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Post by beetlehorn on Jul 25, 2017 18:05:59 GMT -8
Sitting in the room where my collections are stored, which is my den (or "man-cave" as my wife describes), I could not help but reflect upon the past ten years of collecting I have done in a lifetime of pursuing insects. There are so many questions I needed to answer regarding the life cycles, developmental stages, home ranges, food-plants, distant locations and collecting sites, that I made some rather interesting discoveries of my own. I have reared certain species of moths on plants that are not commonly thought of as ideal or preferred, I have discovered ranges of certain species that extend beyond what has been published, and I have collected specimens of insects that are truly interesting variances from the norm. Some of the most profound facts of collecting insects are what many others have also discovered if they stayed in the hobby/activity long enough, such as.....no two years are exactly alike in regards to collecting. There are always population fluctuations, different weather patterns, habitat changes, and species diversity variations. Nothing is on a constant consistent pattern. There are species that are encountered for a few years or perhaps only once, then they are gone. Then some years go by and you see them again, along with something that you have never encountered. Occasionally a species is seen only once in a lifetime, and you kick yourself for not collecting it when you had the chance. Has anyone else made the same kind of observations as I have mentioned?
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Post by Deleted on Jul 25, 2017 19:24:53 GMT -8
Yes sir I have indeed. But my observations have been more grim in nature when it comes to wildlife populations. I've noticed that the quantities of most wildlife of all kinds has dwindled. I don't see nowhere near as many of even the most common species I did 25 to 30 years ago. Insect, arachnid, reptile, amphibian and even some mammal populations to me are in serious decline. I understand this is a bit off topic for this thread but, it got me to thinking about it. Perhaps you have had similar observations. Snakes are in trouble with ophidiomyces. Bats with a similar fungal infection that causes white nose syndrome. Deer with blue tongue disease. This list just keeps getting longer.....
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Post by bandrow on Jul 26, 2017 18:41:23 GMT -8
Greetings,
I have to say I've experienced in one way or another all of the things both Beetlehorn and and Jtaylor have mentioned. However, last year I experienced something that really seemed ominous. While hunting Scaphinotus in West Virginia in mid-July, I was alone in the woods at about midnight, about a mile from the nearest campground. I've always found wandering in the woods alone at night mentally soothing, and rarely in any way unnerving. After an hour or so, I felt something wasn't quite right, but couldn't put my finger on it. I stopped for a while and just listened - and it hit me - the overall silence was almost disturbing. In my 40+ years of collecting, I always took for granted the sounds of the woods - insect noises, bird noises, animal noises - but on this night, all I could hear was the sound of a nearby creek (my landmark to find my way out!).
The following day, I was thinking about the unnatural stillness in the woods the night before, and thought it could have simply been a result of weather conditions, temperatures, etc. The night had been quite warm and humid, though, and it should have been an active night for most creatures. Later that day, I was collecting in the same area - and it hit me again - no noise. No birds, no insect noises, very little activity on flowers that should have been loaded with visitors. The fact that something may be causing our forests to be going silent is very disquieting - pun intended.
On a positive note - this morning I was stuck in traffic near Pittsburgh, PA (Etna area) and as I waited for traffic to move, I noticed a large bird at about 50' in the air coming directly toward me. As it neared, it turned slightly to fly over Pine Creek that parallels the road. At that point, I could see that it was a bald eagle - absolutely stunning!! And so near the city! I was so engrossed watching it that I never thought to get an image on my phone. But intently watching it for that minute or so and imprinting my first sighting of this magnificent bird onto my brain cells sure beats missing most of the experience fumbling with a camera!! I guess nature can be resilient too...
Cheers!
Bandrow
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Post by beetlehorn on Jul 27, 2017 18:53:13 GMT -8
One thing that I have seen in recent years here in the Southeastern US is the poison spraying along powerlines. Instead of mowing or trimming vegetation, the power company has hired teams of men to spray down all of the lower growing vegetation, which includes miles of nectaring plants, wildflowers, young tree saplings and other native weeds and grasses. This practice may actually save them money, but it is devastating on insect populations, wild birds, reptiles, and other wildlife such as rabbits and deer. I remember them coming down my street, whereupon I stopped them and very firmly told them I did not want any poisonous chemicals sprayed on my property. For two years I had the only green stretch of road in my part of the county! The rest of the roadsides looked like pure hell frozen over! I had fruit trees, and larvae rearing in sleeves in some of the trees along my property line, which were saved due to my rather adamant attitude. I have noticed a reduced amount of insect life even to present day in areas where they sprayed that crap!
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