Our (New) House

My wife, Heidi, and I moved into our new home in Leavenworth, Kansas on May 17. Our house is a very, very, very modest house, with a front yard and a back yard, and a detached garage. It will take some getting used to, as our former townhouse in Colorado Springs had little outdoor space we could truly call our own, and it was maintained by a homeowners’ association (HOA). We have not yet met our human neighbors, but have become acquainted with the wildlife.

While we are still cramped by unpacked boxes here and there, it has been the weather that has been most frustrating and depressing. Colorado Springs boasts over three hundred days of sunshine per year. Here, in a little more than two weeks, we have had two full days of sun. Otherwise, it has been overcast, dreary, often raining, and unseasonably cool. Yesterday it barely made it over 60° F. Heidi insists it is warm and humid, I say it is cool and damp. On the days when it has been dry, my allergies to grasses and spring trees have made my mood just as miserable as the cloudy and wet days.

Back yard, before mowing. The federal penitentiary is visible behind us, and brightly illuminated at night.

Despite the inclement weather, we have been exploring our property and keeping a list of the animals we find. While unloading the U-haul, Heidi tallied thirteen species of birds. I turn the porch light on at night, and on two occasions deployed a blacklight, and many insects have revealed themselves. Our accounting now numbers over 190 taxa (anything from phylum to species, depending on our familiarity with a given organism).

Tiny, adorable weevil, Lechriops oculatus, on the back fence.

So far, our home seems to be spider city and weevil central. We appear to have a resident Eastern Gray Squirrel inhabiting the huge oak tree in the front yard; and American Robin and Mourning Dove often bask on the wires over the garage and back yard. Reluctantly, we mowed what passes for our lawns, but kept the cutting level as high as we could, leaving the herbaceous vegetation along the fence line in the back as intact as possible. We have Ground Ivy, clover, dandelion, and even some violets growing among the grass and leaf litter.

A nomad cuckoo bee, Nomada sp., on a dandelion in the back yard.

Leavenworth is a rather quaint town, the residential neighborhoods being almost literally the All-American communities one thinks of in the “fly-over” states, but no one has been overly welcoming, let alone ringing the doorbell with pies and other foods in hand. I imagine that the continuing pandemic has something to do with the abortion of traditional greetings and offerings, but I also suspect a growing pall of suspicion and distrust that has always been there, but is now pervasive and….normal. Is everyone on the block talking about us on the Nextdoor app, speculating about why I am prowling around with a camera, and stretching a sheet and a UV light off the front porch?

Small, horned darkling beetle, Neomida bicornis, drawn to the front porch light at night.

Driving around in the course of picking up items for our household, and running errands to establish our residency in the civic sense, it is apparent that the cities of Leavenworth and Lansing, and the county of Leavenworth, have a good deal of untamed greenspace among the agricultural fields and commercial enterprise districts. It will be interesting to explore, provided the weather improves.

Bumble bee-mimicking robber fly, Laphria flavicollis, alond a paved trail in 10th Avenue Park, along Five Mile Creek.

I was telling a friend back in Colorado Springs, one of the few people we saw immediately before we left, that I feel cheated by the pandemic year. I had an entire twelve months where I saw almost no one outside of my spouse, and now I am being swept away without having much in the way of meaningful parting encounters.

A male White-jawed Jumping Spider, Hentzia mitrata, on our front porch railing.

Here I am now, knowing no one but my in-laws, and having met a couple of Heidi’s high school classmates briefly, two years ago. Being a sudden stranger is hard, folks. I am likely to retreat to the comfort and familiarity of the insect world where I actually recognize some old friends.

An ornate pomace fly, Chymomyza amoena, related to the "fruit flies" that hover over the bananas in your kitchen.

UPDATE: Concerning my health, my respiratory issues have almost completely resolved themselves. The cause was apparently a severe allergy I developed to our pet bird, a budgerigar (“budgie”). My wife’s parents visited us in Colorado about three weeks before we moved, and we sent the bird away with them. My symptoms of coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath vanished almost immediately. I will sincerely miss the sweet tweeting of our “boy named Sue,” but am grateful to be sleeping soundly, in our bed instead of a chair, with no need of an inhaler.

Green Oak-slug Moth, Euclea incisa, at our porch light at night.

There's a Moth in my Salad!

Entomophagy is the term for the intentional consumption of insects as food; but you would be surprised by how many insects turn up in foods we eat regularly. Two recent incidents reminded me that it is remarkable we don’t find more recognizable insects in our food, and why it shouldn’t bother us anyway.

I was having lunch with my wife and various friends from church at a chain restaurant on Sunday, April 6, when one member of our party discovered an intact moth, yes moth, amongst her salad greens. We were both eating the same salad, so I was a little more careful with succeeding bites. I took home the specimen and discovered it to be a member of the Noctuidae or Erebidae family. This wasn’t surprising since the caterpillars of many owlet moths are notorious crop pests, several of which are known as “cutworms.”

Yep, that's a moth

The prevalence of insects or insect parts is so commonplace and unavoidable in the harvesting, processing, storage, and shipping of food products that the Food and Drug Administration publishes an entire handbook on the subject of Food Defect Action Levels. The allowable number of insect parts, or even whole insects (collectively referred to by the unsavory term of “insect filth”), varies markedly according to each food product.

On the other end of the spectrum, we have situations whereby perfectly innocuous vegetable matter is interpreted by a restaurant patron as an insect. I received a sample of material obtained from a meal at another chain eatery. Previous casual observations of the “specimens” by other parties concluded they were either insects or the parts of one insect. My own examination revealed no segmentation, no differentiation of body parts, and therefore no insect(s). The resemblance is, arguably, startling, kind of like camouflage or mimicry in reverse.

Nope, not bugs

The blackened, fibrous roots or stems masquerading as bugs were, of course, a cosmetic issue, just as an actual insect would be. With few, minor exceptions, insects in your meal pose no health threat whatsoever. We are simply accustomed to pristine produce, unblemished fruits and vegetables. Our crops are sprayed will all manner of insecticides, waxes, dyes, and other coatings to give us this standard. It is akin to airbrushing and “Photoshopping” images of models to present us with an unrealistic standard of human beauty.

I will still find it gross to come upon an insect in my salad, or a fly in my soup, but it won’t bother me beyond that. I was quite impressed with the nonchalant reaction of our friend, who simply removed the moth and went on eating….without calling a lawyer, even.

"Is it poisonous?"

Hardly a day goes by when I am not asked some version of this question. Maybe it is phrased “Is it dangerous?” or “Is it venomous?” This illustrates just how paranoid we have become of other life forms on this planet. Let’s clarify the definition of each of these terms, and the relative risks involved with each.

Most of the time, people use the terms “poisonous” and “venomous” interchangeably. What they usually want to know whether a given spider, scorpion, or insect is venomous. Venomous animals possess toxins that they deliver to a victim by biting or stinging. Nearly all spiders are venomous, as that is how they kill their prey. Only a handful of spiders are dangerously venomous to the average, healthy human being. Here in North America, the only spiders confirmed to be potentially dangerous are widows (genus Latrodectus), and brown spiders (genus Loxosceles). This is not to say that the bite from *any* spider cannot spark an allergic reaction in someone hypersensitive to venoms.

Western Black Widow (female)

What is generally exaggerated is the risk of being bitten by a spider. The likelihood of being envenomated by a spider is quite miniscule, especially if you take simple precautions like those suggested in this article at Spiders.us.

Some venomous insects can come as a surprise to the uninformed or uninitiated. Several caterpillar species, for example, have stinging spines or hairs that can cause excruciating pain, at least in some people. Be careful not to touch hairy or spiny caterpillars.

Flannel Moth caterpillar

Ironically, tarantulas in the genus Aphonopelma will kick tiny, barbed hairs off of their abdomen instead of biting in self-defense. The hairs become airborne and, if inhaled or otherwise contact mucous membranes, cause severe irritation or even allergic reactions. Some people who handle tarantulas, or even the molted exoskeleton, may pay for the experience with contact dermatitis.

Wheel Bug adult

Many species of ants other than fire ants are capable of stinging, as can “velvet ants,” wasps in which the female gender is wingless and may resemble a large, hairy, brightly-colored ant. Assassin bugs like the Wheel Bug, and aquatic bugs like giant water bugs (aka “toe-biters”), backswimmers, and water scorpions, have a venomous bite to immobilize prey, but they can bite in self-defense, too. I can speak from experience that it is not pleasant.

Giant Centipede

Centipedes, fast-moving, snake-like arthropods with “too many legs,” are venomous, their first pair of legs modified into fangs they use to subdue their prey or defend themselves. Scorpions, arachnids related to spiders have a venomous stinger at the end of their telson (“tail”), but only the “bark scorpion,” Centruroides sculpturatus, is dangerously venomous. It occurs only in Arizona, western New Mexico, southern Nevada and Utah, and extreme southeast California.

The term poisonous means that an organism is toxic if ingested (swallowed). A startling number of insect species actually are poisonous and it pays to learn which ones, especially if you have curious toddlers prone to putting things in their mouths. Fireflies are very poisonous, as their bodies contain lucibufagins, toxins closely related to the toxins in toads.

Blister Beetle, one of many species

Blister beetles (image above) are aptly-named, for when molested they ooze a liquid substance containing cantharidin, an irritant that can raise blisters on sensitive skin. Even worse, if eaten, they can be lethal. Ranchers must be careful that blister beetles are not accidentally baled in hay. Horses that swallow beetles along with hay can die.

Millipedes, slow-moving, worm-like arthropods with lots of legs, are vegetarians, but most can defend themselves with harsh chemical secretions. Some species, like the one shown below, ooze cyanide compounds to repel potential predators. Others produce substances that can stain, or even burn, the skin.

Flat-backed Millipede

Luckily, many venomous and poisonous insects and spiders are aposematic. That is, they are marked with bright, contrasting “warning colors” such as black and yellow, orange, or white. There are many completely harmless insects that mimic those dangerous species, but when in doubt it pays to avoid handling brightly-colored animals.

While I do want people to find fascination in insects, spiders, and other invertebrates, I also want the public to stay safe and healthy. Be careful out there.

DustMites.org

One of the reasons my blog posts were sparse for a few weeks in May was because I was working up articles for the educational website DustMites.org. Yes, I was financially compensated for my research and writing services. Yes, the website is tied to another website for a manufacturer of dust mite mattress covers and related products. I am not promoting the products here. What I do hope is that my blog followers will point out any inaccuracies in the text, and/or give me a nudge if they hear of any new research or information pertinent to updating DustMites.org.

This project, likely to be an ongoing exercise, was quite challenging. Our collective knowledge of dust mites and their allergens is in relative infancy. One of the two most abundant and important species was only named and described in 1961. We still don’t fully understand the properties of some of the allergens, or how they act on our immune system.

There is also conflicting opinion as to the best way to alleviate asthma symptoms that are aggravated chiefly by dust mite allergens. According to one person who contacted me, rhinitis (upper respiratory system inflammation) symptoms are substantially relieved by dust mite covers on mattresses and box springs, but asthma (lower respiratory system inflammation) symptoms often persist.

A personal note: This kind of work, helping people through the dissemination of scientific information, is what I most enjoy doing. I welcome more projects like this in the future, be they related to entomology or natural history in general. Thanks for your patience during those times I am thus engaged and not as prolific in my blogging.