November 10, 2024

You want to know one of the things that make me think Fall is finally here to stay?  There are a few creatures that suddenly reappear in my daily observations that MEAN Fall to me.  One set of such creatures are the members of genus Trichocera, sometimes called Winter Crane Flies.  For me, they are signs of Autumn's arrival.  Whatever the full name of number 1 here is, it is a member of genus Trichocera.  The second one is Trichocera annulata.  "Annulata" means ringed - you might, like me, have neglected to look THROUGH the wings to see the rings around the body.  I just got a response from my fall Fly hero, @Stephenluk of iNat, who believes picture 3 is another Trichocera annulata.  Anyway, they appeared in my yard on one of the last days of October or the first days of November.  Have YOU seen them yet?  

Here is one we have to look forward to - Trichocera bimacula, named for its two vertically arranged wing spots.  It appeared in the last week of October last year.  If you see one, please  let me know.  The second one was seen on November 7, 2023.  Stephen Luk says that unfortunately the abdomen needs to be visible for species confirmation.  But it IS in genus Trichocera/ 

Here is a little black Mosquito with polka-dotted legs (back ones at least).  Second is a Crane Fly but I don't see a proboscis on this one.  

Ahoy!  I think we've seen it.  Here is a Fly from November 4, 2024, looking a lot like the Trichocera bimacula above.  Good news:  @stephenluk agreed with this one!  Second is a Crane Fly but I don't think it's Trichocera.  It could be one that I'd not seen before.  Let me go post it.

Let's look at our usual Beetles, etc.  For the past few weeks my bedroom ceiling has been covered (poetic license) with tiny Asian Lady Beetles, but they are getting scarcer.  I'm going to miss them.  And most other Beetles are also getting very scarce.  But the second picture below shows a tiny Weevil and that's a Beetle too.   How about Bugs?  Well, they are also getting fewer and fewer.  Here you see a Drymus unus Bug, still quite active outside, considering they are getting scarcer.   Those pretty little tribe Ortholytini Plant Bugs haven't been around since the end of October, and I never found a good name for them.

I forgot to bring these ones out.  Many of the Bugs out there are actually Leafhoppers.  How could I forget?  Well, for one thing they are becoming scarcer.  Here are a couple of them.  First and second are in genus Eratoneura, and the third is in Erythridula.  Sorry to say the last two are a bit out of focus.

Here is a mystery creature-  but what kind of mystery?  Is it a shortish Pillbug?  I really can't tell.  The ID app in iNat chose to call it a Moss Beetle (Cytilus sericeus).  It was sitting right next to the Drymus unus in the picture above.  Well, I submitted this picture to @borisb, a European expert on bugs and beetles.  He says it's not even a Beetle, much less C. sericeus.  So back to the drawing board for now.  

The vegetation is still changing.  The beautiful euonymus (Burning Bush) of yesterday suddenly turned a sweet pink, and then almost as quickly shed the leaves to leave these little red seeds.  The Birds are going to be so happy this winter.

The largest Trees are now dropping their leaves.  You'll see them (the leaves) all over the Pond.  This particular one is also dangling one of its branches (upper left).  Just in case you didn't know, those dark green leaves are attached to a huge Blue Spruce tree in the far back yard.

One thing that I didn't see this week is any of the sweet little Froggs or Froggettes.   They must be down near the bottom of the Pond keeping themselves alive and asleep.   I am even busier than ever sweeping leaves off the top of the Pond.  But you can see that the Fishes are doing fine down there in the water.  Their little metabolisms have gone way down so they swim very slowly, and their appetites are over for the winter.  In a while, after the top of the water starts to freeze, I will be putting a little heater into the pond to keep a hole a couple of feet across open so they can get oxygen.   

I don't know what else to show you.  This week looks much like last week.  Today the temperature sat near 55 F.  We're already a quarter of the way through November, and I doubt it will warm up much for a long time.  So let's just try to stay warm and wait to see what happens in the Winter months.   Please, everyone, try to conserve some of that energy so that this lovely planet can last until the powers that be are wiser and we can have a better chance of keeping it spinning.   Love, Martha