Second to last survey day

Oh goodness it is hot and the birds are not singing/talking as much even in the early morning hours. The numbers of species were half as many at each of the survey points this morning. And no Bobwhites either.

The sun was just peeking up at the first stop. And the cows were a bit pushy this morning. I suppose they thought we should give them a treat.
On the second stop our shadows were long. A bunny stopped by but was not very sociable.
Shoe fly! LOL

A Snakeweed Grasshopper (Hesperotettix viridis viridis) is in the Spur-throated Grasshoppers (Melanoplinae) family. It eats a variety of plants. However it is particular fond of plants in the Asteraceae family. Additionally it is known to feed on trace amounts of grasses, flower petals, pollen, fungi, and other arthropods (Pfadt 2002).

Finally at the last survey point today we were next to corral. So I went over to see if there were any good insects around the cow patties. Here I saw evidence that a tunneler dung beetle had been here by the pile of dirt next to the patty. I came across this post a blog about Australia Dung Beetles. Everyone should be happy to have these wonderful creatures!

After the survey was finished, we headed to another unit to do a bit of exploring. And gosh did we find some neat stuff! So tomorrow’s post will cover those finds. 🙂

Stay cool!

Dung Beetle Benefits in the Pasture Ecosystem

Keep looking!

The more you know, the more you see and the more you see, the more you know

10 Comments

  1. That article on Dung Beetles – wonderful – really interesting – had no idea there were so many kinds and methods of gathering dung!

  2. Interesting about the different styles of dung beetles. So Mary when are you going to have Jim build you the observation chamber so you can add them to your zoo?
    We have lots of the tunneler/burrowing dung beetle Phanaeus difformis here, more than the roller. They will take Chili’s piles in his run and over night turn them into a fine grind. No balls. When you remove the manure in the morning there are holes in the ground. They are really fascinating.

    1. Kathy, I don’t think I want pets that you feed with poop. The Phanaeus difformis were quite fond of Gracie’s poo. But you never know I might change my mind sometime. LOL.

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