The Backyard Arthropod Project

What you hear screaming in the trees in the summer

We are a bit too far north for the well-known “periodic cicadas”, the ones that come out in masses every 17 or 13 years to raise a ruckus. The ones that we have are the “dog day” cicadas, that come out every summer when it gets hot to yell in the treetops.

Technically, this one wasn’t on our property, but the ones that were in our yard were at the top of the cedar tree and I couldn’t reach them. This one was found dead on a trail only about a mile from the house[1], though, so I’ll take it. From head to wingtip it is about 2 inches long, which again was way too big to be photographed with the macro lens.

Continue reading ‘Dog Day Cicada’ »

Last week, I was out helping S_ drag a body into the woods[1], when she called out, “I just found a really cool looking grasshopper for you . . . hey, it bit me!”
So I said, “Is it green, with really long legs?”

Continue reading ‘Katydid’ »

So, what is this all about anyway? Here’s the deal: We own 9 acres of property, and I’m going to try to document every macroscopic arthropod I can find on it. This includes insects, spiders, other arachnids, crustaceans, and pretty much anything I find that has an exoskeleton. The plan is to post at least one species every week, with photographs and a description both of how I found it and what I think it is. I expect this project to take some years, especially if I can manage to photograph all the eensy little guys that live in the leaf litter. So, in the spirit of having to start somewhere, let’s begin with this one:

Continue reading ‘The Backyard Arthropod Project’ »