Travails

 I had the occasion recently to hike a familiar trail eight times over several days. I was interested in seeing all the changes. The hikes were through varied ecosystems such as woods, valleys, and alpine meadows. I hiked the trail in rain, and hot sun. I hiked the trail at night, early morning, midday, and early evening. Every time I did, there was something new to see. The scenery in the shady valley bottom was also hugely different from the bright sunlit meadows at the top.

 

A high alpine meadow looks very different after a damp thunderstorm than it does when baking in the hot sun of mid-day.

Alpine meadows are famous for their wildflowers. Sawmill park meadow is pretty striking. After the rains, these gentian flowers began to open. They seem designed to attract bumblebees. Their roots have some of the most bitter substances known, that humans use to make cocktails and elixirs in Europe. The grasses compete for space with these delicate flowers

This shade loving moth is not often found in the open fields, preferring open wooded areas with flowers. There were many mating couples in just one small patch of woodland. This species has a orange "cheeks" and is identified as the police car moth. It is often found early in the morning clinging to yellow flowers.

A pretty common fritillary butterfly. They are usually out a few hours after full sun. They are pretty sluggish first thing in the morning, but by mid afternoon their social acrobatics get pretty frantic. Their life cycles are intimately connected to the violets.

This is a Comma butterfly. Less common but often seen. They stand out with those jagged wings. This one is on a currant bush, so it is likely a zephyr anglewing AKA Hoary comma (the experts are still arguing over whether spots on the hindwings are yellow or golden). Like people, the most common species seem to delight in having many names. They are often different than they seem at first glance.

Wasps are still the most diverse family and by far the most underappreciated of the pollinators. This species is some sort of thread waisted wasp.

In the dry southwest, it is easy to forget that the high altitude timber forests are sometimes very moist. If the fallen timber is not regularly cleared, like in the bosque, then you will often see a plethora of understory organisms on these steep slopes than don't often see sunlight.

All mushrooms are not alike. I will never eat any of these species and I would firmly encourage any of you not to either. I appreciate these organisms just for being themselves. Fungal walls are make of a material similar to insect chitin. Many sources claim humans and fungi share a common ancestor from 1.1 billion years ago. Life on Earth is about 3.7 billion years old. The part of the fungi we call the mushroom is a fruit, that is a device for spreading spores. Just after the rains these fungi sprout many forms of mushroom out from the forest floor. Some species form shelves or mats in many forms that are strangely reminiscent of corals. This mushroom pictured above has a web structure under the umbrella instead of typical gills.

As a comparison, this mushroom from out in the deserts of the West Mesa has a spongy surface. The spores face a much drier environment and so are more protected by walls.

Many mushroom forms are tiny. These are about 3mm across. The cups are inverted and the falling raindrops splash the peridioles (spore packets) out and into the surrounding vegetation. This is an unusual type of mushroom, but aren't they all?

These tiny mushroom show the gills underneath that release the spores into the damp, warm air after the rains. My app is not very good for mushrooms, but this might be a Roridomyces species, which, if true, would by pretty rare for this state.

This one is identified as a common milkcap, but I have my doubts. However, this picture does a good job of showing the gill structures that contain the spores.

This is a coral fungus and is mildly poisonous. This fungi does not produce a typical mushroom when fruiting. It also seems to prefer to grow in open areas with grass clumps away from rotting wood.

This family is possibly a brittle gill (common name) AKA Russola (formal Latin name) . I do not actually have any idea. It does conform much closer to a "typical" shape and color of a mushroom.

This is another species of Russola and is the classic fairy tale shape and color of a mushroom. Edibility unknown. As they push through the dark soil they look just like a red apple. Up close, the color is much more bright pink.

The wettest areas of the sloping forest floor usually have some species of moss growing there. Moss or algae often grows on old mushrooms as well. Some fungi grow in symbiosis with algae on rocks and trees and are colorful lichen. Spanish moss is an example (it's neither Spanish, nor a moss). Like giving a big guy the moniker of Little John, most common names for organisms are very misleading.

But the converse is also true. This creature looked and acted just like a hoverfly in the dense tree cover. But hoverflies are creatures of open flower meadows? Turns out that, with over 6,000 different species, the hoverflies in the Sandia mountains are not the same as those in Wheeler Peak meadows. These ones eat aphids and their larva grow on rotting vegetation.

After nightfall, the dark places under the trees often have small motes of grey like this moth of unknown species. These same moths that flutter around the lights of the houses in the valley are totally uninterested in UV lights up in the mountains (I tried). This is likely because they use reflected moonlight to navigate, but up in the forests, they are laying eggs and not traveling.

There are over 160,000 species of moth with many more unknown to scientists. They are not even all related, a moth is basically anything not a butterfly that looks like a moth. They are not linked genetically. Warning, if you are not that into nerd Biology (It's a thing), do NOT click on that prior link!

This poor picture is worth including as it shows a moth that is unusual for having thin wings; a plume moth species.

A male bagworm moth. This one has just hatched. there should be many more soon. Those clear wings are also not very moth like, but the fuzzy antennae show it's heritage. Those antennae seek out the female still in her cocoon that she will never leave. There is no point in killing the males, just like game animals they are an important part of the life cycle, but each individual is 100% dispensable. Literally 70% of all males would need to be removed to have any appreciable effect. Unfortunately, the selective pressure put on insects by human insecticides and practices have meant ugly, tough critters like this one will thrive while those other interesting delicate little caterpillars fade out into history.