Life Along the Virgin River
When Heather did not have v-ball games Lynne, Richie and I explored the riparian habitat along the Virgin River. This brings to mind a joke that Lynne told me when we were driving through St. George when first married. Ok..... here is the joke. Why do they call the river the Virgin River....... because no one has seen the bottom of her.... Ha!! I thought it was very funny. Anyway we went up and down the river near St. George. We also visited an area about half way through through the gorge just south of the city (18 miles). While collecting and observing the different life forms in and along the river it was over 110 degrees and near the river in the vegetation the humidity was almost unbearable. Lynne was a trooper participating in all our little nature trips along the river.
When Heather did not have v-ball games Lynne, Richie and I explored the riparian habitat along the Virgin River. This brings to mind a joke that Lynne told me when we were driving through St. George when first married. Ok..... here is the joke. Why do they call the river the Virgin River....... because no one has seen the bottom of her.... Ha!! I thought it was very funny. Anyway we went up and down the river near St. George. We also visited an area about half way through through the gorge just south of the city (18 miles). While collecting and observing the different life forms in and along the river it was over 110 degrees and near the river in the vegetation the humidity was almost unbearable. Lynne was a trooper participating in all our little nature trips along the river.
One of our favorite insects are cicadas (cicadidae). These little creatures are the insects that produce that high pitched shrill during summer months. Deserts can have large populations of cicadas. Here Richie and I have spotted one and we will proceed to capture it.
Before we caught it with the insect net we took an image of it to share with my students. I enjoy wild life photography and have a special interest in capturing insect images. By nature, insects are not cooperative subjects so getting good images takes patience and a lot of luck.
Richie is a very good insect collector. Here we are still looking for cicadas and other insects. We were hoping for some tarantula hawk moths but did not see any. In the brush along the river the humidity was terrible we brought water to drink but we really could not keep our body temperature regulated very effectively. We could only stand the temperature for about an hour and we packed up and headed for the air conditioned gym to watch Heather play v-ball.
Lynne provided words of encouragement and carried our water. If we stayed any longer she was going into the water to cool down.
It is very hard to get this close to a robber fly (asilidae). This little guy is in the middle of eating its prey. You can see a small insect stuck on the end of his nail-like proboscis. Robber flies are one of my favorite dipterans.
Here Richie is trying to catch one of the illusive robber flies. This boy collects with lots of enthusiasm. You should see when we get all the Sink kids (Uncle Jim and Aunt Lisa) together and put nets in their hands. It is not only an interesting observation in human behavior but you had better protect your self and if your an insect or you don't stand a chance. I love collecting with them, it is great fun.
Lynne turned over some rocks near the rivers edge and found these cool little toads. In her words, " they are sooo cute". I have to agree they are very cool little critters. There were too different species we found along the river that day. We also found tadpoles and intermediates between larvae and adult. When I was a kid we lived above a canyon in San Diego. My friends and I would go down to the creek near the local golf course and collect frogs and tadpoles. Great stuff...... this keeps me young and from going in sane.
We found an interesting little jumper along the rivers edge. Take a close look at it. Do you see something different? Your right it is missing one of its hind legs. This mutation will not serve it well. There is a little nub where the hind leg should be. Amphibians are at risk for more chromosomal mutations because their eggs are shellless and exposed to environmental conditions (excess radiation, chemicals etc.). Many amphibians are declining at alarming rates.
One of my favorite aquatic insects is the dragon fly. Most people are fascinated with its acrobatic flight. These are not easy insects to collect and provide a unique challenge to photograph.
On the way back to the car I looked at one of the cacti and noticed an interesting beetle. Before collecting it I had to get some images. I have never seen this species before so I was glad to add it to our collection. The beetle group (coleoptera) is the largest of all insect groups (orders). Insects are such a fascinating group of living things. I remember many moons ago when my nephew Jake and I collected along the banks of the Colorado river. We collected some of the biggest Cerambycidae beetles ( similar to the above insect) I have ever seen. Fun stuff !!!
After watching some more v-ball we went to the river and set up a light trap. Richie and I found a large toad. As we picked up the toad it proceeded to eliminate copious amounts of urine in hopes we would leave it alone. Not a chance.... we picked it up a few times until it could not pee anymore then gave it to Lynne.
Lynne played with the toad for a while and found it hard to handle. She did enjoy the encounter. She would have kissed it and hoped for a prince but she already has one..... Ha!
Richie on the other hand was convinced he could use the frog to get his beautiful Claire or if she was busy Paris to appear before his eyes. So he puckered up and gave the frog a big kiss. Unfortunately nether appeared and Richie developed a fungal growth on is bottom lip. Ha! That will teach you to believe in fairy tails. We had a good time along the river and no one saw her bottom. Ha!
