Christmas rain

Spider eating a bee

My husband took this photo of a female green lynx spider (Peucetia viridans) eating a bee. He used the camera flash, which is why it is so dark in the background, although it was day at the time.

October sunrise

Black widow spider

We caught this in the house this morning. I had brought in some stonecrop that I haven't potted yet, and the spider had apparently been hiding inside it. It is the western black widow spider (Latrodectus hesperus), native to California and famous for its venomous bite.  This is a female; the males are brown and much smaller, in fact hardly resembling this at all.

It was a bit difficult to get a good photo, as the camera wanted to focus on the glass of the jam jar, not on the spider, but the top photo is what you would ordinarily see, and the bottom photo is of course the distinctive red-orange "hour glass" shape on its abdomen. 

More on black and brown widows from the UC Integrated Pest Management program and the Hastings Natural History Reservation.

Clouds and pine

The sky through the branches of our newly-trimmed pine in the back yard.

Mealybug destroyer larva?

This is probably the larva of a mealybug destroyer, a beneficial insect introduced into California in 1891, and a little later into Florida as well, to help control the mealybugs harmful to citrus trees.  This one was crawling along the trunk of our lime tree; it is head-down in both photographs.  Cryptolaemus montrouzieri is native to Australia, and is a beneficial predator in both the larval and adult stages.  It does not often survive cold winters, and has to be reintroduced annually.

This one looks a little different from other mealybug destroyer larvae in photographs, especially this one at What's That Bug?, because I thought ours looked white all over, where the others look more like a dark roly-poly with weird white tentacles stuck all over it, like some insectal Halloween costume.

The Bugman finds it interesting that the mealybug destroyer larva looks very like the mealybug it preys on.  Mother Nature News has an article on how to tell "good" bugs from "bad" ones, including the mealybug destroyer larva and the mealybug.

It may also be a Scymnus larva, a ladybeetle; this is a beneficial insect as well.  Apparently the two are both members of the ladybeetle family anyway.  The Scymnus larva does not look at all like the more common ladybeetle larvae, which do not have the white "tentacles".  Of the Scymnus, the University of Florida writes with feeling, "Many owners of plants have sprayed the larvae with chemicals in the mistaken belief that they are pests. This misidentification must be overcome by education."  In the interests of such, here are a few pictures from other sources:

Mealybug (this one is Phenacoccus solani). Source: Wikipedia.

Mealybug destroyer in larval and adult stages, with mealybugs for comparison. Source: Cornell University.

A beneficial ladybeetle (Scymnus) larva. Source: UTIA.

August sunset

San Diego alligator lizard

We caught this little lizard in the bathroom this morning!  I suspect that it is a juvenile alligator lizard (Elgaria multicarinata), though rather larger than the ones in the photos at California Herps, perhaps about 7 inches (18 cm).  Its tail is very long -- perhaps the lizard has never lost it.  Its profile looks very different in the bottom photo, but perhaps this is at least partly due to the distortion at the rim of the glass bowl we caught it in.

We photographed it before setting it loose outside.

Update: Gary at California Herps tells me that it is a juvenile San Diego alligator lizard (E. multicarinata webbii), and probably still with its original tail.  The San Diego is the longest subspecies of Southern Alligator Lizard -- up to 16 inches total length -- and is widely found throughout southern California, in the wild in grassland, open forest, and chaparral, and though somewhat secretive are also often seen in suburban yards and garages.

August morning

At the Janet Evans Swim Complex on Valencia Ave., during swimming lessons.

August evening

Summer sunset

Seen over the top of the new solar shade in the parking lot at the Fullerton Public Library.

Matilija poppy

A matilija poppy, presumably Romneya coulteri and not the very similar R. trichocalyx. This semi-evergreen flowering shrub is native to southern California and Baja California.  Apparently it can be a bit difficult to get started in the garden, but once it is established it is quite sturdy and tolerant of less-than-ideal conditions.

It can grow to 3-5 feet tall and spread to 8 feet, with beautiful bluish-greenish-grey foliage and bright-white parchment-like petaled flowers with a globe of yellow at their centers.

Laguna Lake Park, June 2012.

Laguna Lake

Taking a walk at Laguna Lake, June 2012.

A bird's nest

This bird's nest fell -- empty -- out of the big pine in our backyard.

Palo verde tree

Parkinsonia microphylla, the yellow palo verde or foothill palo verde tree, also known as Cercidium microphyllum.  Sometimes it is called simply paloverde.

This tree is becoming very popular as a street tree here in north Fullerton, presumably for its drought-tolerance, as well as its cheerful yellow flowers. The leaves are curiously like pine needles.  This particular tree is growing on a bare patch in a micro-park, and carpets the ground beneath it with the blossoms in spring.

A new tree

A new tree "planted" on a phone company box.  Someone with a sense of humor lives nearby!

Spring border

This is the border we saw earlier when the cornflowers were the main feature.  Now the pinks and reds have come into the fore.  There are pink and orange poppies, rose campion (Lychnis coronaria) and red sweet william (Dianthus barbatus), with white alyssum and still a few blue cornflowers here and there.

An unidentified moth

Western fence lizard

A western fence lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis), one of the most common lizards in Southern California.

This was actually in Yorba Linda, but it is hard to get good pictures of lizards, they skitter off so quickly most of the time.

Squirrels' drey

The squirrels' nest, or drey, very high up in our big pine tree in the backyard.

Afternoon clouds

Some beautiful streaky cirrus clouds this afternoon.

Morning clouds

Some lovely soft cirrus clouds this morning.

Afternoon sky

A mandevillea vine silhouetted against the sky.

Unidentified mushroom

We picked this mushroom from around the roots of a street magnolia on the way to school this morning.  We tried to make a spore print, but either left it sitting too long or the mushroom was too damp, as the paper became waterlogged and there was no readable imprint.

Curious sunset

A cloud casts a shadow on other clouds, this rainy evening at the Amerige Heights shopping center.

Stormy evening

February blooms

An interesting combination of succulents and bulbs.

Stormy morning