Banded!

  

We were in Rohnert Park picking up a burrito tonight (29 June 2024) and noticed several of these long-horned beetles on the outer walls of a building.  I couldn't help saying "Whoa!" out loud when I saw the first one.

The black-and-white coloration with blue tints was eye-popping, but so was the size of this beetle.  Here's one with a standard key for scale:

 

  Meet the Banded Alder Borer (Rosalia funebris)!  

 

 Up close this beetle is even more impressive.  Such beautiful coloration!

 

 

 

I'm curious about those large mandibles.  Although the larvae eat decaying wood, the adults are said to eat nectar and pollen.  Are the mandibles used for jousting?   

Banded Alder Borers are native to western North America, but it appears that they are less common along the coast in this area.

A hint of orange

  

An interesting find today (27 June 2024) -- Pachythyone rubra, a more southern sea cucumber that's more common south of Monterey.  It's been documented in Bodega Bay previously, but only a couple of times.  Note that hints of orange color at either end of the cucumber, and the tubefeet that are scattered across the body rather than in regular rows.

To learn more about Pachythyone rubra, check out the previous post called "Goodbye, Rubra Tuesday" on 5 March 2018.

P.S.  If you happen to come across this species in Sonoma County or farther north, I'd love to hear about it.

Cobalt!

  

Displaying Brandt's Cormorants (Urile penicillatus).  Their cobalt blue throat pouches were so bright in the morning sun!  Photographed on Bodega Head on 26 June 2024.

A little mystery

Eric was at the Spud Point Marina docks in Bodega Harbor today (23 June 2024) doing some scouting for his summer class (which starts tomorrow!).  He noticed this tiny nudibranch that he didn't recognize.  It was only ~8.5 mm long.

It took us a little while to puzzle through this identification, but eventually we landed on a possibility -- Polycerella glandulosa, a species neither of us has seen before.  ADDENDUM (24 June 2024): Abby provided some feedback and we now think this is Bermudella angelensis (formerly Okenia angelensis).

Here's an illustration from the paper which first described Polycerella glandulosa:

 

Drawing from Behrens, D.W. and T.M. Gosliner.  1988. The first record of Polycerella Verrill, 1881, from the Pacific, with the description of a new species. The Veliger. 30(3): 319-324. 

Although many of the features match up pretty well, there are a few things that are still puzzling to us, so we'll be inquiring further about the identification.

ADDENDUM: Here's an illustration of Bermudella angelensis:

Drawing from Lance, J. (1966). New distributional records of some northeastern Pacific Opisthobranchiata (Mollusca: Gastropoda) with descriptions of two species. The Veliger. 9(1):69–81.

From what we can tell, Polycerella glandulosa is a southern species, with most records south of Morro Bay.  We don't know whether there are any records north of San Luis Obispo County.  ADDENDUM: Bermudella angelensis is also a more southern species, but it has been recorded in Sonoma County at least once, in May 2017.

Because this species would be unusual this far north, Eric recorded some video footage for the record (below).  [If you can't see the video player in the e-mail message, click on the title of the post above to go to the NHBH website.]

Thanks, Eric, for taking the time to document this interesting nudibranch!

ADDENDUM: And many thanks to Abby for pursuing the identification further and alerting us to Bermudella angelensis!

Bladerunner?

  

A nice view of a small, but fancy nudibranch — Diaphoreolis lagunae (formerly Cuthona lagunae) on a blade of surfgrass (Phyllospadix sp.).  This individual was ~10 mm long.  Photographed on 22 June 2024.

Summertime

  

I've been behind a desk a lot lately, so here's a photo from last month -- a beautiful Blue-eyed Darner (Rhionaeschna multicolor) perched in our backyard on 27 May 2024.  The grayish eyes on this individual probably indicate a younger male.

At least some species of dragonflies can be observed across a broad portion of the year in Sonoma County, but along the coast I think of summer as prime time to watch for them.

Happy Summer Solstice!  :)

18!

  

Okay, how many arms on the Six-armed Sea Star above? 

And how many arms on this greenish Six-armed Sea Star? 

And how many arms on this Six-armed Sea Star that's having a tube foot party?

Add then all together -- how many arms total on all three of these Six-armed Sea Stars?

Yes!  18!  (Okay, most of you know I'm a Boston sports fan...and I can't help but post a big congratulations to the Boston Celtics for winning the 2024 Championship and their 18th Championship Banner!  That was an amazing season, Celtics!  Woohoo!)

Skyward

 

 

A blowhole sending spray skyward in Mendocino County on 9 June 2024

Role model?

  

Two Henricia pumila sea stars in a shallow pool in the low intertidal zone.  The one on the left is likely older than the one on the right, but growth rates in juvenile sea stars are highly variable, so it's hard to say for sure without knowing more about these individuals.  Photographed in Mendocino County on 9 June 2024.

Local colors

Okay, I know this might seem like an unusual photo for the NHBH, but I couldn’t resist…and there’s a natural history connection!  We worked in Mendocino County today, conducting intertidal surveys during the early morning low tide.  But in the afternoon we made a few stops in Fort Bragg and Mendocino, including the Mendocino Art Center.  There’s a fun exhibit about kelp there, and a bonus was this amazing exhibit about dyes made from local mushrooms.  

I’m new to this world, but the dyed-wool examples above were made with different species of mushrooms.  The exhibit is about the collaboration between Dorothy Beebee (illustrator) and Miriam C. Rice (dye pioneer).  It showcases fabrics made with local dyes (including mushrooms collected from Mendocino County) and others on loan from the International Mushroom Dye Institute.  

I haven’t been able to check it out yet, but a documentary film called Try It and See: The Story Behind Mushroom Dyes will be available at www.mushroomsforcolor.com and www.myramadecolor.com.

Such a beautiful earth-toned color palette!

Ready for the season

  

Wow, what a beautiful Pacific Loon (Gavia pacifica) in breeding plumage.  Photographed at the north end of Bodega Harbor on 6 June 2024.

Always watchful

  

It's been busy lately, but here's a quick shot of a Northern Harrier from Bodega Head earlier in the spring.

When looking down is looking up

  

Close-up of Calochortus tolmiei, photographed along the northern Sonoma County coast on 26 May 2024.  This beautiful wildflower is also called Pussy Ears, Hairy Star Tulip, or Tolmie's Star Tulip.

These flowers are low to the ground, but the closer you get, the more details you see, the more inspiring they are!