emily_antunez's Journal

USA, California, Los Angeles County, Lat: 34.0368358 Long: -117.9130731, Elev: 161m, 1 April 2020, Coll: E. Antunez

Method: Hand, Pan Trap

Time: 4:00pm-6:00pm

Today I decided to take a little stroll around my neighborhood, which is right near a wilderness park. Unfortunately the park has been closed due to the current situation but I knew I would still find some cool insects around my house. It was a pretty warm and sunny day out and right when I walked out my door, I noticed SO MANY butterflies making their way west of my house for some reason (most likely painted lady butterflies). I wanted to follow them, but I sadly forgot my net in Berkeley and also my neighbor is pretty cranky and I did not want to upset her by going onto her property. The day before, I had set my pan traps close to my house on two separate grass patches but I wanted to wait a bit longer so I decided to check them when I got back from my walk. The first insect I came across was a cute little aphid that had somehow got on my hand; if only the little guy knew he was on the hand of an entomology student. I continued walking along a very vegetated hill that parallels my neighborhood and noticed that there was a huge ant problem because under every rock I flipped, there were hundreds of ants! There were also many earwigs amongst the ants. As I continued, I came across a few spotless lady beetles in a bush with waxy leaves. I also found an insect I had been wanting to catch because I used to frequent it so often when I was growing up (but had not seen in a while).. Oncopeltus fasciatus (a Milkweed bug)!! I was so saddened when I came across a pretty large honey bee on the floor, opened up one of my viles, and it was the vile with the milkweed bug in it :(.. It flew away very quickly and I have not been able to find another. Luckily I took a few photos before it flew away. When I made my way back home, I checked my pan traps and found a lot of little gnat flies, one honey bee, and a very cool Morning-glory plume moth.

Species List:
(I have yet to identify what gnat flies I caught in my pan trap)
Common black ants
Euborellia
Aphidae
Painted lady
Spotless lady beetle
Milkweed bug
Honey bee
Gnat flies
Morning-glory plume moth

Species Account:
The most interesting insect I caught would have to be the Morning-glory Plume Moth (Emmelina monodactyla) which I found in my pan trap. When I first saw it, I had no idea it was a moth because its wings looked so odd, I thought it was maybe a type of fly. It’s T-shape caught my eye because I was unsure of how it could fly with a shape like that. I was also surprised that it was the only moth I found in my pan traps.

USA, California, Los Angeles County, Lat: 34.0368358 Long: -117.9130731, Elev: 161m, 14 April 2020, Coll: E. Antunez

Method: Hand catching

Time: 12:00pm-1:30pm

Today was the first day in a while that it was not raining! I had put out my pan traps before the rain, thinking that the rain had passed and it didn’t… so my traps were compromised. It was such a warm day so I went for a little walk and hoped to see some insects. Right off the bat, I noticed so many Hymenoptera! I even noticed a hornet’s nest forming in my backyard, which my parents want to get rid of. I turned to leave my backyard and there was a cool looking thing on my screen! I thought it might have been some type of wasp but when I posted it on iNaturalist, I found out it was a White-winged March Fly. I continued walking and observed lots of flies; 3-4 were huddled together basking in the sun. I sat down on a patch of grass and saw what I thought was a termite but I couldn’t get a clear enough photo to identify it, but it had long wings that were twice its body. I also noticed a tiny little beetle on the cement that was moving pretty quickly to get away from me as I tried to grab it to take a quick pic. Again, I saw many little black ants. I flipped a rock and saw numerous ants carrying little white balls, which I’m sure were their eggs and I felt pretty bad that I destroyed their pile. I also took a quick glimpse at a grasshopper that was perched on a bush. Before I could get a good look though, it flew/jumped away.

Species list:
Unidentified flies (I’m convinced I saw a Satellite fly)
White-winged March Fly
Darkling beetle
Hornet
Honey bee
Little black ants
Termite (?)
Grasshopper

Species Account:
I thought the white-winged march fly was cool! When I first saw it, it looked like it didn’t have any wings, and my sister saw it and thought it was a mosquito. For some reason, I thought it could have been many things and for some reason didn’t think it was a fly. I didn’t want to kill it because I realized there is not much of a purpose if we don’t get to turn in a physical collection, so I just had it in a vile for a while and it was so entertaining to watch. It just kept going to the top and falling down for about 10 minutes and attempted to fly and messed up its wings. It's body is shaped somewhat like a cone, in that it’s abdomen is slimmer than its thorax area and its hind legs are pretty long. It also has white wings (of course it’s in the name) but has a dark spot on each wing which helped in identifying it.

USA, California, Alameda County, Lat: 37.863630 Long: -122.261120, Elev: 64m, 21 April 2020, Coll: E. Antunez

Method: Hand catching

Time: 2:00pm-3:00pm

I recently came back to the Bay Area and have not had much luck finding insects. There’s a big difference between my apartment on southside and my family home in a densely vegetated area. In my apartment, I noticed my cat looking at something that was high on the wall; it wasn’t moving so I got a bit closer and saw that it was a silverfish. My cat pawed at it before I could catch it or take a picture. I took that as a sign to go outside and look for some insects. I decided to take a walk around the block (wearing a mask of course) and noticed two flies mating on some dog poop. As I got closer, they flew away and landed on a nearby leaf, still attached. I was able to catch them in a vile and take a quick picture and then let them back out to continue their business. I kept walking and was not finding much until I noticed something red on a leaf I passed. It looked super cool but flew away when I got closer. Took me a while to see that it flew on a bag I was carrying. I took a very bad quality picture before it flew away again. If iNaturalist is correct, it is a downy leather-winged beetle, which is pretty cool. I sat down on a grassy patch and saw lots of tiny gnats flying around me. I was looking around and also saw a couple caterpillars munching on some grass. I had seen these exact same caterpillars before near my house in SoCal, but still didn’t know what they were. iNaturalist told me the closest resemblance was to a Checkerspot so I guess it was a Checkerspot.. I was kind of getting annoyed with my mask so I decided to go home. I need to get used to this new (temporary) reality...

Species list:
Silverfish
Unidentified flies
Downy leather-winged beetle (soldier bug)
Gnats
Checkerspot caterpillars

Species account:
I really wish I would have caught the soldier bug because it looked super cool! I had never seen wings on an insect that looked so shiny and leathery and the colors were interesting. I researched it and found that they are strong predators of aphids; they must be nice to have in your gardens. I also read that when disturbed, they fall to the ground which is a great way to avoid confrontation. In the bad photo I took, you could see the eyes spread on opposite sides of the head which I think makes it look super cute. I hope I get to see more of them as aphids become more abundant in the months to come.