17 Year Cicada

Posted on August 6, 2016 by tspuckler

This year has been a special one for fans of insects in northeast Ohio. The emergence of millions of ciciadas occured. Magicicada is the genus of the 13-year and 17-year periodical cicadas of eastern North America.

They have spent the past 17 years underground as nymphs feeding on fluids from roots of deciduous trees. At night, when it gets warm enough, the nymphs climb the nearest available tree (or man-made structure), and begin to shed their nymph exoskeleton.

In the morning their exoskeletons could be seen in large numbers, where the creatures which the creatures that previously lived underground, see light for the first time after more than a decade and a half of a subterranean lifestyle. They also get wings.

Free of their old skin, their wings inflate with fluid and their adult skin hardens. Once their new wings and body are ready, they can begin their brief adult life, which lasts 4 to 6 weeks.

As an adult, a cicada has one job to do: make baby cicadas. To accomplish this task, an adult male will spend the last part of his life in furious song. Their sounds are sometimes reminiscent of chirps, rattles, or high-pitched screams, and when males gather in trees to form a chorus, the noise can exceed 100 decibels. Their song can be heard by females up to a mile away.

A single brood can contain billions of cicadas, with as 1.5 million insects per square acre in some parts of the region. Simultaneously emerging in such great numbers is a survival strategy known as predator satiation.

With a lifespan of 17 years, cicadas are among the longest-living insects on earth.

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Rosy Boa

Posted on July 30, 2016 by tspuckler

The highlight of my visit to the Mojave Desert was finding a snake I’ve been in search of for quite some time. One evening while hiking at the base of a mountain, I saw this creature crawling across the dirt trail.

Rosy Boas are one of the two “true” boas residing in the United States, like it’s counterpart, the Rubber Boa, it is relatively small, usually under 3 feet in length. These snakes tend to have at least some trace of three longitudinal stripes, one down the center of the back, and two on the lower sides.

In the United States, it is only found in California and Arizona. The common name is derived from the rosy or salmon coloration that often adorns some populations of these snakes. Like other boas, they produce live offspring (usually about 6).

Rosy Boas spend most of their lives hidden beneath rocks and in crevices to escape the elements and natural predators. In the cool of the evening they are often out and about, foraging for small mammals, which they subdue by constriction.

It was awesome to come across this creature and a fine way to conclude my Mojave Desert herping adventure.

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Woodhouse’s Toad

Posted on July 23, 2016 by tspuckler

Amphibians in the desert? It almost seems like a contradiction of terms, yet there are some types of toads that find a way to make a living in the arid, hot Mojave Desert. I saw one of them while visiting this desert spring this month.

The Woodhouse’s Toad is a robust, medium-sized amphibian that can get up to five inches in length. Their call resembles the bleat of a sheep and lasts one to three seconds. Like most True Toads, it has warty skin, horizontal pupils, and neck (parotoid) glands which store poison, the toad’s main defense against being eaten.

In the desert part of its range, this amphibian is usually found in lowland areas, beside streams and rivers. They hide in burrows during the daytime to avoid the desert heat.

As an adult, it is a nocturnal creature feeds on insects and other small invertebrates. The young toads can be seen in the daytime and I’ve come across them a few times along desert waterways. The Woodhouse’s Toad hibernates during the Winter and becomes active once the weather warms. One of its first activities after hibernation is breeding. Like other species of toads, this species lays several thousand eggs in flooded areas as well as permanent bodies of water.

This amphibian’s adaptability goes beyond being able to live in a harsh climate: They coexist well with introduced American Bullfrogs, crayfish and fish.

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Great Basin Gopher Snake

Posted on July 16, 2016 by tspuckler

On my last visit to the Mojave Desert, I found several examples of this fine serpent. It resides in a wide range of habitats: dry sandy areas, pine woodlands, plains, abandoned fields, deserts, grasslands and mountain scrub.

Like other Gopher Snakes, it is straw or pale brown colored with a row of large square blotches, reddish brown and black on the back and similar smaller blotches on the sides. The head is quite pointed, an adaptation for burrowing.

A unique feature that Gopher, Pine and Bull Snakes have is a filament of cartilaginous flesh in the mouth is situated immediately in front of the breathing passage. When the snake is angry and the mouth is partially opened, the filament is raised and breath is violently expelled against it – creating a very loud hissing noise.

As the name implies, this constrictor eats gophers and other rodents. It is mainly active in the daytime in Spring and Fall, though in the heat of Summer it changes its activity pattern to become nocturnal during the intense desert heat.

The individuals I have come across are usually 3-4 feet, but this snake can get over 6 feet in length. It is a harmless snakes and actually quite beneficial to man, due to the large number of rodents it consumes.

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Desert Tortoise

Posted on July 9, 2016 by tspuckler

While visiting the Mojave Desert last month, I saw this ancient creature lumbering across the arid landscape.

The Desert Tortoise has a lifespan of 80 to 100 years and grows slowly. It is not a fan of the desert heat and most of its life is spent underground in a burrow. The Desert Tortoise’s burrow creates a subterranean environment that also can serve as a shelter for other desert inhabitants like snakes, lizards, mammals and invertebrates.

Its shell length is about a foot long. This reptile’s legs are elephantine (or “columnar”), to support its relatively heavy body. The front legs are protected by a covering of thick scales and equipped with claws to dig burrows.

The Desert Tortoise’s diet is made up of a variety of vegetation, including grasses, wildflowers and cacti. They often emerge from their burrows to drink from pools of water after rainstorms. Adults can survive a year or more without access to water.

The Mojave Desert population of this species is listed as “Federally Threatened” under the Endangered Species Act. Livestock grazing, urban development and off-road vehicles (as well as highways) degrade the tortoise’s quickly disappearing habitat.

I’ve only seen a few of these reptiles during my many trips to Nevada, so it was nice to come across this one. The Desert Tortoise is the state reptile of Nevada and California.

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Cactus Longhorn Beetle

Posted on July 2, 2016 by tspuckler

During my last visit to the Mojave Desert I had my first encounter ever with this very cool insect. It lives in the desert scrub and mesquite woodlands of the American Southwest. It spends most of its life cycle in and around various cactus plants, relying on the cactus for both food and shelter.

These flightless black beetles have long antennae that stick up almost like horns, helping them earn their name. They are Darkling Beetle mimics and behave like darklings in that they raise the tips of their abdomens in the air when disturbed. Unlke Darkling Beetles, they are not able to produce a noxious smelling chemical defense.

Adults are nocturnal and feed on cacti. They hide during the day at the base or under the pads of cacti. At night they crawl to the tops of plant to feed. Their larva feed underground on the base and roots of cacti. The adult beetles are over an inch long and rather imposing in appearance.

Beetles comprise the largest group of insects on Earth, representing one-quarter of all living organisms and one-third of all animals – and this is one that I find intriguing.

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Eaton’s Firecracker

Posted on June 25, 2016 by tspuckler

This perennial herb produces several sprawling to erect stems reaching about 3 feet in height. I enjoy seeing the inch-long showy, tubular flowers in shades of bright red when I visit mountains in the Mojave Desert.

Eaton’s Firecracker is native to the western United States from California to the Rocky Mountains, where it grows in many types of desert, woodland, forest, and open plateau habitat. In California it is found primarily in high desert areas.

I usually see it in habitats like dry sagebrush scrub and pine woodlands. It is a type of Penstemon and does best on well-drained soils. I tend to find them in open areas, but they will tolerate semi-shaded conditions.

Its attractive flowers attract pollinators and other insects, which provide a food source for birds and other animals.

When in bloom, Eaton’s Firecracker more than lives up to its name. Its sprays of brilliant color are a bright spot in the desert ecosystem.

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Desert Night Snake

Posted on June 18, 2016 by tspuckler

While driving on a remote, Las Vegas Area road one night last month, I noticed a tiny serpent on the pavement, crossing the street.

The Desert Night Snake is unusual among colubrids (the family it belongs to) in that it has elliptical pupils and is rear-fanged (mildly venomous, though harmless to humans).

They tend to be small snakes, between one and two feet long, featuring pale gray or light brown ground color with brown blotches on its back and sides. Its head is flattened and triangular and it usually has a pair of dark brown blotches on the neck.

These snakes can occupy a variety of habitats other than deserts, like grasslands, chaparral, woodlands and sagebrush flats. Their primary food item is lizards, which they use their venom to subdue.

I haven’t seen one of these snakes in a few years, so it was really neat to encounter this one on my visit to the Mojave Desert.

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Ornate Tree Lizard

Posted on June 11, 2016 by tspuckler

Hiking in the Cerbat Mountains last week, I came across a few examples of this reptile. Although they are called “tree lizards,” they often spend a lot of time on rocks. Tree lizards are found in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. This lizard is an excellent climber and it is commonly seen basking and foraging on logs, boulders and trees.

Ornate Tree Lizards are slim, gray-brown, and feature an ornate pattern of thin, dark lines. They eat variety of insects including aphids, beetles, flies, ants, bees, wasps, termites, moths, butterflies, grasshoppers and crickets. They also feed on a variety of spiders.

They are a behaviorally complex species. Males are quite territorial, at least during the breeding season; I saw them arch their backs and display their bright yellow and blue colors to each other while I observed them on my hike. The territorial displays also include “push-ups” and extending their brightly colored throat dewlaps.

Ornate Tree Lizards tend to bask in the morning and then shuttle between shade and sun to maintain a fairly constant body temperature. This reptile is relatively short-lived. It matures and produces multiple egg clutch species. Very few individuals live to an age of three or more years.

The species has been used to research the physiological changes in the body during the fight-or-flight response as related to stress and aggressive competition.

It was a neat lizard to encounter in a remote place and made for an enjoyable morning.

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Arizona Black Rattlesnake

Posted on June 4, 2016 by tspuckler

Driving through the Cerbat Mountains in Arizona on Memorial Day, I was enjoying the weather and the variety of wildflowers in bloom. Then, up ahead in the road, I noticed the unmistakable shape of a rattlesnake in the road. The snake’s presence in a high-altitude habitat and its dark coloration distinguishes it from other subspecies of the western rattlesnake.

Like other Pit Vipers, the Arizona Black Rattlesnakes is venomous and have a broad, wedge-shaped head much wider than their neck, large, erectable fangs that it uses to inject venom into their prey or predators, and heat-sensing pit organs in front of their eyes that they use to detect warm-blooded prey like rodents and birds.

Arizona Black Rattlesnakes were initially considered to be a subspecies of the Prairie Rattlesnake. Until recently, they were then instead considered to be a subspecies of the Western Rattlesnake. Now, after DNA analysis, Arizona Black Rattlesnakes are considered to be their own species, Crotalus cerberus.

When threatened, a rattlesnake will often (but not always) rattle its tail, producing a loud, dry rattling sound meant to warn threats to go away. A rattlesnake may also coil up into a tight, defensive posture, puffing itself up and arching its back to make itself look more threatening.

Like others of their kind, Arizona Black Rattlesnakes produce live offspring. The babies are usually born between August and October. This was the first species of snake observed to exhibit complex social behavior, and parenting behavior reminiscent of that in mammals. Females often remain with their young in nests for several weeks, and mothers have been observed cooperatively parenting their broods.

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Tim Spuckler's Blog

Reptile Ramblings and More

Yearly Archives: 2016

17 Year Cicada

Rosy Boa

Woodhouse’s Toad

Great Basin Gopher Snake

Desert Tortoise

Cactus Longhorn Beetle

Eaton’s Firecracker

Desert Night Snake

Ornate Tree Lizard

Arizona Black Rattlesnake