tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2412962024017895622.post7458499768248547761..comments2023-07-07T07:49:59.058-07:00Comments on Cuyamaca Woods Mountain Journal: What Did the Monsoons Yield in the Anza Borrego Desert?Robyn Waayershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00403062292397104209noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2412962024017895622.post-55627893055115142882014-08-11T18:31:31.274-07:002014-08-11T18:31:31.274-07:00What I'll have to do next year is visit the tr...What I'll have to do next year is visit the tree and photograph the beetle if I can find one, but the hollow tube was identical. It was the size of a flax seed, very tiny and of course I don't even recall antennae being on the critter. All I could really do is give a vague description. Yes, the girdler does a complete scoring job around the outside of the twig and that was definitely not it. Nevertheless, I love the fact that whatever the insect, it's yet another possibility besides fire which for more fire ecologist is the only answer. The only fire ecologist who has ever made sense if Jon Keeley, many of the rest write research papers with broad brush and wide sweeping strokes as they generalize a story or myth about something 100s or 100s of years ago and I always take things with a grain of salt and compare it with my own observation if it is relevant to what I have seen and experienced.<br /><br />Thanks, Again, KevinChaparral Earthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00618976919417073750noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2412962024017895622.post-75567844713833669782014-08-11T13:47:58.681-07:002014-08-11T13:47:58.681-07:00Well, I'm definitely no expert here, on the li...Well, I'm definitely no expert here, on the life history of the Juniper Twig Pruner, although I did a quick look on-line. The worm-like thing is the beetle grub (not a caterpillar, which is a larval lepidopteran), and Styloxus is a cerambycid (long-horned beetle) - it should not look weevil-like (or like your dark insect on your blog post, which I think was a true bug, not a beetle, but I know you were just giving an approximate appearance). Styloxus is long and slender with long antennae. Perhaps the black weevil-like insect was unrelated to the girdling - came in after the fact?? I know I have Styloxus on my property on North Peak of the Cuyamacas, as they come to my black light. It is likely Styloxus fulleri, whose host is Coast Live Oak (makes sense as there is a lot of that about). Robyn Waayershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00403062292397104209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2412962024017895622.post-29502646469737185902014-08-11T12:46:44.231-07:002014-08-11T12:46:44.231-07:00You may be right about the track - I always look f...You may be right about the track - I always look for the "M" shape on the leading edge of the large pad - typical of the cat family. This one seemed rounded in that spot (typical of the dog family), and there seems to be ONE claw mark in the mud. But the overall shape/feel is cat-like, I agree. Will tack on an earlier photo of an obvious bobcat track for comparison.Robyn Waayershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00403062292397104209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2412962024017895622.post-76033821056735421512014-08-11T03:24:19.409-07:002014-08-11T03:24:19.409-07:00Margaretthe is correct, google Bobcat footprints a...Margaretthe is correct, google Bobcat footprints and it's dead on. I'm so glad you all got much needed rains, especially that type of rain, Plant growth response is so much more noticeable. I went down to the upper end of Coyote Canyon around Horse Canyon just before it twists and turns east up the south face of Santa Rosa & El Toro Peak this past June. Went to areas I'd never been to before in all the 24+ years I used to live there. I specifically went to the eastern back side of Table Mountain where I used to live. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.michigan.gov/images/Cougar_coyote_bobcat_Tracks_164598_7.gif" rel="nofollow">Bobcat footprints compared to Coyote</a><br /><br />Below is my last post. I wonder if you could identify the critter which may be nature to the area that causes the Twig Pruning dieback. I have found photos and articles on the Net identifying Juniper Twig Pruner as the culprit, but I couldn't find any small larval pictures that matched what I found when I peeled back the back to open up the hollow pithy tube where I have always found that little black weevil critter at my old place. I used a reference photo to give folks an idea of what the insect looked like, but I know it's not accurate. Other photos showed a worm or caterpillar, but that was never what I actually found in the tube on my Tecate Cypress. For me they are responsible for the spread of the Cypress seed dispersal when fire is absent as I've shown. I have always found numerous seedlings near mature stands of Tecate & Arizona Cypress in the old growth Chaparral which runs contrary to the Fire Ecology dogma.<br /><br /><a href="http://creating-a-new-earth.blogspot.se/2014/08/how-do-ecosystems-regenerate-when-fire.html" rel="nofollow">How do ecosystems regenerate when Fire is absent ? Aw, the possibilities!</a><br /><br />Maybe Margarethe knows as well.<br /><br />Cheers, Kevin<br />Chaparral Earthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00618976919417073750noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2412962024017895622.post-76043943189163684032014-08-10T18:20:37.691-07:002014-08-10T18:20:37.691-07:00Yes, some dune Diplotaxis are hairy. But your coyo...Yes, some dune Diplotaxis are hairy. But your coyote track seems to be a cat paw to me. The nails of canines would definitely be visible in a deep print like this. I hope it's not over yet! (the rain)Margarethehttp://arizonabeetlesbugsbirdsandmore.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2412962024017895622.post-88547694539842376742014-08-10T18:15:39.454-07:002014-08-10T18:15:39.454-07:00Thanks for the memories.Thanks for the memories.Gary Waayershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00874735956207330175noreply@blogger.com