Squad#196. In recognition of Yuri joining the Roll of Honour the latest edition features the 100FgC badge on the cover of issue #7.

Further details can be found on the website www.magshop.appee.ru or you can email Yuri at this address.

Tiny Golden Jumping Spider, Who Are You?

Let's find out.

 I just flippin' love living in the Information Age. It is the perfect place and time for a Science Chimp to flourish and thrive. Even five years ago, if I had put my hand on the garden gate and seen a tiny iridescent golden jumping spider leap to the next post, I would have bent down, studied it, run inside to my woefully inadequate shelf of invertebrate field guides (well, they're great for big flashy butterflies, and the Kaufman Insect Guide has delighted me again and again, but I didn't have that five years ago), and I would have sadly concluded that it was a really neat little golden jumping spider and wished hard that I knew its true name.                                                     

  This thing was tiny and very shy and I had a devil of a time getting pictures of it.  They don't begin to capture its mystery and elegance. It looked like it was made of molten gold with a pinkish-lilac sheen that changed depending on how the light hit it.

I kept herding it around with my fingers and sticking the Canon G-11 right down on top of it and finally got some acceptable pictures before it disappeared into the marjoram, thoroughly disgusted at my presumption.

 

I stored the photos away until a golden Tuesday evening with the scissorgrinder cicadas competing lustily with lawnmowers and children laughing in the town green. An evening after a week of houseguests and cooking and wild wonderful music and pure fun. An evening when I could finally think about tiny gold jumping spiders and wonder what they might be.

I went to bugguide.net.  I typed "golden jumping spider" in the search box. And up popped matching photos of the gold jumping spider Tutelina elegans.  And I marveled that this could work. And marveled that I, an armchair Linnaeus, had already named it the same thing, minus the Latin. But the Latin is the key; the Latin is what will give me more. I have found out that they eat carpenter ants, but not a lot more. But that, at least, is a start.

My Webby peregrinations led me to a wonderful site tended by an old friend named Dick Walton.  Well, imagine that. I haven't seen him since the late '80's, at an Association of Field Ornithologists meeting where I was showing some very early paintings. He's making amazing videos of all manner of small creatures on his web site, Natural History Services. Here's his video of Tutelina elegans doing its thing. Watching it, you can appreciate the wonder of finding a tiny, shining golden-purple spider on a garden gate. Watching it, you can feel the enormity of knowing there's this huge, huge web of people pumping information out into the universe for no other reason than the love of knowing. Thank you, Dick. Thank you, Bugguide biologists. Thank you, Web. Thank you, Universe.



                                                                                                                                    

My Unseen Friends

My unseen friends leave me messages, often in the little cemetery on my running route. 

The red-shouldered hawk I sometimes see left me a beautiful tail feather not long ago. I stuck it in a crevice in the trunk of a dying red cedar as a hello to anyone who might see it.

One day when I was lying on the grass under this tree, the red-shoulder landed on a dead branch very close by. She didn't know I was there. The branch broke under her weight and that hawk sprang straight up in the air flapping like mad. I laughed 'til my stomach hurt. It's fun to see such commandeering, graceful, powerful creatures look silly sometimes.

I would love to see the owl who left this whitewash on an old stone. I can only imagine the creatures who people the cemetery at night.

I saw the first tiny fawn prints, along with its mother's tracks, in early July. The pockmarks are raindrops. This photo doesn't look like much, until you see how tiny they are next to my hand.

Yes. That's a fawn the size of Chet Baker, maybe smaller. I imagined it tottering through the mud behind its mama.

One morning I found the most perfect pile of bobcat droppings in the middle of the road, past the cemetery. I was so excited that I ran straight home to get my camera. The droppings were full of turkey feathers--poult feathers, to be exact, and I wanted to document that. 

All the way home I dreamt of the photo I would take of the turkey-stuffed bobcat poo. I climbed in the car with my camera and by the time I got back someone had run over my poo pile. 

RATS!

I moped for a little while and then decided to get up before light the next morning in hopes the bobcat had come back and pooped there again.

I ran with my camera in my hand the whole way, more than two miles. And when I got there, the angels smiled and there was another perfect turkey-feather-stuffed bobcat ca ca, put right atop the old pile.

And I got my photo.

 So don't go around saying you don't know anyone who gets up early to photograph bobcat crap, because you do. One of the good things about living this far out is you don't really have to worry about anyone seeing you crouching next to a pile of poop, getting the perfect shot.

I wouldn't care if they saw me anyhow. It's probably more interesting than what they're up to, which would be smoking and driving a car. You can see the feather quill in the squashed poo, and then the fresh stuff, put right atop the smashed pile. How kind of the cat. Must've smelt my disappointment when the first pile was run over.

These photos conjure up an image of a beautiful bobcat leaping high into the air to snag a football-sized wild turkey poult. Good eatin'!

Just because I found it online, here is a photo of a melanistic bobcat taken in Scioto County, Ohio, several years ago by a trail camera. I've seen three Ohio bobcats, but none of them have been midnight black. What an unutterably cool animal. I might not recover if I saw something like this.

No, mostly what I get to see is what my unseen friends leave behind. That's where the imagination kicks in.

My Matchday - 292 Aggborough

Kidderminster Harriers 2v3 Gateshead

Blue Sq.Bet Premier

Saturday 13th August 2011

Aggborough is a ground that has somehow eluded me, having failed to visit in the club’s Football League days, as well as the last two season in which Gateshead have been in the Conference. I only need five grounds to complete the Conference set and its good to get one of those ticked-off straight away on the opening day of the season.



I travelled by coach with the GFC Supporters Club, departing from the Civic Centre at 8am. Kidderminster is a town in the Wyre Forest district of Worcestershire, located between the cities of Birmingham and Worcester. The journey went smoothly and without a hitch, arriving in good time at 12.40pm

Kidderminster Harriers kick off the new campaign at home to Gateshead in a season which marks the club’s 125th anniversary.

The Club's origins began as an Athletics club in 1877 before switching to rugby in 1880 becoming Kidderminster Harriers and Football Club, before converting to association football and became professional in the autumn of 1886.

The club initially ground shared Aggborough with local Birmingham & District League rivals - Kidderminster Olympic, until the clubs amalgamated, joining the newly formed Midland League in 1891.

They only lasted as a fully professional club for one season, resigning from the league and folding before reforming the following season as Kidderminster Harriers F.C.

Harriers won their first title in the Birmingham & District League in 1938-39, gaining promotion to the Southern League, but progress was halted due to the outbreak of WW2. The club again won promotion in 1948, playing in the Southern League until the turn of the 1960’s, a decade which was their most successful era, winning the West Midlands League on four occasions and finishing runners-up twice.

They again returned to the Southern League from 1972 until a second place finish in 1982-83 saw the club join the Alliance Premier.(Conference) In 1987 Harriers made their first of three visits to Wembley in the FA Trophy final beating Burton Albion after a replay and finished runners-up in 1991 and 1995.

Aggborough opened in May 1890 when the recent amalgamated club played Walsall, at the time the ground was oval shaped with a wooden stand with a banked athletics track and held a good 15,000 supporters.

A Corrugated iron shed was built in the 1920’s, known as the Cowshed, and a 460 seated grandstand opened in 1935, the stand roof later extended to cover a concrete terrace.

The ground was one of the first in the country to host a floodlit match with a game against Aston Villa in December 1951 and on 14th September 1955 became the first to host an FA Cup tie under lights when Harriers played Brierley Hill Alliance in a preliminary round replay, winning 4-2.

A new system was installed in the mid-sixties and a new covered terrace was erected in 1979, the Bill Greaves Memorial Stand replaced the cowshed which was damaged in a gale, the stand named in honour of their late chairman.

In 1983 further improvements to the terracing, updated floodlights and the ground squared off replacing its oval shape in preparation for the Harriers step up to the Alliance Premier League.

The 1993-94 season was an eventful one for Harriers both on and off the pitch, progressing to the 5th round of the FA Cup, knocking out Birmingham City and Preston before losing to West Ham United by a solitary goal at Aggborough. The Conference title was won for the first time but promotion to the Football League was denied due to problems with the main stand which was deemed as unsafe.

The following year the main stand was replaced with a covered single tier all seated Reynolds Stand, which is filled with red seats with ten executive boxes at the back. The rear of the stand incorporates the Aggborough Suite, club shop and supporters pub The Harriers Arms.

The ground had been upgraded to Football League standards with the stand, new club entrance and souvenir shop meant when a second Conference title was achieved six years later they took their rightful place amongst the 92, be it short lived, returning to non-league five years later.

The Bill Greaves Terrace was redeveloped as an all-seated stand in 2003. The East Stand is a basic single tier block of red seats with HARRIERS picked out in white, which takes the seating capacity up to 3,140.

There is matching covered terracing behind each goal, with the only difference being that the away end on the south terrace has an electric scoreboard perched on the roof. The overall capacity stands at 6,238 with the record attendance standing at 9,155 against Hereford on 27th November 1948

Gateshead started the season with an impressive victory in an entertaining encounter at Aggborough.

The Heed got off to a dream start when Gate was fouled on the edge of the box, the resulting Cummings free kick was handled by Storer and Jon Shaw made no mistake with the spot-kick, nonchalantly chipping the keeper to give the visitors a 3rd minute lead.

Gateshead doubled their lead when a cross from Odhiambo found Cummins in acres of space to nod home, but the lead was halved a minute later when a neat move was started and finished by Harriers man of the match Nick Wright on 20 minutes.

Kiddy pressed for an equaliser and made it all square five minutes later, a corner kick was met with a firm head by Kyle Storer making amends for his earlier handball error.

After an open first half both sides closed ranks in the second period. The match looked to be heading for a draw until ten minutes from time, when a low hard cross by Odhiambo was turned in by Kris Gate, which sent the 53 Heed Army fans behind the goal into raptures.

Jamille Matt had a great opportunity to grab an equaliser deep into injury time, but The Tynesiders held on to gain a well earned victory and a great start to the new season.

What a superb matchday to start off the new season. Arriving at Aggborough early gave us plenty of time to explore the town’s hostelries and as always I was equipped with Google map and pub list. I led the Heed Army around the streets of Kidderminster like the pied piper of Gateshead, starting off in the excellent King and Castle. The pub is set within the Severn Valley Railway museum and is a recreation of a GWR refreshment room, which serves the specially brewed Wyre Piddle(3.9%)[3.5***] which is very nice and only £2 a pint.

Afterwards we headed over to the Boars Head and predictably checked out the local JDW - The Penny Black before heading back to Aggborough for the match.

Thanks to Squad #169 Captain Carter for supplying me with ale on the journey down and a special mention to our coach driver for getting us there and back in good time, arriving back in the Heed by 9.30pm.

As I’ve already stated a great day out, having a canny drink and a brilliant result, so what more could I ask for? Hopefully more of the same over the next nine months.

Matchday stats

KHFC 2(Wright 20 Storer 25) GFC 3(Shaw 3pen Cummins 19 Gate 80)

att.1,636

Admission:press (£14)

Programme £3



Ground no.292 Aggborough - Matchday Web album (18 pictures)

Midwest Birding Symposium-Come With Me!

The Midwest Birding Symposium is almost here! In 34 days, close to a thousand birdwatchers will flutter down upon Lakeside, an idyllic resort on the shore of Lake Erie. It's coming. People are signing up like crazy. I would like you to consider joining the flock. So I shall seduce you with flowers, beautiful architecture, scintillating talks, groovy field trips and a certain charismatic Boston terrier.

This is my favorite birding event aside from the Big Sit, and for many of the same reasons. Most of all, I love seeing so many wonderful people, greeting and yakking with them at my booth. Lakeside is like this big beautiful Victorian summer camp, and seeing groups of birders sauntering through its quaint streets makes me happy. They're going from talk to talk.

About those talks. I sat down to make a list of the speakers I wanted to hear. I got a piece of paper, went to the Speakers link on Midwestbirding.org
and started writing. About halfway through, I started to chuckle, because I'd written every single one down as a can't-miss.

Last year I gave my talk in Orchestra Hall, with its lovely acoustics and intimate atmosphere. Perfect. But a tad small. We don't want to make anyone stand up.

This year, I'll face the cavernous expanse of historic Hoover Auditorium, along with a roster of wonderful speakers. I'm Al Batt's warmup act on Saturday night.

 

Imagine this place packed full of birders. Scary! Fun!  As it happens, Hoover's where I'll have my art booth. So I'll get to hear a bunch of awesome talks, and I'll get to see practically everybody as they come through. Yay! Come and say hi! Remember to blurt "BLOG!" if that's how we know each other. People won't look at you funny.

It's time to pack up the booth. I enjoy the challenge of using my Poor Man's Pickup, the cargo carrier I bought to haul Extra Stuff. Usually that means bales of straw or lots of bungeed garbage cans, but sometimes it means Fine Art.

 

 Many bungee cords, some strapdowns, some tarps and yes, some duct tape will be deployed.

Here's hoping for the same perfect winey-sweet September weather we enjoyed in 2009.

I'll have limited-edition prints and original paintings like this one from my upcoming book.

 

  It's called The Bluebird Effect: Uncommon Bonds with Common Birds.

It's due out in early spring 2012. 80,000 words and 320 brand-new color and pencil illustrations...it's been a thing. But it's done now and just about to go to press, and I cannot wait to hold it in my hands. 

I'll be taking the first pre-orders at this Symposium. If you pre-order The Bluebird Effect here, you'll get it before anyone else, and I'll be more than happy to sign it and personalize it as you request.

But enough of my yakkin'. Let me show you Lakeside as I know it and love it.

 

There's a lovely walking path that runs along Erie's shore, past gorgeous homes and luscious gardens.

 

 I walk and gaze and fantasize that Bill and I are sitting in those chairs, sharing a julep as we gaze out on the lake. But of course there would be many more dandelions in our lawn.

  

 There are almost no cars to worry about, just golf carts and bicycles, so you can walk anywhere. 

There are big green spaces with tantalizing squirtles.

We'll be bunking at the Hotel Lakeside, which I understand is full up right now. Liam is spooked by the ghosts that are said to walk its halls, but they're mostly just playing dressup with the sheets.

 

Both kids are hugely looking forward to it. Phoebe loves the architecture and the freedom of riding bikes anywhere she and Liam want to go.

 

Chet Baker loves the place, too. And he'll be with us, so this may be your chance to get your kiss from a very down-to-earth canine cyberstar.

 

As you can see, my Crazy Dog Lady priorities are in order. Chet first, kids second.

We'll all be signing our books, even Phoebe and Liam, who helped Daddy write and design the

Young Birder's Guide.

 2009's Authors' Event was really fun. Here's Lang Elliott, Sharon Stiteler, Paul Baicich, Bill Thompson III, Jim McCormac, Wayne Peterson, Lisa White and Jeff Gordon, all lined up to meet, greet and sign. I was sandwiched in next to Bill, because we both sign copies of several of his books that I've illustrated or helped on.

If all this sounds like fun, please consider attending. There's PLENTY of lodging space left, both on the Lakeside grounds and off, from humble dormitories to bed and breakfasts to cottages to hotels in nearby Port Clinton.

Click here: Lodging Options  

or

Email: hotels@lakesideohio.com 

or 

call: Lakeside's Steve Koenig at 

419-798-4461 x 230 or

1-866-952-5374

What I'm trying to say is It's Not Too Late to Regiser and PLEASE COME SEE US! You'll be so glad you did. Birders are the friendliest people anywhere. And this is such a lovely, smoothly-run event in a lovely, smoothly-run place. It has a huge and an insanely great vendor mart, too, so if you're thinking of upgrading your optics or picking up the latest, hottest books, clothing, or birding accoutrements, this is IT.

Come ogle the many gorgeous homes and gardens.

Come hang out with people who love birds. Come hear terrific talks and watch the sun rise over Lake Erie.

  Come chase fall warblers with people who also think that's fun. Maybe the Kirtland's warbler who graced 2009's event will stop by again. You never know what will show up on migration along Lake Erie.

Hey! I'm a Cape May!

Visit midwestbirding.org for every detail. Check the toolbar across the site's top for links to everything you could want.
 The Thompson/Zickefoose/Baker family is anxious to see you there.

We'll be gassing up down at the Sibley Mart on the way up. Only seems fittin'.