A Diversion to Utah, Part 2: Robber Flies and Velvet Ants

On our trip to southern Utah in July of this year, I had hoped to add to my photo collection of Asilidae (robber flies), as they are such impressive and photogenic predators. I have never had much luck photographing live velvet ants (family Mutillidae), but there were SO many of these in our Burr Trail camp that it was downright easy to get excellent close-ups of them.

The recent monsoonal rain had brought out quite a lot of local flowers, and perhaps that's why the robbers were out in good numbers in most places we visited.

Robber flies are often easy to photograph as they have some loyalty to a perch from which they search for prey items flying past. The fly will typically ambush its prey in mid-air, and administer a bite which delivers a neurotoxin to paralyze the prey, combined with proteolytic enzymes to digest the prey's insides, making a soupy meal to be sucked up at its leisure with the proboscis of the fly.

Efferia sp., male. He was lurking in plain sight on some dried-up mud at the little cattle pond (that we visited two years ago) east of our campsite on the Burr Trail. "Efferus" comes from the Latin meaning "wild" or "savage" - fairly appropriate, I guess, although that description could apply to just about any predator, from a robber fly to a mountain lion!

Efferia sp., female (note the long thin ovipositor at the terminus of the abdomen). As I crept up to her (on the opposite side of the cattle pond from the male), she crouched down, stretching her forelegs out, but did not fly off. It seemed like a very deliberate behavior. I wonder if there is any meaning to it, past just making her appear slightly smaller.

Efferia sp. female, with fellow asilid as prey. No family loyalties here.

The "pond Efferia male". Side view. The fuzzy mass of hairs protruding from the face is the "mystax" (meaning moustache) which is thought to protect the fly's face from wildly struggling prey.

Large asilid with prey, in the creek bed which passes by our Burr Trail camp site.

A smaller asilid species, to be determined, perched on the concrete bridge over the creek.

An almost-all-black robber fly, Ospriocerus sp. (note the red on the abdomen). This is a large species, like the Efferia seen on this trip - around 1 inch long. 

Another Ospriocerus sp., east on the Burr Trail, in an open windy area.

The sandy substrate combined with plenty of flowering plants following the rains seemed to create the ideal conditions for velvet ants around our Burr Trail camp site. Four species were seen within and close by our camp. I have not been able to conclusively identify any of them yet.

This species, with a black abdominal tip, came in orange and yellow forms. I'm tentatively guessing Dasymutilla scitula?

Digging in the soft sand around the camp site.

A very small but beautifully clothed female - actively searching for larvae of ground-nesting host species.

This small species, as well as the other two diurnal species we saw, was searching for the nest chambers of ground nesting bees or wasps. The female will dig her way into a nest, lay an egg by the host larva, and then the egg will hatch and consume the host.

This was the larger species, which might be Dasymutilla californica, but still uncertain. This female is next to a hole she dug out.

Busily digging, digging, digging. At least half a dozen females of this species were active in the late afternoon around our camp site. A couple males were present also (presumably of the same species, although with several species present, and the fact that male and female velvet ants of the same species often do NOT look alike at all, it's not certain which species the males belonged to).

Some of these females were very worn looking, or even had what appeared to be dried mud on them.

One of many neat holes dug in a small area with many velvet ants actively digging around. This hole was around 1/4 inch in diameter.

A male. Males are winged, but do not sting. Females of many velvet ants are wingless. Females can deliver a powerful, painful sting!

A large winged mutillid, probably in the genus Sphaeropthalma, which came to the black light after dark. It was around 20 mm long.

A Diversion to Southern Utah, Part 1: Reptiles (of Primarily the Lizard-Sort)

Gary and I took our semi-regular trip to southern Utah this July (later than usual, with hopes that some monsoonal rain might have brought out new and different things than we have seen in June in the past).

The monsoons had delivered a couple weeks previously, and the vegetation was quite lush and green in most of the places we visited. And insect and other animal life was pretty abundant. We drove to the Ponderosa Grove Campground just north of Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park (in Kane County) for the first night, then spent two nights on the west end of Long Canyon in the Grand Staircase Escalante NM next (the same spot we stayed in two years earlier), then spent the last three nights at Canyonlands National Park, at the Squaw Flat Campground (something new for us).

This installment will cover some of the scaly ones we saw. Many of the lizards in this region of the southwest are a bit different from the common ones we see in southern California, although there is certainly some overlap of species.

Sceloperus graciosus, the Common Sagebrush Lizard. They DID seem pretty common - definitely the species we saw most frequently on the trip. This one was at the Ponderosa Grove Campground. It posed for its picture very cooperatively (as did most of the others we encountered on the trip). 

Another S. graciosus. This one was the most beautifully-colored one we saw. It was also at the Ponderosa Grove Campground.

The "lizard of the trip" (I would say). Gambelia wizlizenii (the Long-nosed Leopard Lizard). We saw two of these spectacular creatures, both on walks at Canyonlands, near the Squaw Flat Campground. Gary spotted both of them.

Another sagebrush lizard, blending fairly well with the never-ending Utah red-rock landscape. Canyonlands NP.

A pair of side-blotched lizards on a rock on our walk back to camp at Canyonlands (on the first morning).

I'm guessing these are Plateau Side-blotched Lizards (Uta stansburiana uniformis). This was one of the pair shown above.

The other member of the pair shown above. Slightly different markings.

A slender-looking side-blotched - showing off the blotch! Only after looking at the photo later did I see all the missing digits on the right forefoot.

Western Whiptail, Aspidoscelis tigris. This bold lizard was rummaging around in the Datura which was abundant in our campsite. We watched it as it found a prey item of some sort and then saw that it was a nice sphingid caterpillar (something I would have liked photographing!).  The lizard kept partially-swallowing the caterpillar, crunching down on it over and over, and eventually it went down the hatch. This was the only photo I got that had some decent resolution, but this episode reminded me of the alligator lizard that ate the HUGE sphinx moth caterpillar on our Datura at home a few years back. 

Our caterpillar-eater. Luckily the cat is mostly water...

This snake zoomed past when we were exploring the ephemeral pools with shrimp in them at Canyonlands. My best guess is Coluber taeniatus, the Striped Whipsnake.

Lesser Earless Lizard, Holbrookia maculata, probably H. maculata campi, the Plateau Earless Lizard. This hot little guy was not in Utah, actually. It was seen in a sagebrush area north of Flagstaff, Arizona about two weeks later (on my Arizona trip).

A Diversion to Southern Utah: Mammals and Reptiles

The deserts of southern Utah are a treasure trove of herps, and some of the lizards cooperated for photographs. In the pine forests, many squirrels were to be seen, including Douglas' Squirrel (not photographed), the ubiquitous Golden-mantled Ground Squirrels, and probably two species of chipmunk.

A Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel, looking very much like a large chipmunk. Several of these squirrels invaded our campsite every day, and tried their darndest to filch food. Posey Lake, Utah.

Another Golden-mantled, posing in the morning light. Posey Lake, Utah.

Aren't I just too cute? Posey Lake, Utah.

This one liked sitting next to the pot scrubber, but never offered to help clean up. Posey Lake, Utah.

Without a long lens, the diminutive chipmunks were difficult to photograph, even though they practically climbed in our laps in our camp site trying to get food (which we never gave them). One actually did jump onto Gary, and was immediately shown the way to the ground! I am guessing that this one is a Colorado Chipmunk, and I think the bold one that climbed on Gary was a Least Chipmunk. Posey Lake, Utah.

I think that this is a Sagebrush Lizard, Sceloporus graciosus. It was practically a greeter at the Grand Staircase Escalante Visitor's Center, very fearless and seeming almost pleased to pose for photos. Escalante, Utah.

Another view of the same lizard above. Escalante, Utah.

After doing a bit of research, I think this lizard is a Tree Lizard, Urosaurus ornatus. Multiple sources described it as often matching it's background, and this one is doing a good job on the red rock, here. Coyote Gulch, off Hole-in-the-Rock Road, Grand Staircase Escalante, Utah.

The biggest lizards, with personalities to match, that we saw, were these Desert Spiny Lizards, Sceloporus magister. Coyote Gulch, off Hole-in-the-Rock Road, Grand Staircase Escalante, Utah.

Here is a Desert Spiny with an orange head (the Orange-headed Desert Spiny Lizard). Coyote Gulch, off Hole-in-the-Rock Road, Grand Staircase Escalante, Utah.

These lizards liked to pose, and who wouldn't with looks like this? Coyote Gulch, off Hole-in-the-Rock Road, Grand Staircase Escalante, Utah.