Move

 The way things move and also where animals move too is very critical to their ways of life. Often we underestimate the value of moving. Humans are a sedentary species, but we have not always been that way and things such as wars and natural disasters still cause huge displacements of people around the world.

 

 This formidable common snapping turtle is armed with fast reflexes, a hard shell, strong limbs and a sharp beak. Still, while she is out in the open she is vulnerable to everything from mountain lions to dog walkers. Snapping turtle are here year around, but are usually buried deep in mud of the river and canals.

 Birds can migrate long distances to find better conditions. Great blue heron populations in New Mexico are not known for long migrations. They drop into the bosque from time to time in predictable locations when the fishing is good.

The hummingbirds are fiercely territorial and responsible for chasing many other birds out of the trees during the summer. As their numbers decline in the fall migration, there is room for many more bird species in the bosque. The diversity can be very impressive on good years.

 

 Turkey vultures and raven/crows are appearing again. The crow numbers swell to impressive flocks in the winter, while the vultures are noticeable because they travel south in  caravans to Costa Rica and spot for rest stops in the bosque before continuing on.

These young king birds were creating a lot of noise as they start heading out on their own after leaving the nest. They will try to beg for food for a while, but are increasingly being rejected by the parents. Tyrant flycatchers like this species are usually very aggressive to other birds.

Preying mantis are large, impressive insects. This gravid female is getting ready to create their distinctive hard foam nests called an ootheca. Most mantids seen are imported species used for bug control. Strangely, mantids have only one ear, so cannot locate sound sources while stationary.

In the colder nights, insects bed down for the night. many bee species lock their jaws on a plant stem like this one, and enter a torpor state. This bee is a longhorn cuckoo bee. It lays its eggs in the brood chambers of longhorn bees. The cuckoo grub then kills the original grub and feeds on the food reserves that were stored in the chamber.

This is the end of the mating season for ladybirds and they will soon be gathering to overwinter under leaves in sheltered locations in the bosque. Many ladybugs are not native and are imported to control soft bodied insects such as aphids and scale.

The frequent rains have come down on the mesa at just the right intervals to allow pools to form in the soft clay. The desert frogs thrive in this habitat, as long as predators stay away.

The water disappears quickly, and usually the tadpoles also leave quickly. However, if they take too long to leave the pool, they are at risk of being attacked by birds, dragonfly larvae, or predatory beetles.

There are many sphinx moths in the desert looking to lay eggs far away from predatory wasps. Their caterpillars are large and often come in a wide range of colors.

This spider is very similar colored to the velvet ant, an insect most animals learn to leave alone. Most range maps do not show this spider existing in New Mexico...but there it is.

The hairy back legs and strange antenna on this bee show it to a Svastra. These bees have very hairy legs and are solitary, but often found in a loose agglomerations. The solitary bee species are very diverse to exploit different ecological niches. They need a more catchy name, however. Maybe Wookie bee?

Conchuela are a type of stink bug that also overwinters under leaf litter after laying eggs all summer. They feed on plant sap and can be found out in surprisingly cold weather.

This moth species is actually a complicated question. This tribe of moths has a large number of members and a lot of confusion over the classifications. It is a Boarmiini. It can seem odd that something as simple as a moth is hard to describe, but the moths have been studied for their weird taxonomy and surprising rapid evolutions ever since they were shown to be adapting to the soot covered buildings of Victorian England before Darwin nailed down the evolution idea.

Leaf bugs are also wrapping up their reproductive cycle and soon will move to their overwintering sites. These bugs are tough and resistant to many types of insecticide that just can't get into their bodies to have an effect. The cool looking legs on these bugs identify them as "leaf footed bugs". It is odd to many people that many insects are not, actually "bugs". 

Its strange we are not more worried about this little flea, and we focus on those large scary bugs in the weeds. Fleas are not common in the SW, but are going to be around more during the next summer just due to the extra moisture we have seen now. Rabbits are susceptible to many infections from fleas and their numbers fluctuate. While much is unknown, we know parasites and diseases have profound effects on the movement of animals and humans on their migrations and this research is pretty interesting science.