In addition to its other functions, this site serves as a notebook for keeping track of data and references. In our effort to keep a handle on the local species’ characteristics and publications, information about each will be posted on its own page.
Eleodes obscura, participating in notetaking. 9/20/23.
The first species to receive this honor is the prominent, large, and widespread stink beetle, Eleodes obscura. It has been the subject of field surveys, respirometry experiments, and longevity studies here at the lab, and may be the most studied species of Eleodes.
Expect more pages to become active with time. Hopefully, this will become a resource that many people in the community can make use of.
Terry’s owls are getting serious about the business of parenting. The female appears to have decided that five eggs are enough, and is incubating them full time. The male has been bringing her mice, and she has been dining in rather than leaving the box to eat them.
Owls in the box. The male (right) has brought a mouse to feed the female while she incubates the eggs. The mouse is in her mouth at the bottom center of the image. 4/2/25.
Five eggs will be a pretty good brood if they all hatch and survive. For the next few weeks, she will be tending them, with the first egg expected to hatch about April 22.
For several years, our neighbor Terry has been recording and posting footage from his camera inside a next box occupied by a pair of western screech owls. He has always had a strong following on Facebook, but for those of us who do not use the platform, he has offered to make the information and videos available here on the Lab web site.
Owl resting triumphantly after removing the mirror that had been mounted on the upper right. 3/4/25.
Once again, they have prepped the nest box and have started to lay eggs. The first video clips have been uploaded to Terry’s Owl Cam page, along with his comments and a spreadsheet of data regarding previous broods.
New videos and commentary will be uploaded regularly, so stay tuned for plenty of drama and excitement. There are two eggs now, with more to come, and then it will be about another month before they hatch. Once the eggs hatch, there will be a festival of cuteness as the little fuzzballs eat and grow for roughly another month before they fledge.
Pitfall trap array after a night of snowfall. The blue flags marking the locations are visible, but the traps are difficult to find. 3/8/25.
The pitfall traps were set this month with the expectation that it would be too cold for small arthropods to be active. The data would serve as a baseline for later surveys, when bugs would be more active. As if to emphasize this point, we got a few inches of snow the night before the traps were to be collected.
Pitfall trap under snow. It is somewhere near the flag. 3/8/25.
Even though each trap was marked with a flag and had a big rock on top, some were hard to find under the snow, and I had to be careful to avoid spilling too much snow into the cups.
When I got them back to the lab, I was in for a surprise.
Ant caught in pitfall trap. Species unknown, but not Pogonomyrmex. 3/8/25.
The cups were not overflowing with life, but there was plenty to see. The most common insects were ants. About half (maybe 5) were the large, leggy species shown above. The rest were the much smaller species shown below. Sorry there’s no scale, but they were moving too quickly for that. I preserved some, so may post better photos later.
Small ant species. 3/8/25.
There were also quite a few springtails (Collembolans), probably of several species.
Springtail caught in pitfall trap. 3/8/25.
They are extremely tiny, and I know little about them, so all I can say at this point is that there were springtails active in the neighborhood.
Spider from pitfall trap. 3/8/25.
There were also at least three spiders, of at least two species. According to iNaturalist, the spider shown above is a ground crab spider in the genus Xysticus.
Most exciting were two species of beetles.
Grey weevil with dark blotches, covered with coarse hair. 3/8/25.
One weevil fell into a trap. It is about 6 mm from nose to tail. Looks somewhat like Ophryastes, but I am not certain.
Beetle larva, probably in the family Melyridae. Note the relatively long thorax and the urogomphi (spiky things) extending from the end of the abdomen. Ruler scale is millimeters. 3/8/25.
There were also two larvae that looked like they were in the family Melyridae, or soft-winged flower beetles. They looked identical to each other, so maybe they are relatively common around here. The larval biology of most beetles, including the Melyridae, is not well documented, so it may be impossible to determine the species of these guys.
It was a pleasant surprise to find some little arthropods in the traps this month, especially a few species of beetles.
There were, however, no Tenebrionids as yet. In that way, this month’s collection does actually serve as a control. I expect that we may find some of them when the traps are reset in early April.
Trap location, looking northeast. Small blue flags remain in place to mark locations of traps. One trap, with a painted cover held down by a rock, can be seen in front of the cholla cactus. 3/3/25.
Inspired by comments from my friend and colleague Dr. Drew Talley, and conversations with a local Master Gardener, we set up a small array of pitfall traps to collect and record beetles over the course of the year.
It is a 3 X 3 grid, so nine traps total, spaced 3 meters apart. We set out flags to mark the locations of the traps in a section of the back acre of the lab where foot traffic was minimal.
Pitfall trap, consisting of a plastic cup buried to the rim . Note that the rim is flush with the soil. 3/4/25.
The traps are plastic party cups, buried to the rim. The soil is quite loose, so placing the traps was easy.
Pitfall trap with plywood cover. Legs are partially buried, leaving space for entry of beetles. 3/4/25
Once the traps were in place, we put plywood covers over them to keep debris out and shield any animals that fall in.
Plywood covers for pitfall traps before painting. Covers are 6 X 6 pieces of plywood with 3/4 wooden dowels screwed into place.
The covers are 6″ X 6″ pieces of plywood, each with three legs made from 3/4″ dowels. The 3″ legs allow them to be partially buried for stability. Once screwed together they were given a few coats of latex paint to protect them from the elements.
We’ll set traps for the first week of each month, for five nights at a time.
I have not seen beetles in the neighborhood before April, so it is unlikely any will fall into the traps this month. Knowing when beetles are not active provides an important baseline for when they first appear.
As anyone who knows me will tell you, my motto is “never let the good be the enemy of the adequate.” The site is up and running, if nowhere near perfect.
The Front Page is ready, and provides jumping off points for the major sections of the site.
There is a Wildlife page, which will ultimately direct visitors to informal discussions of local flora and fauna. At the moment, one can find information about some of the local Beetles.
The Projects page describes the work that we are doing here. The page describing the Beetle Metabolism and Ecology project has been published, along with information about Respirometry. Pages describing the other projects are coming soon.
The Blog continues, with this entry being the most current.
Finally, we have added a collection of Quick Links to the Front Page, allowing visitors to jump to their areas of interest without having to navigate multiple pages.
Thank you for joining us on this journey of discovery. More pages will be going live, including links to resources and descriptions of the work we are doing.
I got a shipment of 15 blue death-feigning beetles (Asbolus verrucosus) yesterday from Bugs in Cyberspace. If the goal of the lab is to study the biology of the local wildlife of the semi-arid savannah, why would I be interested in Asbolus, a creature from the hot, dry Sonoran and Mojave deserts? Well, aside from them being cute, lumpy, blueish, and acting like they are dead (see below), their biology is worth a look. Compared to the local species of Eleodes and Philolithus, Asbolus is adapted to much more extreme conditions, with scarce resources and high temperatures. One reported adaptation for these difficult conditions is a much lower metabolic rate than those I have measured for Eleodes and Philolithus. However, the experiments were done long ago and under different conditions. When I saw that these guys were available online, it seemed like an excellent opportunity to revisit their oxygen consumption and temperature sensitivity.
Tenebrionid beetles, like Eleodes, Philolithus, and Asbolus, employ thanatosis, or playing dead, as a defensive strategy. With Eleodes and Philolithus, I am accustomed to them freezing for a while during handling, but it is not particularly convincing. Most of the time they try to wiggle away rather than playing dead.
Don’t eat me, I’m dead.
Asbolus, on the other hand, lives up to its name of death-feigning beetle, and fakes its own death at every opportunity. Whenever they are handled, they turn over and stick their legs out like cartoon characters, and will do so repeatedly. This may be their only choice. They have no defensive stink glands (like Eleodes), nor do they mimic a stinky species (as Philolithus mimics Eleodes), so playing dead may be the most effective strategy.
They will need to settle in for a few weeks before experiments get started, and the real test will be in the summer when all of the local beetles have their metabolisms at full throttle.
