Journal #3

USA, Hawaii, Honolulu Country, Mililani, 95-1096 Auina St., Elev: 880 ft., 21-22 April 2020, Coll: C. Deptula
Method: Vinegar Trap (White vinegar), Netting, and Hand Collecting
Time: 11AM 4/21 - 5PM 4/22

This week I decided to set up a vinegar trap for fruit flies and also poke around my yard a bit this week since I finished most of my writing assignments for my other courses (yay). The weather was cloudy on the 21st, and very hot (80+ degrees F) and sunny on the 22nd with breezy weather. For the trap, I unfortunately did not have any apple cider vinegar per the online recommendation so I substituted it out with white vinegar. The bottom of the trap was an old medium plastic mayo jar and I used a rolled up and stapled piece of paper as the funnel above the trap. Unfortunately, the trap did not catch anything. At one point I did see two small fruit flies (Drosophila x), however they seemed to be so small that they escaped, no doubt from the sides of the cone as it has been decently breezy (the cone wiggles a bit in the wind). I’ll try again with old fruit in the jar I think.

While this was going on, I tried going outside and looking for some interesting insects. I seem to have reached a plateau for how many interesting things I can actually find now—most of my sweep netting and visual insect hunting has only resulted in the same few species. This is most likely a sign to look elsewhere, and I think I shall before the class is over. What is interesting is that I’ve been finding most of the cool insects by accident or randomly when I’m not actively looking for them. For instance, I caught a leafhopper assassin bug (Zelus renardii) when I saw it clinging to my window screen one morning. Another time I found a neat larvae (probably a neuropteran) on my lime tree when I was trying to peel off all the aphids attacking the tree’s newly formed leaves. Unfortunately, my area doesn’t seem to be well endowed with many heteropteran families… I’d like to try and look for those more on island next week. There are many flies where I am, and I was able to catch a mosquito that was attempting to suck my blood (and transmit some disease, no doubt) as well as some large Chrysomya x flies that were buzzing around a dead gecko using my net. The latter fly makes quite loud buzzing noises while flying that sounds very similar to flying bees!

Species list:
1 Zelus renardii
2 unknown dipterans (most likely Drosophilids)
1 Chrysomya x
1 Neuropteran larvae

Species Account:
The Z. renardii specimen I caught is quite interesting. I have kept it alive to observe the creature and I’m curious as to how it hunts, as it is a predatory assassin bug. Unlike my mantis and toad bug, which are also predatory, this insect lacks raptorial forelimbs that the others have. How does it capture its prey then? Does it just stab the insect with its rostrum? The way it moves is my making very slow and very smooth body movements when it’s walking, adjusting its antennae or repositioning its body. I have yet to see it eat anything though I believe it killed a fly I few into its container previously as the fly was dead within a few hours. This hunting behavior is quite interesting as the numerous leafhoppers near my house are all very fast and capable of flight—how is it that this insect that lacks quick reflexes and hunting techniques, let alone suitable hunting arms, can effectively catch prey? I’ll have to make sure it doesn’t bite me in the meantime.

Publicado el abril 23, 2020 06:39 MAÑANA por deptula