100 Species #39: Velvet mite

Unearthed by yard work, a velvet mite (quite probably Trombidium holosericeum, a species found throughout the northern part of the northern hemisphere but who the hell knows? Family Trombidiidae for sure) lumbers across an open palm.

Velvet mites are giants among mites, measured in millimeters instead of micrometers. Their most striking feature is their pelage of vibrant red hairs, an umambiguous message meaning "I taste bad, birdies." (It is thought, by the way, that poison dart frogs obtain their poisons from the tropical mites they consume.) Velvet mites are beneficial creatures to the garden, feeding on other arthropods and their eggs. Their young, like many mite nymphs, are fluid-sucking parasites. Fortunately for us, they suck the fluids from insects, not humans or other vertebrates.

100 Species #40: Mica caps

This bloom of mica caps (Coprinellus micaceus) surprised us by appearing quite suddenly in our heavily used side yard.

Mica caps are pretty easy to recognize if you know what to look for: flecks of shiny material on the surface of the cap. It helps if you get to them before the rain washes the clean. Until fairly recently they were in the genus Coprinus, the "inky caps" which turn into black mush as they release their spores. In fact, when they were my 365 urban species #115, I used that scientific name. The revision occurred 5 years before I made my mistake, but news of mycological taxonomic reassignments takes time to spread. In a lecture I attended recently, mycologist Noah Siegel estimated that about 20% of the scientific names used in the most commonly used field guide (Lincoff's Audubon guide) are no longer valid. This is especially troublesome since that guide assigns common names to every species it list, in many cases translating the scientific binomial into English when there was no common name in use.

Mica caps are found everywhere in the world. They grow from dead roots and other wood, colonizing it once it has already been decomposed somewhat by other fungi. Their appearance in our yard suggests that the roots of a long-dead tree are buried beneath the grass.

See an amazing detail photo by cottonmanifesto: http://cottonmanifesto.livejournal.com/1345931.html

100 Species #41: Common blue violet

These were the first common blue violets (Viola sorora) to pop up in the yard, now they're all over the place.

Violets are the weed that no one minds. They have cheery little flowers that may be in bloom anytime between April and November (judging by my posts tagged with "common blue violet"), their foliage is a nice low ground cover, and if you get tired of them, you can eat them.

Common blue violet was 365 urban species #103, and appeared in my Daily Urban Nature Pictures three times.