Beating at Laguna Atascosa NWR
Beating at Laguna Atascosa NWR.
Collecting in the brush trash pile at Laguna Atascosa NWR
Getting our permits checked (for the third time that day)...
Putting Karl Heinz Stephan's beat stick back into action at the Palm Grove.
Taking a momentary break from beating at the Palm Grove.
Beating a dead palm inflorescence at the Palm Grove.
Hiking out of the Palm Grove.
Beating
Examining contents of beat sheet
Beating in palm grove
Ed Riley with large stand of Castor Beans in the background
Surveying along a swath mowed through the resaca of the Sabal Palm Grove
Beating on a fallen dead tree.
Beating on a Spanish Dagger along Jaguarundi Trail
Beating on dead wood for Histerids and other wood boring beetles
Collecting high up beetles...
Beating along the south end of Jaguarundi Trail, Santa Ana NWR
Hiking along the tour loop at Santa Ana NWR.
Beating along the edge of the Santa Ana tour loop.
Beating on hanging dead wood along the south end of Jaguarundi Trail, Santa Ana NWR
Beating along the northern stretch of Jaguarundi Trail, Santa Ana NWR
Hitting into a mass of congregating Hemipterans.
Collecting beetles from a beat sheet braced against a tree trunk.
Beating on dead hanging palm fronds at the Palm Grove.
Taking a GPS reading where an Adetus sp. was collected.
Beating on Yuccas at sunset near the Laguna Madre
Beating on fallen dead wood for wood boring beetles.
Sweeping (and sifting) on South Padre Island
Using a net with an extended handle.
Using a net with an extended handle. (Chiggers anyone?)
Sampling beetles asso. with a palm inflorescence.
Long net
Sweeping the salt flats at Laguna Atascosa NWR
Crossing mud flat (tiger beetle habitat) on South Padre Island.
Sweeping for Chaetocnema rileyi on South Padre Island. (Didn't find any.)
Sweeping (unsuccessfully) for Chaetocnema rileyi on South Padre Island.
Getting ready to sweep vegetation behind the Boca Chica dunes.
Sweeping for Chaetocnema rileyi at Boca Chica.
Dan Heffern & Ed Riley.
Atop the dunes at Boca Chica.
Atop the dunes at Boca Chica. Chaetocnema rileyi habitat below.
Bob Gemmill sweeping at Boca Chica
Sweeping at Boca Chica
Sweeping at Boca Chica.
Collecting in Yucca Flats
Sweeping at the edge of Laguna Madre
Sweeping along the edge of Jaguarundi Trail
Sweeping outside the sabal palm grove. Rabb House in background was built in 1875 by Rio Grande riverboat captain Frank Rabb. Gorgas Science Foundation now owns the house. (House was completed in 1892.)
Dan Heffern sweeping at Boca Chica.
Lindgren Funnel Trap hoisted up a tree. Such traps mimic a tree's trunk.
Lindgren Funnel Trap - concentric funnels mimic a tree's trunk
Cleaning a Lindgren Funnel Trap.
Final adjustments to the Lindgren funnel trap
Pouring LowTox antifreeze into bottom of Lindgren funnel trap
Hoisting Lindgren funnel trap
Alcohol jar w/ wick on side of Lindgren funnel trap
Collapsed Lindgren funnel trap w/ wire, alcohol and antifreeze
Lindgren funnel trap w/ alcohol jar and freshly cut woody stem as bait
Pitfall traps with a barrier betw them
Pitfall traps with a barrier betw them.
Two Pit Fall Traps with a baffle in between.
Pitfall Trap with rain guard removed. Note cup inserted into vertical PVC pipe.
Dung-baited Pitfall Trap
Dung-baited Pitfall Trap cups. Note wire attached to opposite sides of the inner cup serve as a handle to pull the cup out.
Dung-baited Pitfall Trap. Excess dung smeared on top of rain guard.
Dung-baited Pitfall Trap. Condiment cup of pig dung rests in loop of stiff copper wire, the other end of wire is stuck into the soil outside the PVC pipe.
Servicing a pit fall trap. Pull the inner cup and pour the contents into a small wire strainer. Reuse the lowtox antifreeze. Bugs are washed into a Ball jar with a squeeze bottle of alcohol.
Clipping a condiment cup of swine feces onto the side of a pitfall trap
Pitfall trap with condiment cup of swine feces clipped on the side Note collapsible shovel in background
South Texas Pitfall Sample
Dropping rain guards on a pair of pit fall traps with barrier in between
Pair of pit fall traps with barrier in between
Pitfall trap closed down for the winter (Rain guard pushed into ground over pitfall trap)
1) Bury two cups together 2) Remove the inner cup w/ sand
3) Fill bottom of cup w/ LowTox antifreeze
A set pit fall trap
Teamwork!
Servicing a pit fall trap
Wooden barrier staked across top of buried jar as pit fall trap
Jar was buried as a pitfall trap
Straining bugs out of the antifreeze which can be reused. Samples returned to lab in Ball jars. Orange flagging tape on trowel handle to prevent loosing it.
Modifying rain guard for use in sandy habitat
Rain guard in place over pitfall trap
Pitfall trap apparatus
Servicing a pit fall trap Contents of inner cup washed out with alcohol squeeze bottle.
Servicing a pit fall trap. Samples returned to lab in Ball jars.
Collecting material from a abandoned pack rat midden
Filling the Sifter or Litter Reducer
Sifting pack rat midden material - Best not to inhale centuries old dried pack rat excrement...
Sifting shore line detritus at sunset. Note the Mangroves in the background.
Sifting shore line detritus at sunset. Note the Mangroves.
Using sifter or litter reducer
Dropping lights in atop Berlese Funnel samples
Setting up alcohol catch jars below Berlese Funnel samples
Setting up Berlese funnel traps in the field
Prepping multiple hanging bait traps.
Dead wood hauled home for rearing purposes.
Mixing brown sugar and water bait
Bait traps ready to be hung.
Looking inside a hanging bait trap.
Adding orange slices to hanging bait trap.
Top it all off with Boone Farm Wine...
Baiting a carrion trap with "Raton Mickey" at the Palm Grove.
Hanging carrion trap. Scraps from the butcher wrapped up in chicken wire.
Hanging bait trap baited with brown sugar and cheap wine.
Juicing up the kill vile.
Collecting hanging dead wood from an Ebony tree for rearing purposes.
Cerambycid larva in sabal palm petiole
Sabal palm frond petioles (with beetle larvae) taped back together. Petioles and sticks brought back to the lab for rearing purposes.
Wood (of one sp. and location) inside rearing barrel.
Rearing barrels (with beat sheet and Karl Stephan's "beat bat" in foreground)
Large plastic jar holding shelf fungus
Agallissus lepturoides in jar attached to rearing box containing palm fronds (LRG = Lower Rio Grande)
Agallissus lepturoides in jar attached to rearing box with palm fronds
Packing up.
Standard bug gear...
Five gallon bucket holding trap-servicing gear. Alcohol squeeze bottle, Ball jars, strainers, trowel, fresh anti-freeze, etc.
Using a square-framed minnow net to retrieve beetles from curve-bottomed flight intercept trough. See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QpMw9Zr_y4
Flight Intercept and Elevated Malaise Traps
Inspecting a Flight Intercept Trap (FIT)
F.I.T. trap in south Texas brush
Top level of a F.I.T. trap at the Palm Grove.
Two level F.I.T. trap at the Palm Grove.
Servicing FIT trap in palm grove See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QpMw9Zr_y4
Using a square-topped minnow net to retrieve beetles from curve-bottomed flight intercept trough.See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QpMw9Zr_y4
Flight Intercept Trap (FIT).
Using a square-framed minnow net to retrieve beetles from curve-bottomed flight intercept trough See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QpMw9Zr_y4
Quinn, Riley, Overton
Processing a light bucket trap sample
Checking a sweep sample on South Padre Island.
Sifting sand drawn from around the roots of plants on South Padre Island.
Sifting sand on South Padre Island.
Sifting sand drawn from around the base of plants.
In prime palm grove habitat
"How do I get at that beetle that I know is up there?"
Making labels for jar samples
Santa Ana NWR Jaguarundi Trail: Pit Fall Trap March 30, 2010
stack o' yellow pan traps
Ye ol' yellow pan trap (w/ soapy water)
setting up some bait traps
Apple slices in alcohol (beer & Boone's Farm)
bug collecting at its simplest...
Hauling out American Burying Beetle pitfall traps & vertebrate extruders
Tom Atkinson
Ambrosia Beetle Damage
Bottle atop a pack rat midden for scale...
"Not much dear, how about you?"
Drift net at Comal Springs, New Braunfels, TX
Invertebrate survey at Comal Springs, Landa Park, New Braunfels, Comal Co., Texas
Inspecting palm frond petioles for cerambycid larvae
Collecting dung beetles from the forest trail at the Palm Grove.
(l. to r.) Dan Heffern, Brian Raber, Bob Gemmill & Ed Riley at the Palm Grove.
Checking a few beetles...
Brian Raber & Ed Riley in the Palm Grove parking lot.
Along the entrance road to the Palm Grove.
Cutting and collecting dead wood.
(l. to r.) Ed Riley, Bob Gemmill, Brian Raber & Dan Heffern.
Ed Riley, Bob Gemmill, Brian Raber, Dan Heffern.
Grave marker of Thomas. W. Jones (c. 1827-1853), assistant surveyor of the U.S. Mexico boundary survey party, who drowned in the Rio Grande near this site. Note Tiger Beetle survey being conducted in background.
Grave marker of Thomas. W. Jones (c. 1827-1853), assistant surveyor of the U.S. Mexico boundary survey party, who drowned in the Rio Grande near this site.
More elaborate grave marker in the background for a family member of the ranch owner.
Southmost point of the Jaguarundi Trail, Santa Ana NWR. Rio Grande and Mexico in background.
A discussion of Karl Stephan's beat stick
Now that's a Croton!
Looking for Gerstaeckeria Cactus Weevils
Examining drift wood at the edge of Laguna Madre
Laguna Atascosa NWR Tour Loop Drive
Audubon Sabal Palm Grove Sanctuary
Examining sifted material to collect live Staphylinids and other beetles
Dung patty placed on a beat sheet to facilitate finding Histerids and Staphylinids. (Note to self, wash sheet)
Close-up examination of dung for Histerids and Staphylinids
Flipping cactus pads looking for Gerstaeckeria Cactus Weevils
Outer gate to Sabal Palm Grove Audubon Sanctuary
Resaca Loop Trail in disarray...
Failed reveg attempt (nr. palm grove) due to invasive grass. Fast growing trees in foreground came and went w/o other woody plants getting established.
Beavers feeding on bark of ash tree along the Rio Grande
Portable generators, extension cords, and fuel
Prepping a bucket light trap.
Prepping a bucket light trap. Black boxes are timers to extend the life of the marine battery.
Black light bucket trap with timer.
Portable blacklight bucket traps with deep cycle marine battery.
Using a wagon to haul in/out a deep cycle marine battery used to power a bucket light trap.
Setting a bucket light trap
Setting up mercury vapor and black lights at Bentsen-RGV SP.
Black light sheet at edge of forest
black lighting
UV and Mercury Vapor black lighting
Surveying the motel parking lot for beetles attracted to lights.
