Wayne's Trivia Notes #43
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 Wayne's Trivia Notes #43   © W.P. Armstrong    All Facebook Notes & Images   
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Wayne's Trivia Note #917

I discovered this tiny spider in my ant pitfall trap. In fact, from a distance I thought it was an ant. Its color matches the fire ant major worker in photo.

Wayne's Trivia Note #918

It is quite fascinating how many diverse creatures fall into a pitfall trap. I never knew they all lived near my home in Twin Oaks Valley. I release most of them, unless they escape into my photo room.

Wayne's Trivia Note #919

The largest estimated number of species on our planet probably goes to minute wasps, not beetles as I told my students for decades! In fact, the parasitoid chalcid wasps (superfamily Chalcidoidea) alone have a remarkable estimated number of 500,000 species.

Wayne's Trivia Note #920

Tower of jewels (Echium wildpretii), a member of the borage family (Boraginaceae). It grows on subalpine volcanic slopes of Mt. Teide in the Canary Islands. Hard to believe it is in same family as our common wildflower called white "forget-me-nots" (Cryptantha).

Wayne's Trivia Note #921

It is quite remarkable how many tiny creatures live around your home. Even opening your hose bibb can be a surprise!

Wayne's Trivia Note #922

I just found this old device that helped me get through my math & chemistry classes long before electronic scientific calculators & smart phones. I complain about learning curves for modern devices; however, becoming proficient with this remarkable tool actually took a fair amount of time. This is especially true when taking a timed exam graded on an accuracy of 3 decimal significant digits!

Wayne's Trivia Note #923

Whenever I see a green pond I can't resist checking it for duckweed species (Lemna & Wolffia). This pond in Twin Oaks Valley had 3 species of minute duckweeds.

Wayne's Trivia Note #924

Ants are tidy housekeepers. These dead ants came from a midden where they discard corpses & other trash. Last night I discovered why I never see live ants of this species. They Are Nocturnal! See following link:

Wayne's Trivia Note #925

I have been enthusiastic (obsessed) about many biological topics during my life, but at this stage, ants make me happy. I do not have enough time left to become a real expert; however, maybe in my next life. I am especially fond of the genus Pheidole (Big-Headed Ants) because I played with them on Bonita Street, Arcadia at age 10.

  My 1st Ant  

Wayne's Trivia Note #926

Happy July 4th from Wayne's Word on Unix Server at Network Solutions! This hybrid variety of African daisy commemorates Independence Day. Flowers photographed at Huntington Botanical Garden & slightly enhanced with Photoshop.

Wayne's Trivia Note #927

Long before my duckweed, fig & ant obsessions, I studied CA cypress with my major professor R. J. Vogl at CSULA. One of my thesis projects was to visit all species of native CA cypress, rare trees that occur in isolated groves ("arboreal islands") from Baja California to the Oregon border. There is a lot of new research since those days over 50 years ago, including the geology of serpentinite outcrops where some cypress grow.

Wayne's Trivia Note #928

Serpentinite is a metamorphic rock formed on the sea floor at tectonic plate boundaries by the process of serpentinization. During this process, most chemical reactions essential to basic biochemical pathways of life take place. Hence, serpentine thermal vents are candidate (hypothesis) where life on Earth originated. There are currently (2024) two other solar system bodies where there is evidence for serpentinization: Mars and the Saturn moon Enceladus.

Wayne's Trivia Note #929

This is probably the most unusual insect I have ever found in my entire career. When my website was on the Palomar Server I received email from hundreds of biologists worldwide, but only one from Canada regarding my mantispid!

Wayne's Trivia Note #930

A well-camouflaged, young, Southern Pacific Rattlesnake at Wayne's Word. Stay on pathways and watch carefully for these beautiful reptiles. The red diamond rattlesnake also occurs here.

  Rattlesnakes On Nearby Owens Peak  

Wayne's Trivia Note #931

Many unusual insects occur in Twin Oaks Valley. Large hawk-moths (named for their swift flight, maneuverability & hovering) are important pollinators. In fact, some are called hummingbird moths. A hawk-moth that mimics a bumble bee on my Lantana shrub is especially fascinating!

  Jimsonweed Junkie Moth  

Wayne's Trivia Note #932

A lizard species I have never seen before. My ID was verified by iNaturalist. It is always exciting to find a seldom-seen species at my home. It is especially interesting to me because a herpatologist colleague at Palomar College, Dennis Bostic, published 2 articles about it in 1965.

Wayne's Trivia Note #933

Adapted To Heat & Drought! The original cross between Desert Willow and Catalpa was made in the early 1960s by F.N. Rusanov of the Uzbek Academy of Sciences Botanical Garden, Tashkent, Uzbekistan (formerly the Republic of Uzbekistan, U.S.S.R). In 1977 an expedition from New York's Cary Arboretum brought cuttings back to the United States. The scientific binomial originated at Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Garden in 1991.

Wayne's Trivia Note #934

Many insects with bad taste or toxins have bright warning colorations to deter possible predators. This survival adaptation even occurs in tiny milkweed aphids that ingest toxins from their milkweed host.

Wayne's Trivia Note #935

This is not a scoop of melted vanilla ice cream or a slime mold in my garden. It is a polypore fungus composed of microscopic spore-bearing tubes. See following "Bracket Fungi" link about these remarkable fungi:

  The Amazing Bracket Fungi  

Wayne's Trivia Note #936

Just completed my online article about monarch butterflies in Twin Oaks Valley. In fact, the monarch caterpillars are flourishing on native narrowleaf milkweed (Asclepias fasciculatus) in my milkweed planter.

  Milkweeds & Monarch Butterflies