100 More Species #75: Winter Stonefly

Winter stonefly, Family Taeniopterygidae

Hey look, the second outdoor arthropod of the year! I don't know why I didn't include this creature in the 100 more species project the last time I encountered it. Back then I momentarily mistook it for a caddisfly, explaining that while the adult insects look similar, the "larvae" of each kind is very different. Very different indeed! While caddisflies are close to moths, and undergo complete metamorphosis, the stonefly life cycle is more like that of the dragonfly: they undergo gradual metamorphosis. So their young aren't called "larvae" at all, they are nymphs.

That technical correction aside, it is good to see the winter stonefly again. As you might guess by the name, it isn't unusual to see the adult flying in wintertime (five more days, sun worshippers). It would be unusual to see this insect if I still lived deeper in the city--the nymph is aquatic and requires well-oxygenated water to survive. My beloved Muddy River does not qualify.


I offer this ventral view simply because the stonefly was on a glass door, and hey, maybe you wanted to see the underside of a winter stonefly.

100 More Species #76: Eastern Milk Snake

Eastern milk snake Lampropeltis triangulum triangulum

It seems calculated to infuriate me, that on the day before a holiday about a mythical purging of snakes (a symbol for the forced conversion of pagans to Christianity), I should find a dead snake in my yard, killed by a predator that couldn't be bothered to eat it. Eastern milk snakes are purportedly quite common in our area, and yet I've personally only encountered one live one, and this dead one. I took care of a couple captive specimens at Drumlin Farm, fairly calm educational animals that eventually died of gout.

Eastern milk snakes are constrictor snakes that prey on mice and other small animals, including other snakes. Sometimes their orange and brown pattern causes the over-cautious to mistake them for copperheads--a venomous species (which enjoys protected status, so don't go chopping them up with your shovel you big bully). Milk snakes are so-called because they were frequently noticed in dairy barns. Hopefully no one actually believed the ludicrous idea they were feeding on milk, since it should be clear that they were feeding on mice in the barns.

Happy Birthday to my Beautiful Wife!

Today is Alexis' birthday! We are going to celebrate by getting Indian Food from the new place in Roslindale square. There's a lot of buzz around it, because that neighborhood somehow didn't have an Indian restaurant before. It's two neighborhoods away from us, but has become the closest Indian place to us (we at anniversary dinner at Himalayan Bistro, which is Nepalese--close enough if you judge by Yelp). We seem so busy so much of the time and both crave quality moments together. The winter is so difficult with the dark and the cold and the depression but the veil is lifting and it's spring next week. We're going away together on a family trip in April and we'll get to have closeness together, warmth and sun.

3:00 snapshot #1227