Tag Archives: close-up photography

The Wrong Tiger Beetle

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Last week, we had a gathering of biologists out at The Nature Conservancy’s Little Salt Fork Marsh Preserve, a saline wetland we own and manage north of Lincoln, Nebraska.  Saline wetlands are an important ecosystem that are found in very limited numbers in Nebraska – mostly right around the city of Lincoln.  Because the ecosystem is rare in Nebraska, so are many of the species associated with it.  Those species include several plants – including saltwort (Salicornia rubra) and sea blite (Suaeda depressa) – and the salt creek tiger beetle (Cicindela nevadica lincolniana).  The beetle is found only in the saline wetlands around Lincoln and is federally-listed as an endangered species (it’s population is thought to be less than 500 individuals).  To address the conservation needs of the saline wetlands and the species within them, the Conservancy helped assemble local government and conservation entities into the Saline Wetlands Conservation Partnership in 2003.

On this particular day, a couple people spotted some tiger beetles along a saline seep on the creek that runs through our property.  The habitat was ideal for the salt creek tiger beetle, but there has never been a  record of the species being found on our property.  As we tried to get a good look at these tiger beetles, we couldn’t tell which of the dozen or so possible species they were.  I doubted they were the endangered species, but the habitat WAS just what they’re supposed to use, so after the larger group of biologists left, I walked back down to the creek with my camera to see if I could get a better look – and hopefully a few photos.

The seep was only about the size of a compact car, so it wasn’t hard to find the beetles, which were running around hunting and mating.  The trick to photographing them, though, was that the mud in the seep was so soft that it wasn’t possible to step or kneel in it without sinking quickly.  I had to wait for the beetles to come close enough to the edge for me to photograph them – something they were reluctant to do.  The temperature was in the 90’s and the nice breeze that had earlier made the day tolerable didn’t reach down into the stream bank where I was kneeling in the mud.  There were some diffuse clouds that provided good light, but didn’t do much to cut down on the heat of the sun.  Oh, and I forgot to mention the mosquitoes.

The longer I waited and sweated in the heat, the more I talked myself into the idea that these just had to be the endangered salt creek tiger beetes.  I even saw a couple of burrows in the vertical bank of the stream, which fits the profile of where the tiger beetle larvae hang out.  At long last, after about 20 minutes, one of the beetles finally came within range, and I was able to get a few photos before it scurried off again.  Relieved, I decided to stop supplementing the salinity of the wetlands with my own sweat and head home.

The final result of my hot and sweaty efforts to get a tiger beetle to come within range of my camera.

When I got home, I pulled up my photo and compared it to those on the excellent Tiger Beetles of Nebraska website to confirm that I had just gotten some photos of a very rare insect.

…And I was wrong.

It looked relatively similar, but the insect I’d sweated for was actually the twelve-spotted tiger beetle (Cicindela duodecimguttata) – an uncommon but fairly widespread species.

I’m sure the twelve-spotted tiger beetle is a very nice species, and probably has an extremely interesting natural history story to go along with it.  I’m sure some day I’ll take the time to look it up and learn all about it.  I’m sure I’ll be really glad I took the time to photograph it.

I’m sure that’ll happen.

But not yet.

Pussytoes and Early Season Pollinators

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I drove out to our family prairie yesterday to look for some early spring activity.  I scared up a couple of turkeys and a big owl, watched a red-tailed hawk soar for a while, and listened to the western meadowlarks tuning up for the breeding season.  No snakes were to be found, but there were plenty of leopard frogs along the edge of the pond.  I’d hoped to see some wildflowers, but there weren’t many blooming yet.  Apart from abundant sun sedge (Carex heliophila) plants on the steeper slopes, the only blooms to be found were patches of pussytoes (Antennaria neglecta).  Not that there’s anything wrong with pussytoes!

Pussytoes (Antennaria neglecta) in the Helzer Prairie, south of Aurora, Nebraska

Our prairie sits right on the transition between tallgrass and mixed-grass prairie in Nebraska.  As such, it can be dominated by big bluestem and indiangrass, or by western wheatgrass, side-oats grama, tall dropseed, and other shorter grass species – depending upon recent weather and management.  Part of the property is unplowed prairie, but much of it was seeded in the early 1960’s by my grandpa soon after he bought the property.  The formerly cropped areas were seeded with grasses, but have also been colonized over time by many of the forb species from the hillier unplowed prairie on the site.

Pussytoes grows well in both the unplowed and seeded portions of the prairie.  It can be found in small patches consisting of a few individuals, but also in living room-sized populations.  The plant is considered to be allelopathic and reduces the height of surrounding plants, which makes large patches fairly easy to see.  It also seems to do well in the areas of the prairie favored by grazing cattle.  (Whether this is because the cattle are drawn to the shorter grass or because the pussytoes do well in heavily grazed areas I can’t tell – it’s likely both!)

Many of the pussytoes flowers were just starting to emerge, meaning that they were only an inch or so off the ground.

Regardless, the pussytoes had the wildflower blooming stage to themselves on this early April day.  I needed to scratch my itch for wildflower photography after a long winter, so I laid down with my tripod and focused in on a few plants.  As often happens when I take the time to sit down in a prairie, I noticed other things around me.  This time it was the buzzing of pollinators who had also noticed that pusseytoes were blooming.  As I watched, I counted at least 8 species of pollinating insects bouncing from flower to flower, looking for those with pollen-laden anthers.  Most of the insects were flies, but a few bees and a moth were among the visitors as well.  Elsewhere on the prairie I saw some orange sulphur butterflies too, but never actually saw one land on a pussytoes flower.

This was one of several fly species busily visiting pussytoes flowers.

Another fly species (about the size of a house fly).

A much smaller fly, wiping pollen off its leg with its mouthparts. (I assume - or wiping its mouthparts with its leg, who can tell?)

This was the only bee species I saw, though I thought I heard a bumblebee go by...

Since our prairie is a 106 island of prairie in a landscape consisting mostly of cropland, these pussytoes were not only the sole source of pollen in our prairie – they were just about the only thing to pollinators to eat for miles.  Not even the dandelions in the neighbor’s creek bottom had started to bloom yet.  I’d never thought of pussytoes as a critical plant for pollinators, but apparently I underestimated this low-stature plant.  I’m guessing it’s not the first time its been overlooked…

Yes, I know, this looks like the same fly species shown above, but I really like its face, and this photo shows it off better than the other one does...