Toads and tarantulas...

 

Isn't THIS an intriguing photo! Melani Howard with the Hays County chapter of the Texas Master Naturalist program texted it to me. With her permission, I'm sharing it here.

 

"This tarantula was under our water trough along with three 'pet' frogs," she wrote. "I was wondering about this behavior."

 

Me, too!

 

According to the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, here's what's going on: "They have a mutualistic association with tarantulas. Tarantulas inhabit holes under rocks, and one or two western narrow-mouthed toads can be found in a tarantula’s hole, sometimes sitting under the tarantula. Apparently the toads have chemicals in their skin that protect them from being recognized as food by the tarantula. Because the toads feed heavily on ants, they may prevent ants from inhabiting the tarantula’s burrow."

Tarantula, either Texas tan or Texas brown (Aphonopelma sp.)

Western narrow-mouth toads (Gastrophryne olivacea)

Spiders and flies, oh my!

Last weekend, I attended the 24th annual Texas Master Naturalist state conference in San Marcos. More than 600 members were there! I gave two presentations Saturday afternoon, and my daughter Lindsey drove up to sit in on both. I was so honored and delighted! 

Anyway, my first presentation was "Spiders of Central Texas." I had a good turn out, and Samantha won my door prize. P.S. Notice how I changed T-shirts for my presentations?

Afterward, I had a few folks come up to ask me questions and show me their spiders photos. Fun!

Lindsey!

Next up was my new presentation, "An Introduction: Texas Flies, Oh, My!" When the PBS video showed about how female mosquitos use six needles when they bite us, you should have seen the expressions in the room (photo below). Some were mesmerized (mostly the guys). Others were absolutely horrified. But that's nature!

I made some new friends and met up with others....

Our chapter president Jill Goff, MJ Hansen and me

Marv Peterson from Waco

Me and roomie Linda Currie from Houston

Lisa's late father was in my 2012 training class! Everyone loved Tom. Lisa works for Embassy Suites, where our conference was held. 

Rain lily seeds continued....

You might recall that I harvested a BOAT LOAD of rain lily seeds from my neighbor JJ's yard in August. Well, they bloomed a second time so I couldn't resist harvesting seeds again in September and October. (James helped, too.) I ended up with a wash tub half full of them! These are the seeds of Brazos rain-lilies (Zephyranthes chlorosolen), formerly known as evening rain lilies (Cooperia drummondii). 

 

I spread and shared a lot of the seeds. But I still had bunches. So I reached out to my friend Bill Neiman at Native American Seed in Junction and New Braunfels. Perhaps he might like them? 

He emailed back YES! 

"Great to hear from you," Bill wrote me. "I poked around to read several articles from your links provided. All so interesting and educational for our hungry society that needs connections back to the land. Thanks for what you’re teaching/sharing along these journeys. 

"It would be awesome to run your rain lily seeds across our smallest seed cleaner that has a calibrated air system. It can separate full plump seeds from the empty hulls. From there, we could try growing a short row to see if the bulbs would establish in a test plot for the future. 

"Or could also package them into our Conservancy Packets and try offering to the public. Maybe we can help others establish this unique beauty across the region. Your experience, joy and enthusiasm is infectious. Keep on sharing your stories."

 

Yesterday Jody Vance from Native American Seed in New Braunfels picked up my seeds! He said he'd keep me posted and send photos. Stay tuned!

P.S. I just love how our Texas Wildscape and this blog has led to so many adventures and connections through the years. Like I like to say, nature's amazing!

SPIDERS: From Fear to Fascination

Yesterday, we treated ourselves to a cool exhibition at the Witte Museum in San Antonio: "Spiders: From Fear to Fascination." (The exhibit runs through January 5.) Daughter Lindsey joined us. Like me, she loves spiders and all things nature. We were in our element!

Looking for spiders in the "back yard."

Spiders "crawling" over my shadow. Creepy fun!

Watch for "monster" at the end. That would be James.

Spider spinnerets that produce silk

One weird caterpillar!

 

James says I have eagle eyes. I guess I do. Because I spotted this odd-looking critter while walking through the Meadow a couple of weeks ago. It was munching on branched noseburn (Tragia ramosa). I did some sleuthing, like what hosts on that plant species? I turned up the common mestra (Mestra amymone). There are VERY few images of this caterpillar. Now I know why!

An adult mestra

Mandarin tree 2024

 October 2024 Extra big fruit this year!

 

Giant water bug

No, I didn't find this odd-looking critter! But a Blanco friend of mine did and texted me the photo, asking if I could ID it. A little sleuthing turned up a giant water bug (Lethocerus americanus). Looks sorta like a roach, right? But it's not. As its common name implies, this is a true bug. If you want to know, hop on over here to learn more.