rosemaryhernandez's Journal

To find these, I had to venture out to my backyard and front yard. I couldn't find any inside. The spider was difficult to locate because they would hide in holes or the plants. Finding the rollie pollies were difficult because a majority of them were in the dirt-covered by grass. The fly I originally thought was a wasp because its common to find those near my house from the neighbor's house. The beetle, and Earwig I just so happened to find on the floor.

The places that I thought were hotspots didn't end up being hotspots but may have been too small for me to see. There were many plants with spider webs on them, but I couldn't see any of the spiders just bugs that had trapped by the webs.
This may be due to the plants not being watered daily so that the webs can remain for an extended period. Since they were all found outside and out in the open, it may be due to there not being any humans always there, so they free to wander around but may seek cover if needed.

The earwig was found in the farthest end in my backyard and is barren with no big plants. It was moving rather quickly on the ground. It was using its front legs to move while the abdomen swayed. While moving, it didn't move in a straight line but in a zig-zag motion. It crawled underneath a log. I then found more on a cushioned chair. They moved around but were a lot slower as to the one on the ground.

Four logical explanations for the different movement of fast and slow

1. Function: The difference in the types of movement may increase there a chance of survival. When the Earwig was out in the open, the movements fast and trying to seek shelter from possible prey. While when it moved slow, it could be because of the surface it was on.
2. Causation: The possible reason for the shift of movement could be due to the area they were located and the different surfaces they were on.
3. Development: With age, they can be slower due to different possible injuries or if they lose a leg.
4. Evolutionary history: While moving only the front portion moved while the back swayed kind of like a sword.

Flora Of California
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/flora-of-california

I was looking for projects related to plants because of where I live there is an abandoned railway track with many plants growing. I found this project by looking up keywords such as California and plants and came upon this project. This projects contains plants found all over California and there were no observations in my area. I also added my previous observations from Red Rock canyon. My observations contributed well to this project because they were from California and native or possibly cultivated plants.