After we banded at sites to the south, Kelly Bryan and I hung out at the oasis. Near triple-digit heat didn't deter us. An approaching cool front brought a few migrants ahead of it. I see more when Kelly's present, plus he IDs the stuff I can't. For example, we saw a
contopus flycatcher, and I took one look and called it a Western Wood-Pewee. But Kelly set me straight real quick. It was an
Olive-sided Flycatcher. A pretty distant shot... not one of my better ones.
I did better on dragonflies, photography-wise, not in identifying them. This one is a Common Whitetail.
And below is a Flame Skimmer.
And a lovely Roseate Skimmer
But enough of dragonflies. Here's an interesting bug that neither of us could ID, although Kelly said it's a wood eating bug. So pretty though. I guess it loves my mulch. Maybe even arrived with it.
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Your Buprestid is Lampetis drummondi. It's indeed wood-boring. That doesn't mean that it's a 'bad' bug. It's too human-centric to classify everything like that. Also, we humans would be buried deeply under dead and dieing trees without wood-eating insects.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the ID. I really appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteAck, it ate my comment - but I was going to confirm the Lampetis drummondi - gorgeous bug! We posted about them from the Chisos not too long ago... they're pretty flexible on their diets, so your place should be decent for it =) http://www.bigbendnature.com/2012/08/buprestidae-metallic-wood-boring-beetles.html
ReplyDeleteGreat. That post of yours tells me it's a native beetle and not one that came with the mulch. Well, it is native mulch though.......
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