Strange Weather

Oklahoma weather is strange and those of us who live here know that. But, it's the middle of winter and yesterday the temperature climbed to 77 degrees F! It caused severe thunderstorms and this morning there was a tornado warning in Wagoner County! Today it's supposed to be up in the mid 60's.

Strange.

Fiddleback

Add new Brown Recluse video to the OkieCritter site !!

Critters braving the cold

Yesterday it was up in the low 70's but by last night it was down in the teens and sleeting. This morning it was around 15 with a wind chill factor of 1 (which means with the wind it felt like it was 1 degree F).
It still amazes me how some critters don't take shelter and stay right out in the weather and just take it. As mentioned in the other post the Common House Spider (Achaearanea tepidariorum) is one that braves the weather. I don't see how it keeps from freezing to death.
Below is a picture of one :

Cold And Critters

Well, I guess the cold weather is finally hear again. It's been down in the low to mid thirties lately. There hasn't been too many critters out and about. I can still find various spiders here and there....mostly in or behind something. But, Common House Spiders, and a couple of others, don't seem to seek protection. They just hang right out in the open where the wind and everything can get to them. You would think they would try to find some type of shelter, but they don't.

I've also found several congregations of Lady Beetles. They do like to hide out of the wind and weather when it gets cold. I suppose they gather together for warmth or maybe protection. The biggest group I've seen so far this year is about 50 or 60 individuals in my storage shed.

Time Of The Year

It's turning cold, as much as I don't want it to. It was/is about 33 degrees F this morning.
The critters are disappearing from immediate site fairly rapidly. I only see a few spiders here and there and maybe a stray beetle or two still wandering around. To find critters now you really have to look for them. Last night I did see two Wolf Spiders out on the back deck. They were fairly close to one another. I'm not sure if one was male and the other female and if they might have been "courting" or not but they seemed to be aware of one another.
It's supposed to be up in the 70's tomorrow so it'll be interesting to see if anything comes out to enjoy the warmth.

The Lady Beetle swarm is over. It's like they just vanished as fast as they appeared.

Lady Beetle Swarm

I've been having a Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle - Harmonia axyridis
swarm at my house. It's odd that it's
only this one species.

Freeze

The hard freeze didn't happen although it was fairly cold. It only got down to the mid 30's. There were a few more critters out last night than the night before. It's supposed to be up in the 70's the rest of this week. I hope it is.

Hard Freeze

We're supposed to have a hard freeze tonight....hopefully not but....
I went out huntin' critters a while ago and only found a few Misumenops spiders and a couple of plant bugs. I guess they're hiding trying to get ready for tonight....I didn't know critters watched the weather on TV :-D
It was only up in the fifties earlier today so it's probably going to get cold tonight. At least in comparison to what it has been.

Goldenrod Soldier Beetle

I've been seeing lots of these Goldenrod Soldier Beetles (Chauliognathus pennsylvanicus) for about the last two or three weeks. I guess it's just the time of year for them.

Planthoppers

Citrus Flatid Planthopper - Metcalfa pruinosa are all over the place this time of year. You can see their wax all over wild plants everywhere. I'm not exactly sure what the wax does other than the nymphs (the young) stay covered in it next to the plant.

Southern Yellowjackets

There have been a lot of Southern Yellowjacket queens - Vespula squamosa, lately flying really close to the ground or crawling. The flight appears slow and methodical as if searching for something and they don't seem to pay attention to much else other than the task at hand. They are probably looking for nest sights.

Mosquitoes

Since we've been having all the rain (again this year) the mosquitoes are out in full force. All the standing water, creeks, and overflowing lake and ponds are perfect breeding grounds. Plus, the high humidity is a perfect environment for them to thrive in.
I've noticed though that when I'm in full sunlight they don't bother me. According to BugGuide it's because the full sun dries them out so they prefer to stay in the shade. Which also explains why they are so much worse at night.

Leafhoppers

I've noticed lately that there are a lot of Speckled Sharpshooters - Paraulacizes irrorata around lately. They are fairly large for a leafhopper but I don't remember seeing this many at one time before. Just kind of odd.

Rain

So far this year we have received around 32" of rain. This has caused a lot of flooding and has caused the lake levels to be so high that boat ramps are closed and marinas are not accessible. But, it has also caused the mosquito population to be out of control. I can barely go outside without being swarmed. One solution is to put mosquito deterrent on, preferably that contains Deet. This will keep them off for a while.

OkieCritter

http://okiecritters.googlepages.com/

Welcome to the OkieCritter blog.