Haven’t been able to ID it. Perhaps it is a ‘dwarf spider’ — Erigoninae.  But it’s difficult to concentrate on a name when something looks this awesome. Can you tell we’re infatuated? Another case of taking a closer look and being amazed at what we see. Dang, this is a cool world we live in!

We think it’s a Clouded Sulpher, Colias philodice, and we’re pretty sure that it’s not supposed to be active this time of year. We’re not even sure where it came from — the best we can suppose is that it came in on some of the firewood.

We’ve provided it with a bowl of homemade nectar, and are watching to see what it does. So far it’s been rather inactive, not flying at all, and just walking about on the edge of the bowl. Really, we’re quite unsure of what to do.

If anyone knows how we might best keep this little critter alive until spring, we’d sure like to know!

The other day, while seeking morels in the nearby forests, my mother pointed out just such a beetle — a swift-moving creature that defied my attempts to capture it long enough to get a photo.  Only after a few minutes of both of us scurrying about did the beetle hesitate long enough for Rebecca to capture a still image.

Every time I venture out into nature, there are discoveries like this.  I’m not an expert on birds, and it’s easy for me to spot a bird I can’t identify.  I’m not an expert on plants, and many of the woodland leaves and prairie flowers are still undiscovered, unnamed in my world.  Mushrooms pose similar mysteries, and the world of insects is perhaps the most enigmatic of all, for it only takes a few moments of walking about the yard or poking under old logs before I unearth something completely new.

Each of these is a treasure, and in a way, each points to the next.  This strange, gold-spotted beetle who rested for a brief moment in my hands might as well be tied to a string, leading me on to ever-more curious explorations of swamps, tree-tops, ponds, and hillsides.  In nature, there are treasures everywhere, and what can be more grand than sharing such explorations with those we love, and with the friends we’ve made in life?

May your own Gold Bugs lead you to yet-unimagined treasures.

Rebecca was the first to spot one, a quick shining of her flashlight reflecting off of a glistening body.  The noise was the sound of thousands of nightcrawlers.

These strange animals emerge only in the dark or when the ground grows too wet from rain.  We were hearing them as they emerged part-way from holes in order to feed on all the goodies in the leaf-litter.  When our light found one, there was only an instant before the worm pulled itself back into its hole with astounding speed.  We only got pictures by a process of quickly shining our flashlight at the source of a sound and then shooting as rapidly as we could — hoping for the best.

We stood there, surrounded by the sounds of the nightcrawlers’ movements, and wondered at their lives.  We feel pretty lucky to be sharing this planet with such amazing creatures.

Our first Nature Mystery is this little creature.  We came across it in a horse arena, resting comfortably in the dry substrate.  It looked intimidating but seemed harmless when held.  If anyone knows anything about this animal, please let us know!

While the one was making a rather direct track, the other seemed a bit undecided about which way to go.  A closer look revealed some strange markings.

What an odd set of prints!

Hailing from the family Trombidiidae, there is actually very little known about these creatures – Liam Heneghan, an ecosystem ecologist from DePaul University who was interviewed in this article for Chicago Wilderness Magazine, called them an ‘under-researched enigma’.   He did explain that they are chelicerates, making them closely related to spiders and scorpions, and told of their fascinating mating ‘dance’, where the male lays down sperm along a branch and then crafts a silken trail to entice females to come and sit down on his sperm.  He also hinted that their bright red color is a warning that the mites have a terrible taste – he said that he’s placed them on anthills and observed no ants moving in for what would seem like an easy meal.

It’s known that the red velvet mites play a vital role in the decomposition process.  But the details of that role are still missing.

We’re going to pay more attention this summer when we see one of these little mites.  They can be fast, and in the varied terrain of leaf-litter they’re not always easy to follow, but we’re excited to see if we can get a glimpse into their lives.  If anyone else knows any interesting facts or has had their own experiences with the red velvet mite, we’d love to hear your observations in the comments!

Here is another picture sent in by a reader:

Thanks mmk!

We have a lot of Asian Lady Beetles in our house.  A lot.  People consider them a terrible nuisance, since they tend to swarm by the hundreds over your windows, fly into your drink, and occasionally dive-bomb you for the apparent sole purpose of landing on your arm and biting you.  Apart from that, they’re pretty neat.  They have more color variation than any other lady beetle species, and I’ve seen specimens on our windows that range from pale orange to pitch black.  Most are somewhere in between, and sport a handsome array of spots.  Plus, they have a way-cool chemical defense, which involves oozing a noxious yellow liquid from between their leg joints.  I wish I could do that.

Now, for those of you who don’t yet know me, I have a reputation to uphold.  As a genuine feral human, I’m supposed to be able to do things like get thrown naked into the snow and be found the next day in a burrow wearing clothes I’ve woven out of last year’s nettle stalks.  So it shouldn’t be an issue to eat a couple of lady beetles, right?

It’s not that I have an aversion to eating bugs.  It all began with a grasshopper, probably a Melanoplus borealis borealis, when I was only a young boy.  I captured it, stuck it alive into my mouth, and crunched.  I swore it tasted like chocolate.

But the Asian Lady Beetles are different.  They have flown into my mouth before, exuded their yellow potion of yuck, and sent me gagging.  So I knew I was in for a challenge.  Here it goes . . .

Needless to say, I spit them all out and they flew off to tell their friends about their big adventure.

Asian Lady Beetles aren’t the only insects with chemical defenses.  A lot of insects possess these sorts of juices to ward off predators.  One of the most famous is the Bombardier Beetle.

You can see it in action here:

The Bombardier Beetle’s chemical defense is boiling hot.  How vicious is that?   I’m just glad I didn’t try to eat one of them!