15 September 2015 - Early Fall Insects

Our weird weather continues. Hot June. Cooler July. Really hot August. Now September. Exquisitely perfect temps the first week. Then with a big whomp, fall fell on us. 

The first sign was waking up one morning to find yellow leaves piled up along the sidewalk.  The weird part was that there were no yellow leaves in the trees. What? They turned yellow and fell over night? Hardly. But we had a few cold nights and the leaves started changing almost immediately. 

Yesterday and today we had torrential rain. Today the rain was accompanied by marble-sized hail and for an hour there was constant thunder and lightning. It was a glorious display! This evening the west side of the valley cleared up giving us 15 minutes of sun even while it rained. It made an amazing rainbow. 

I could see it end to end. And it was one of the most vibrant that I have ever seen. 

I have noticed there are many ways to tell when the seasons are changing. You don't really need a calendar at all. An easy way is to watch the flora. For example, what is blooming and what the plant looks like as well as changes in leaf color are good indicators of an upcoming change. 

I think one of my favorite ways to tell that fall is coming is to watch the insects. First you start hearing crickets. Just one or two at first then by mid-August there is a chorus so loud at night it can be deafening. You can feel the rhythm of their chirping in your bones. I love that. As the temps cool down the chirping becomes less strident. 

Even if the weather hadn't changed so drastically, the big indicator that September is turning us toward fall is the behavior of the insects. 

Dragonflies start perching on the highest point they can find. It is wonderful to see how many colors dragonflies come in. 

The little guys you would see in July

are full-grown by September.

The wasps get very busy in September. We have many grass-carrying wasps. They fill any available hole such as hose ends or sprinklers with grass then add a paralyzed bug and lay an egg. Then they add another layer and another. 

Other wasps just paralyze some food, poke it in a hole and lay an egg on it. They don't worry about building a nest first. 

They carry prey larger than they are. This little wasp is about a half inch long. 


We also have mud-dauber wasps.  In the fall they build fortifications for their eggs out of mud that dry as hard as concrete. 

This is the time of year when you start noticing the big orb webs accompanied by the large builders. 

So many little indicators that the season is about to change. While fall is certainly on its way, we do not yet have that crisp scent in the air. But it is coming.