Tag Archives: WTB? Mt. Washington

Mourning Cloak in Mt Washington

December 22, 2011 @ 1:16 PM PST
Location:  Mt Washington, Los Angeles, CA
It is currently unseasonably cold in Los Angeles, but the days are sunny.  The wood pile in the front continues to be a magnet for Brush Footed Butterflies.  This Mourning Cloak was soaking up the sun this afternoon.  We first noticed it with its wings open, but by the time we got the camera, the critter got camera shy.  In trying to coax it to open its wings for a photo (as well as to better soak up the sun) we merely managed to induce it to fly away.  Recently this same wood pile served as a perch for Red Admirals.

mourning cloak 20111222 300x206 Mourning Cloak in Mt Washington

Mourning Cloak

What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Red Admiral Butterfly in Mt Washington

Red Admiral
November 13, 2011
We were enjoying the beautiful fall sunshine and warm weather in the garden and we watched this Red Admiral alight on the wood pile to sun itself, soaking up the warmth by aiming its dark wings at the sun.  When another Red Admiral approached the wood pile, this possessive individual flew off to do butterfly battle and quickly returned to guard its territory.  We had a recent conversation with noted lepidopterist Julian Donahue who lives nearby as we were discussing butterflies and native plants to be planted in Elyria Canyon Park with funding the Mt Washington Beautification committee received from the Los Angeles Chapter of the North American Butterfly Association (NABA).  Julian was not aware that Red Admirals are common in the neighborhood, so we informed him that they are frequent visitors to our gardens at the What’s That Bug? offices, a scant fifteen minute walk from Julian’s house.  We are thrilled we got this photo to document the Red Admiral’s presence in Mt Washington.  This guy’s wings are a bit tattered, but that didn’t prevent it from exhibiting the spunkiness we associate with this lovely Brush Footed Butterfly.

red admiral 20111113 300x219 Red Admiral Butterfly in Mt Washington

Red Admiral Butterfly

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Work Party Elyria Canyon Park: Sunday September 25, 2011

Meet at the Red Barn in Elyria Canyon Park at 9:30 AM.

weeding party 20110731 web 226x300 Work Party Elyria Canyon Park:  Sunday September 25, 2011

From Left: Clare, Elizabeth, Jerry, Monique, Mark, Julia and Julia with her dog on a leash.

The Coyote Melon is a squash plant that has taken root in the meadow near the big dead walnut tree, and it is beginning to set fruit.  This sprawling plant is a native and it can be found wild on the hill on a winding hairpin curve above La Abeja restaurant on the East Side of Mt Washington in the Greater Cypress Park Neighborhood.

coyote squash 20110828 300x225 Work Party Elyria Canyon Park:  Sunday September 25, 2011

Coyote Melon Plant

We expect native bees are pollinating the blossoms and perhaps getting trapped inside when the blossoms close.

coyote squash blossoms 20110828 300x225 Work Party Elyria Canyon Park:  Sunday September 25, 2011

Coyote Melon Blossoms

For more information on the Coyote Melon or Coyote Gourd, Cucurbita palmata, visit Cold Splinters.  There are some beautiful photos on Northern California Flora.

coyote squash 2 20110828 300x225 Work Party Elyria Canyon Park:  Sunday September 25, 2011

Two unripe Coyote Melons

Update:  September 25, 2011
Due to a very low turnout of volunteers and the absence of one of the cohosts, the work party ended a bit early today after plants in the nursery were watered and some Castor Beans and Poison Hemlock were pulled out.

 

 

 

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What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Convergent Lady Beetle

August 26, 2011
Location:  Elyria Canyon Park, Mt. Washington, Los Angeles, California
Several of the Indian Milkweed Plants growing wild in Elyria Canyon Park have serious Milkweed Aphid infestations, and one especially hard hit group of plants is also covered in black Sooty Mold.  See the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resourceswebsite for more information on Sooty Mold.

milkweed honeydew 20110826 300x225 Convergent Lady Beetle

Indian Milkweed with Sooty Mold

Convergent Lady Beetles, Hippodamia convergens,  have begun to feed off of the Milkweed Aphids, though it seems there are far too many Aphids for the few Lady Beetles that were observed.  Learn how to identify the Convergent Lady Beetle on BugGuide and read more about the benefits of the native Convergent Lady Beetle on the San Francisco State University Department of Geographywebsite.

convergent lady beetle aphids milkweed 20110826 300x221 Convergent Lady Beetle

Convergent Lady Beetle

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Weeding Party in Elyria Canyon Park Sunday 9:30 – 11:30 AM

August 23, 2011
Join us Sunday August 28 at 9:30 at the Red Barn in Elyria Canyon Park.
Read more about the Mt Washington Beautification Committee

Each month, on the fourth Sunday of the month, the Mt Washington Beautification Committee, co-hosted by Clare Marter Kenyon and Daniel Marlos, meets at 9:30 AM near the Red Barn in Elyria Canyon State Park.  Clare takes the lead with native plant germination in the nursery and Daniel goes out weeding in areas that need special attention.  This month the weeds that we will target are invasive Conyza and an unidentified yellow thistle type plant.  Daniel is especially concerned about invasive weeds crowding out the native milkweed.  Elizabeth is seen pulling weeds from around the milkweed. 

Elizabeth Weeds 20110731 web1 242x300 Weeding Party in Elyria Canyon Park Sunday 9:30   11:30 AM
                            CLICK TO ENLARGEElyria Canyon Work Party August 28, 2011

There is a wealth of insect life on the milkweed.  Daniel saw two Monarch caterpillars of approximately the same age.  They were on two different plants about ten feet apart.

monarch cat elyria 20110731 web 300x206 Weeding Party in Elyria Canyon Park Sunday 9:30   11:30 AM
Monarch Caterpillar 20110731 AM

Two different caterpillars were photographed in the morning, but in the afternoon, only the one feeding on the leaves was photographed.  The other Monarch Caterpillar was feeding on blossoms.  The detail that is missing from the live experience in the static photo is the twitching of the front fleshy pseudo-antennae.

monarch cat 20110731 pm 300x206 Weeding Party in Elyria Canyon Park Sunday 9:30   11:30 AM
Monarch Caterpillar 20110731 PM
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Emerald Moth on the front door

Location:  Mt Washington, Los Angeles, California
June 28, 2011
A few times a year, Emerald Moths in the subfamily Geometrinae come to the porch light.  This is the first individual we have noticed this year.

emerald 20110628 300x233 Emerald Moth on the front door

Emerald

Black Ground Beetles

May 22, 2011
In preparing for the PowerPoint lecture at Theodore Payne Foundation next weekend, we came to the realization that there are no generic Ground Beetle photos from Southern California on our site, hence there is no image to use in the presentation.  We grabbed the digital camera and turned over some wood in the garden without any luck, but when we turned over a slab of concrete, about 15 ground beetles started to scurry about.  We captured two in a container and took a few quick photos.  We believe, according to Charles Hogue in Insects of the Los Angeles Basin, that these are Black Ground Beetles,
Pristonychus complanatus.  Hogue writes that they are “the largest of the ground beetles listed here (5/8 in or 10 mm), this species is all black and has a narrow prothorax,  The front of the head is flat and protruding.  The Black Ground Beetle was introduced into the basin, but coleopterists (beetle specialists) are not sure of its origins.”

black ground beetles 20110522 300x208 Black Ground Beetles

Black Ground Beetles

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Diabolical Ironclad Beetle

April 15, 2011
Last Friday, Daniel noticed this Diabolical Ironclad Beetle,
Phloeodes diabolicus, nestled into a crevice in the asphalt paving of the street along side the Mt. Washington WTB? offices.  It seems the beetle was attempting to cross the road.  With most insects, this might be a dicey proposition since getting run over by a car would mean squishing, however, the Diabolical Ironclad Beetle has a very hard exoskeleton.  It would most likely survive being run over by a vehicle.  The Diabolical Ironclad Beetle played dead during the photo shoot, and it was eventually released in the garden among the logs.  See BugGuide for more photos of Diabolical Ironclad Beetles.

ironclad 20110415 3 300x206 Diabolical Ironclad Beetle

Diabolical Ironclad Beetle

As an aside, we will be out of the office for several days, and no new identification requests will be answered during our absence.  We can say with some confidence that any emails that arrive between April 20 and April 26 might not get a response.  However, we will be preparing daily automatic postings in our absence.

ironclad 20110415 300x236 Diabolical Ironclad Beetle

Diabolical Ironclad Beetle


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