Critters in My World

So, I'm really into critters right now, critters of all sorts and every time Dad gets an opportunity, he grabs a photo of whatever has crawled, squawked, fluttered, and crept into or life. Here's a Trio in the great circle of life that I found interesting recently:


This is a fine example of the digrammia decorata, or in un-Latin terms, the Decorated Granite Moth. With a wingspan of only 22-32mm, it has quite the range, with flights as far north as British Columbia and Manitoba and stretching as far south as Arizona. This particular specimen was photographed by my Dad on the wall outside our front door on 09-30-10 at 0845 hours. The Digrammia Decorata can be found in California starting in March with flights still appearing in September. I just think it's kinda of a unique little moth with a lot of style.

Next in our Trio is this fine fellow:


This bug-eatin squawker was ravaging the wild-area of the hill in the backyard with two of his buddies. In Latin he's known as Aphelocoma californica, but we just know him as the Western Scrub Jay. This lanky bird with its hunched-over posture is commonly referred to as a backyard bird and is notorious for being such. The Western Scrub Jay is an assertive bird, vocal and inquisitive. When looking for this bird outside your backyard, you'll often find them in a lookout position, always watching what's afoot on the ground below them and giving a squawk that naturalist W. L. Dawson said "curdles the blood, as it is meant to do." During the spring and summer months, the Western Scrub Jay can be found foraging for bugs and fruit. During the fall and winter months, their diet switches to nuts and seeds. Occasionally, they'll feast on small lizards and even nestling birds, but more often than not, these birds have a thieving nature about them, often stealing from other birds to fill their own stash. However, the Western Scrub Jay has also been known to ride piggyback on mule deer, picking off and eating the ticks and other unwanted parasites hiding there. So, if you ever have a tick, find a Western Scrub Jay. He'll be more than happy to take care of ya.

The last, and most sinister looking of my Trio is this fine specimen (My Dad really nailed this photo, don't you think?):


This is the Argiope argentata (as best I can tell. It seems to meet the markings criteria), a garden spider also known as the Silver Argiope. They have a wide range, from California to Florida and as far south as Argentina, but prefer the warmer, drier climates. They bite, and the bite can be stingy and itchy for about an hour before subsiding. However, the bite can have medical repercussions for children, elderly, and the physically weak. The Silver Argiope makes an orb web with shiny, radiating stabilimenta. Stabilimenta are a decoration some spiders use in web construction, usually by those spiders who specialize in the orb web. You can recognize this form of web decoration by the thicker, often zigzaggy looking shiny threads placed between the main threads of the web. Why these spiders do it appears to still be a matter of some debate.

Well, hope that was educational and fun for you. I think it's always nice to learn a little something more about this brave, huge world we live in and I plan on learning as much as I possibly can. Which means I'm on the hunt for a new Trio of Critters in My World.

Chao for now, my peeps. Hunter out.