Not much of anything on the photo front so I mostly walked and had good company over our personal communicators with Docken. Thank you, Doc.
Uh-oh! The human saw where I put my stash.
California scrub jays have been observed hiding rocks instead of acorns when they know they are being observed, to trick
other jays from discovering their real food stores.
The greatest thing you ever can do now Is trade a smile with someone who's blue now It's very easy just... Cadd#11, C5, Eb, C5, D, C5, F, C5, E, C5, G, C5, F#, C5
Sometimes I feel that way. My daily constitutional, a pleasure so great it feels like a punishment. Turns out, it was okay. I mean, it depends on how you look at it*. Company with Docken on the phone was nice. I think being able to converse misery has its benefits. It was uncomfortable though, I walk fast and for me 78º F and 48% relative humidity simply is not pleasurable. Tomorrow is the autumnal equinox, I'll feel better soon. ☯ Basically, I did half of yesterday's walk. I also chased after several butterflies. Most of them got away. Here are some pictures.
The plant is Tradescantia pallida a species of spiderwort native to the Gulf Coast region of eastern Mexico. I actually donate to the Wikimedia Foundation so don't give me a hard time, okay?
The first shot was kinda rough. To be honest, all were a PITA, it was way bright and tracking at 250-300mm with a close-up lens on top wasn't especially smooth. But the first shot was fun because the smaller hoverfly was getting really testy with the bee and was insisting on that flower.
Gaillardia, AKA, blanket flower. It was named after Maître Gaillard de Charentonneau, an 18th-century French magistrate who was an enthusiastic botanist and apparently an egotist.
Verbena bonariensis and a grass skipper, specifically an adult male fiery skipper, Hylephila phyleus.
I followed four or five different monarch butterflies but this is the only one that cooperated. The plant is Salvia farinacea (I think).
*What have you got to lose? You know, you come from nothing You're going back to nothing What have you lost? Nothing!
I had to go back and look. I haven't posted a walk report since June 29th and that post wasn't titled as such. However, I have been walking, not as often as I would like and most of the walks have taken place in my general neighborhood with "beat the heat" departure times. For me, beating the heat means making efforts to get out during a temperature range between 65º F and 75º F with 80º+ being a sort of self-imposed constraint. Relative humidity also plays a role in this. Anyway, the addition of an often energetic kitten in the house has created a number of modifications in day to day activities and this is especially true in the morning and by morning I mean AM and by AM I mean anything from about 1:30 AM until I actually start my day anywhere from 5:something to as late as 7:something AM. This is due to devoting time with both my long time pal, Queen kitty, Lucy and my new companion, kitten, Junior. Since there's some tension between 19 year old Lucy, who mostly wants to sleep peacefully and curious and playful Junior, the house gets divided up in the evenings for my sanity and my own need for peaceful sleep. In other words, I divide the night and sleep with both cats in different rooms for several hours each. Hopefully, this will change in the not so distant future and we can all get along without any fuss. During the day I monitor proximity between Lucy and Jr. I'm working on it!
I didn't know I was going to explain all of that. Onto today's walk. I took a few pictures. Special thanks to Docken for joining me over the phone.
Coreopsis Tickseed 'Full Moon' and a hoverfly.
Calandrinia grandiflora and another hoverfly.
The Gulf fritillary or passion butterfly.
Finally the reason for the title of this post.
Pepsis mildei, also known as Milde's tarantula-hawk wasp, is a species of predatory spider wasp native to the Western Hemisphere. These wasps capture live tarantulas to feed to their larva; the adults graze on flowers. There is a pain scale rating for stinging insects called, the Schmidt sting pain index (any volunteers?). The original 1983 paper was a way to systematize and compare the hemolytic properties (refers to the premature destruction of red blood cells) of insect venoms. Ratings start at 0 for stings that are completely ineffective against humans, progressing through 2 for familiar pains such as those caused by common bee or wasp stings, and finishing at 4 for the most painful stings. Pepsis mildei is ranked a 4. This places it among the most intensely painful insect stings in the world. The command "lay down and scream" is famously attributed to entomologist Justin O. Schmidt, who developed the pain scale rating, as advice for anyone stung by a tarantula hawk wasp, such as Pepsis mildei. The wasp's sting is considered one of the most excruciatingly painful imaginable, and the suggestion is a practical survival tip to prevent further injury. Continuing Schmidt's description of the pain he notes it is "blinding, fierce, [and] shockingly electric." The pain is "immediate, intense, and completely debilitating." The good news is these wasps are not aggressive toward humans, they will only sting if they are provoked. Also, the excruciating pain is said to only last for about five minutes.
I took all of the photos in this post with a Canon 70-300 mm lens with a Canon 500D close-up lens attached. The 500 represents that the close-up focuses at 500 mm, which is 19.68". That's how close the front on my camera is in these photos. Fortunately not a distance where this lady felt provoked. This is a female, as with all stinging insects only females have a stinger. It's an evolutionary adaptation from the egg-laying organ, or ovipositor, which became a specialized venom delivery system. Also note, she only has one antennae. A missing antennae is an uncommon but possible occurrence for any insect. Wasps do not have the ability to regenerate a lost antennae after reaching their adult stage. The curled orange portion of the antennae is the way to differentiate a male from a female.
The other insect is Oncopeltus fasciatus, known as the large milkweed bug. The plant is Narrowleaf Milkweed (Asclepias fascicularis).
I know she looks black but she's actually a very deep purple and blue. I couldn't catch her under an angle of light that better showed off how pretty she is.
If you wonder why I picked this song today, you're not paying attention. Please pay attention.
